Byzantine St. Stephen s Monastery Damascus Gate/Old City Modern Tomb Section Ancient Tomb Complex Bone Repository Primary Burials Burial Bench & Repository
The Biocultural Model pilgrimage accounts liturgical records art & iconography regional comparisons legal & medical documents migration patterns Byzantine Sources/Visitors < Cyril of Scythopolis < Procopius < Cyril of Alexandria < Melania the Younger < Empress Eudocia < Juvenalis < Eucharius, Bishop of Lyon < Peter the Iberian < Theodosius < Anastasius < Sabas < Gabriellius < Antonin < Arculf < Pilgrim of Piacenza < Evagrius Scholasticus Theological Significance < built to honor the protomartyr Stephen < major site of pilgrimage due to miracles associated with Stephen < part of the Armenian liturgical cycle, octave of Epiphany < largest church complex in the Holy Land for ~00 years < largest monastic revolt of 56 to accept the Council of Chalcedon < last church structure built by Eudocia Cyril of Scythopolis the archbishop summoned all the monks to the holy city overnight the total came to ten thousand monks. Since no church could hold so great a congregation, it was decided that all should assemble at the church of the holy protomartyr Stephen, which was capacious enough to receive the multitude Cyril of Scythopolis: The Lives of the Monks of Palestine. Tr. RM Price, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 99, p. 6. The Archaeological Record Archaeological Evidence at Site artifacts site excavation tomb typology cemetery layout radiocarbon dates regional excavations
Artifacts from Crypt Complex Fluoride Analysis Oil lamps w/burnt rims Broken glassware Byzantine designs Nails/spikes Iron cross Painted pottery Julie Sansoni -- Almond farmer The Biological Record The Skeletal Collection diet stature demography paleopathology occupational stress childhood adaptability Jennifer Richtsmeier -- veterinarian Rebeccah Sanders -- Ph.D., anthropology Aspects of Daily Life < How many individuals lived in the community? < How many men? How many women? < How tall were they? < How long did they live? < What can be reconstructed about daily activity patterns related to health, hygiene, diet, occupational stress? How Many In Community? Minimum Number of Individuals Bone Left Right prox dist prox dist Ulna 86 35 8 47 Humerus 35 93 38 72 Radius 64 5 62 46 Femur 00 09 93 88 Talus 9 96 Calcaneus 04 03 Temporal 76 77 Innominates 46 42
How Old Were They? How Many Men? Women? Sex Determination for the St. Stephen's Collection Using Metric and Non-metric Skeletal Markers Features Total n Male % Female n % Cranium Size of the browridge Size of the mastoid process Size of the nuchal crest Temporal line Robusticity of the mandible 8 99 7 62 88 77 90 64 6 87 95. 90.9 90. 98.4 98.9 4 9 7 4.9 9. 9.9.6. 38 06 27 03 7. 97.2 3 28.9 2.8 94 6 85 59 55 58 62.8 96.3 68.2 35 6 27 37.2 3.7 3.8 36 7 49 47 32 3 37 46 88.9 76.5 75.5 97.9 4 4 2. 23.5 24.5 2. 38 37 97.4 2.6 Humerus Humeral head diameter (vertical) Robusticity of the deltoid tuberosity Femur Femoral head diameter (vertical) Robusticity of the linea apera Bicondylar width Innominate Shape of the pubic bone Sciatic notch size and shape Auricular surface height Acetabulum size and shape Sacrum Sacrum width and curvature How Tall & Robust Were They? Size Comparisons Forensic Profile Daily Activity Patterns? < Over 5,000 skeletal elements < 99% of sexable remains are male < Adults lived on average into their mid 40s < Average height was between 5 6 and 5 8 with several significant outliers < Approximately /3 of remains are subadult diet stature demography Pliny the Elder Philo of Alexandria Flavius Josephus Dead Sea Scrolls Babatha archives paleopathology occupational stress childhood adaptability artifacts site excavation tomb typology cemetery layout radiocarbon dates regional excavations
Daily Activity Patterns? Femoral Condyle Pathologies < Kneeling < Odd Arm Pathology < Unusual Dental Wear Patterns Osteophytic lipping of femoral condyle Eburnation of patellar articular surface Calcaneous Pathologies Kneeling For??? Achille s Tendon Plantar Aponeurosis The Biocultural Model Genuflection Quote pilgrimage accounts liturgical records art & iconography regional comparisons legal & medical documents migration patterns "Without taking any rest, but staying awake all night long in vigil and doing genuflections in her chapel she departed the next morning very early in tears in order that freed from the world she could live the rest of her life in solitude." LIFE OF MELANIA (Vita Melaniae. SC 90, 35-37)
Genuflection Quote By day I would carefully observe the rule of prayer... and at night I would go to pray in the cave where the saintly Theodosius and the other holy fathers were buried. As I went down into the cave, I would make a hundred prostrations to God at each step...there were 8 steps." JOHN MOSCHUS - SPIRITUAL MEADOW (Prat. Spir. 05, CS 39.83 [PG 87.3.296-64]) Suffering & Piety The early centuries of the Christian empire... emphasized the new attitudes towards sickness and suffering, which combine the Stoic doctrines of indifference to the pains of the body with the idea of nobility of suffering and of, in some way, it being a test of one s faith. Suffering is to be more than endured, it is almost welcome. Nutton, Vivian. 984. From Galen to Alexander Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 38:8. Childhood Health & Adaptability Childhood Health & Adaptability < Young oblates? Numerous young females < School? A significant number of subadults were under 3 years old < Orphanage? Dental features show they were likely from the region Moderate number of enamel hypoplasias No real way to examine cribra orbitalia Your Contribution The Biocultural Record < Demographics < Stature/Robusticity < Daily Activity Patterns < Health < Diet < Migration diet stature demography paleopathology occupational stress childhood adaptability Pliny the Elder Philo of Alexandria Flavius Josephus Dead Sea Scrolls Babatha archives artifacts site excavation tomb typology cemetery layout radiocarbon dates regional excavations