Description
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology brings together expert work by leading scholars of the archaeology of Early Christianity and the Roman world in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. The thirty-four contributions to this volume survey Christian material culture and ground the history, culture, and society of the first seven centuries of Christianity in archaeological method, theory, and research. The essays emphasize the link between archaeological fieldwork, methods, and regional and national traditions in constructing our knowledge of the Early Church and Christian communities within the context of the ancient Mediterranean, Near East, and Europe.Three sweeping introductory essays provide historical perspectives on the archaeology of the Early Christian world. These are followed by a series of topical treatments that focus on monuments and environments ranging from Christian churches to catacombs, martyria, and baths, as well as classes of objects of religious significance such as ceramics, lamps, and icons. Finally, the volume locates the archaeology of the Early Christian world in fifteen regional studies stretching from Britain to Persia, highlighting the unique historical contexts that have shaped scholarly discussion across time and space. The thorough, carefully-researched essays offer the most intensive, state-of-the-art treatment of recent research into the archaeology of Early Christianity available.
Table of Contents
1. The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a FieldWilliam R. Caraher and David K. PettegrewPART I. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY2. Archaeology of the GospelsJames F. Strange3. New Testament Archaeology beyond the GospelsThomas W. Davis PART II. SACRED SPACE AND MORTUARY CONTEXTS4. The CatacombsVincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai5. MartyriaDavid L. Eastman6. Burials and Human Remains in Early Christian ContextSherry C. Fox and Paraskevi Tritsaroli7. ChurchesCharles Stewart8. The Archaeology of Early Monastic CommunitiesDarlene L. Brooks Hedstrom9. Baptisteries in Ancient Sites and RitesH. Richard Rutherford10. Baths, Christianity, and Bathing Culture in Late AntiquityDallas DeForestPART III. ART AND ARTIFACTS IN CONTEXT11. The Art of the CatacombsFabrizio Bisconti12. Visual Rhetoric of Early Christian ReliquariesGalit Noga-Banai13. An Anarchéologie of IconsGleen Peers14. Spolia, its Viewers, and the 'Victory of Christianity'Jon Michael Frey15. Early Christian Mosaics in ContextKaren C. Britt16. PotteryR. Scott Moore17. LampsMaria Parani18. StatuesTroels Myrup Kristensen19. Amulets and the Ritual Efficacy of Christian SymbolsRangar H. ClinePART IV. CHRISTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE20. Christian Archaeology in Palestine: the Roman and Byzantine PeriodsJoan E. Taylor21. JordanRobert Schick22. SyriaEmma Loosley23. The Church of the East until the 8th centuryStefan R. Hauser24. ArmeniaChristina Maranci25. The Holy Island: An Archaeology of Early Christian CyprusJody Michael Gordon and William R. Caraher26. Asia MinorPeter Talloen27. Community, Church and Conversion in the prefecture of Illyricum and the CycladesRebecca Sweetman28. The Early Christian Archaeology of the BalkansWilliam Bowden29. The Archaeology of Early Italian Churches in Context, AD 313-569Alexandra Chavarría30. The Christianization of Gaul: Buildings and TerritoriesBastien Lefebvre31. Britain and Ireland, AD 100-700David Petts32. Constructing Christian Landscapes in the Iberian Peninsula: The Archaeological Evidence (4th-6th centuries)Alexandra Chavarría33. Incorporating Christian communities in North Africa. Churches as bodies of communal historySusan T. Stevens34. Archaeology of Early Christianity in EgyptDarlene L. Brooks Hedstrom Index
