Abstract
The thesis studies the cemeteries of Ambracia, a Corinthian colony in the innards of the Ambracian gulf, during the Archaic and Classical period. As an introduction, it presents the topography of Ambracia, the geomorphology of the area and the different image it presented in antiquity, the countryside with its borders and the city’s urban organization. Following is a brief overview of the history of the city with emphasis on the Archaic and Classical period and a presentation of the history of research of its cemeteries. Then the study deals with the spatial planning and organization of the two cemeteries of Ambracia. In the western cemetery, which is the larger of the two, begins at the end of the 5th c. BC the construction of enclosures, which takes on a more systematic character during the 4th c. BC, making the road that crosses it a real "Gräberstrasse", a formation that remains unique in the region of northwestern Greece. In the eastern cemetery of the city, which is crossed by a ...
The thesis studies the cemeteries of Ambracia, a Corinthian colony in the innards of the Ambracian gulf, during the Archaic and Classical period. As an introduction, it presents the topography of Ambracia, the geomorphology of the area and the different image it presented in antiquity, the countryside with its borders and the city’s urban organization. Following is a brief overview of the history of the city with emphasis on the Archaic and Classical period and a presentation of the history of research of its cemeteries. Then the study deals with the spatial planning and organization of the two cemeteries of Ambracia. In the western cemetery, which is the larger of the two, begins at the end of the 5th c. BC the construction of enclosures, which takes on a more systematic character during the 4th c. BC, making the road that crosses it a real "Gräberstrasse", a formation that remains unique in the region of northwestern Greece. In the eastern cemetery of the city, which is crossed by a smaller road, the tombs are in a rather sparse arrangement, in clusters or pairs. During the Archaic and Classical period the main way of treatment of the dead body is the inhumation, as in most ancient Greek cemeteries. In relation to the inhumations, issues such as the orientation of the dead and the multiple burials in a tomb are analyzed, while in relation to the cremation, the issue of selecting specific types of vessels as funerary urns is discussed, as well as the connection of iconography of red-figure pelikai that were used as funerary urns in the 4th c. BC. In the next chapter are presented the types of tombs that were preferred in each period. As it concerns the grave goods, the vases are examined, which are mainly divided into two big categories, the drinking vessels and the perfume containers, and their burial use is commented. The figurines and the other types of grave goods are also examined, as well as the preference according to the sex of the deceased. Based on the grave goods, two special categories of the dead are commented on: the untimely dead women and the children. The next chapter includes the analysis of the typology of the findings by period and species (pottery, figurines, vases made from other materials, other small objects). The percentage data of the imported and the locally made pottery are presented and the types of all kinds of grave goods are analyzed with bibliographic documentation for their dating. From the summary of the imported pottery it results that during the 6th c. BC Corinthian pottery dominates the burials, to be succeeded by Attic pottery during the 5th c. BC. In the 4th c. BC the local pottery is preferred by, and we follow the evolution of the workshops of Ambracia throughout the Archaic and especially the Classical period. An important subsection is the one that deals with the relations of Ambracia with the West, mainly based on the testimony of the local pottery, while examining the historical data. The last section presents the conclusions for the systematic organization of the burial sites of Ambracia, the special relationship of the burial customs with those of the metropolis Corinth during the Archaic period and the gradual removal from them during the Classical era, the differences from the cemeteries of the villages in the mainland of Epirus and the similarities with those of Lefkas, the other Corinthian colony in the area. It also presents the sequence of Ambracia of the pan-Hellenic trend during the 5th c. BC for uniformity in burials and the gradual emergence of a financially strong social class during the 4th c. BC. It is the time when the city developed into the most important urban center of the wider area, so that at the beginning of the 3rd c. BC it became the capital of the state of King Pyrrhus. The volume with the text of the thesis is accompanied by the volume with the catalog of tombs and finds by era and cemetery and the volume with maps, excavation drawings and photographs of the findings, as well as diagrams.
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