Embodied Epitaphs

This postdoctoral project investigates the role of the epitaph in funerary ritual. Epitaphs were not only archives or legal documents recording names of the deceased and other information in stone, but active objects through which mortuary customs were reproduced, including concepts about ownership and kinship. This research project critically interrogates the traditional research emphasis on the content of the text, and aligns with embodied approaches to epitaphs. Afterall, before reading a tomb inscription, a text would mark its commemorative function. They were inserted in spaces, incised in stone, and surrounded by imagery and other texts.

The research concentrates on data from the region of Pisidia around modern Isparta in Central Turkey, and works with legacy, spoliated, and orphaned materials.

Researcher: Tamara Dijkstra