Overview

This book presents an in‑depth analysis of the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene. Numerous tombs surround this ancient Greek city located in Eastern Libya. Many of these monumental structures feature elaborate ornamental patterns and complex architectural elements. Yet, most graves have been plundered in the past, hence they appear as beautifully decorated, but empty spaces that seem to provide little information to archaeologists. This volume aims at overcoming this problem. While the book provides an exploration of the architecture of Cyrenean tombs, it avoids a purely descriptive, art‑historical approach. Instead, the analysis focuses on issues of funerary competition, display strategies, spatial organization, and the possible role of lost, unknown rituals in shaping the material record over a period of more than a thousand years, from the Archaic phase to Late Roman times. In so doing, it reconstructs the social history of ancient Cyreneans through the evolution of their ostentatious funerary culture.

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9781803275499

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Luca Cherstich is a professional field archaeologist. He holds a doctorate in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford, and has been a member of the archaeological mission of the University of Chieti‑Pescara in Libya since 1999. He has taken part in numerous archaeological surveys and excavations in Libya, Italy, and Cyprus, gaining experience in both academic and commercial archaeology. He is currently a temporary lecturer in the Archaeology of the Greek Colonies and Pre‑Roman Italy at the University of Chieti.

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