Domesticity, its definition and its patterning have continually evolved and changed, to the extent that our modern perception of what constitutes a home, and our perceptions of ‘public’ and ...Show moreDomesticity, its definition and its patterning have continually evolved and changed, to the extent that our modern perception of what constitutes a home, and our perceptions of ‘public’ and ‘private’ are drastically different from what existed in ancient society. This is even more applicable for Ancient Greece and Rome, two civilizations which had a significant impact on the majority of the Old World. Despite this, few studies have undertaken an effective comparison of houses in these two civilizations, and what similarities and contrasts would have existed. This thesis will focus on this issue, specifically targeting two of the best known cities in the Hellenic and Roman periods; namely that of Pompeii and Olynthos. Architecture should, as archaeological research has shown for Greece and Rome retrospectively, reflect the values upheld in society and transmit the ethos of the wider community. For Olynthos, the idea of ‘Isonomia’ should be visible within households, the notion that all members of Greek society were of similar status and of equal importance. Conversely at Pompeii, the concept of ‘Luxuria’ – or rather social status and wealth – was important, thus a stratified system of housing disparity should be witnessed to reflect this. I will target block A vii for Olynthos and Insula of the Menander for Pompeii, two representative and well preserved areas with multiple phases of building history, to carry out this study; in this way a clusters of habitation can be compared. In doing so, this thesis will attempt to investigate the relationship between social contemporary concepts and one specific physical representation of this societies, i.e. domestic architecture.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
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The incredible rock-cut architecture at the Nabataean capital of Petra, Jordan, has marveled many. They have been, and still are, the subject of many archaeological projects in the region. However,...Show moreThe incredible rock-cut architecture at the Nabataean capital of Petra, Jordan, has marveled many. They have been, and still are, the subject of many archaeological projects in the region. However, the scholarly emphasis on these Nabataean monuments has casted a shadow over all things mundane. Due to this focus, surprisingly little is known about the Nabataean kingdom (second century BC- AD 106), and the people within. Although houses have been excavated from the beginning of the research in the 1930’s onwards, and successfulness of the study of societies through houses in the archaeological record has been well established for other periods in the Near East, the results of these studies are not yet integrated in the study of the Nabataean society as a whole. This thesis aims to give an overview of the available information about houses which were excavated in the past, and to use this information to reconstruct these buildings and their function. Subsequently, this information is used, together with information from epigraphic and ethnographic sources, to study the different social structures which are represented in the dataset. Lastly, on the basis of the Nabataean material culture (small finds, public and private architecture) this culture is placed into the regional context of the Hellenised world. From this study, it becomes apparent that the perspective on non-monumental architecture is a useful one to study the Nabataean society and complement the data from previous studies. It is shown that the houses do not only provide more information about the society, but that they can also be used to contextualize the monuments, and especially their architectural styles.Show less
