Kinship Relations in Greek Necropoleis: Comparing Archaeological and Archaeogenetic Evidence

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Johanna Fabricius
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559834121

The project explores strategies for the construction of kinship as revealed by cemeteries of Greek cities from the Classical to Roman Imperial period (4th century BC to the 1st century AD). Specifically, this study focuses on two case studies: 1) the Classical-Hellenistic graves of the “Eckterrasse” of the Kerameikos necropolis in Athens (Attica); and 2) Hellenistic-Roman burial plots on the island of Kos (Dodecanese) in the eastern Mediterranean. A novel combination of approaches—theories from the field of New Kinship Studies together with archaeogenetic and bioarchaeological methods (aDNA, stable isotopes, dental calculus, radiocarbon dates)—will be applied to analyse a variety of sources: human remains from burials, burial assemblages, funerary architecture and monuments including related images and inscriptions, and ancient literary and epigraphical texts concerning conceptions of the family and inheritance law. This investigation will reveal the spatial organisation of cemeteries and family burial precincts in terms of kinship, age, gender, social status and ethnicity, and will also offer new insight into locally shaped logics of various discourses and practices concerning the production of kinship and relatedness in the ancient Greek world. Of particular interest is the question of the frequency of certain forms of constructing descent and marriage regulations, e.g., consanguineous marriages, the institution of epikleroi (heiress) or adoptions, as well as the mobility of men, women, resident foreigners (metics), and slaves. The overarching question is how the relationship between “official” and “practical kinship” (Pierre Bourdieu) can be described in different polis societies and how this does manifest itself in the sepulchral sphere. The holistic, source-comparative approach of the project will provide a basis for critical reflection on the potential and limits of aDNA analyses within Classical Studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Julia Gresky