Under the title “Rural funeral world in the province of Granada during Late Antiquity”, the volume written by Julio M. Román Punzón and published by the University of Granada, reveals, in 200 pages, analysing 35 necropolis of the province of Granada, how death is a universal social phenomenon that allows to study other social aspects such as economy, religious behaviour, political and social structuring in rankings, etc.
Julio M. Román Punzón offers in this work a rigorous study, full of bibliographical refferences that give credit to his hypothesis on funeral life of rural Granada in Late Antiquity, a term that he describes as that passing betwenn the barbarian invasions in the peninsula in the Vth century and the Moslem invasion in 711.
The election of Granada as a space to carry out this studies arises from the existence of certain provincial limits at that epoch and the fact of being a modern geographical area.
He distinghishes three stages within Late Antiquity, one in which a late Roman population predominates, a moment in which the main population becomes established in the peninsula until the arrival of Muslims: Visigoths. A second period in which the Byzantine presence predominates and, finally, feudalism and the implementation of the Islamic model after the invasion.
Distinghising such periods is important to check the different typologies and funeral rituals in a same necropolis affected by the passing of years. The researchers emphasizes the difficulty of the study due to the lack of archeological remains in such necropolis, compounded by the scarce technique of the excavations carried out 20 years ago, as well as the lack of documentary sources. He is based on funeral ritual practices carried out in the late Empire and in later periods of the Moorish to maintain his hypothesis.
In all, Julio Román Punzón analyses 35 necropolis in the province, funereal places presenting less wealth and complexity as they are pitched close to city centres. Marugán in Atarfe and Castillón in Montefrío stand out among others such as Almendral in Ventas de Zarrafaya, Galera or that of the Colegio de la Presentación. He distinghishes such necropolis in two groups basing on chronology: necropolis of the late Roman period, in which there are more graves facing south and more deceased children and necropolis of the Visigothic age in which the deceased persons face west and the funeral dowry, almost non-existent in the late Roman period, increases.
The work includes a detailed study on the different architectural typologies of the graves emphasizing tombs made of tiles, brick walls or simple graves covered with stone. He also analyses the remains placed in this tombs, connected with funeral rituals.
Reference: Professor Julio Román Punzón. Department of Prehistory y Archaeology. University of Granada
Phone number: 619227380.
E-mail: romanp@ugr.es
