Synopsis

To date, our knowledge about the development of Athenian society during the 1st millennium BCE has largely been based on literary and archaeological sources, which have often been difficult to integrate. Archaeologists have paid great attention to the spatial organisation of cemeteries, grave typology, burial practices and rituals of each period, grave marker style and iconography, etc. The study of differences among regions and changes in the demographic composition of cemeteries in Athens and Attica through time have led to a more nuanced understanding of social developments. Nevertheless, several questions remain open: What social groupings do burial plots correspond to? How did biological relatedness affect the organisation of cemeteries? What was the relation among individuals buried in the same grave plot, in different plots or neighbouring cemeteries? Recently, the Ephorates of Attica and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have initiated the Attic Archaeogenetic Project Collaboration. In this framework, we have generated archaeogenetic data for more than 100 human bone samples from 1st millennium BCE cemeteries from all over Attica, with a particular focus on the famous cemetery of Phaleron. I will present the current state of our research and the novel insights achieved so far in social belonging, mobility and marital practices in Early Iron Age Attica.