Sepolture, rituali e comunità nei secoli IV-VI d.C. Il cimitero paleocristiano e bizantino di Vaste (Puglia meridionale)

Starting in 1991 in the inland of Otranto, an important Palaeochristian and Byzantine complex was brought to light during the excavations of the University of Salento, led by Francesco D’Andria, and subsequently by Giovanni Mastronuzzi and Valeria Melissano. This book focuses on the study of the cemetery scattered around a martyrium church built in the second half of the 4th century AD. Every tomb has been analysed and presented: grave goods and bioarchaeological data contribute to the reconstruction of a community of the southern Apulia between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. Particular attention has been given to the study of rituals looking at the baptismal symbology, the organisation of funerary meals (refrigerium), the use of coins amongst grave-goods, and then attempts to reconstruct the social-persona. A number of appendices integrate the data and show some of the methodological aspects of the work.