Creating identities in the mortuary arena of the Greek Final Neolithic: a contextual definition of practices in Central and Southern Greece

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the Greek Final Neolithic witnessed many social and economic changes. However, few studies have explored the archaeological material of the period in a systematic and fully contextual manner. After analysing new material from a rescue excavation at Proskynas in east Lokris, central Greece, in combination with previous evidence, it is clear that most of our knowledge has come from the funerary domain, where acts of consumption and display of material culture took place. These included the deposition of artefacts in a mortuary context and in pits dug into the bedrock in the vicinity of the graves. The aim of this paper is to provide a contextual approach of the social and mortuary practices of the period in central and southern Greece and discuss their role to the creation of cultural identities. It is also suggested that these collective acts that occur primarily within the funerary domain may also imply a shift of interest from the domestic to the mortuary arena, which emerges as a new place for social negotiation at the end of the Neolithic period.