Secular Byzantine Women : Art, Archaeology, and Ethnography of Female Material Culture From Late Roman to Post-Byzantine Times

__Secular Byzantine Women__ examines female material culture during the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine eras, in order to better understand the lives of ordinary and humble women during this period. Although recent scholarship has contributed greatly to our knowledge of Byzantine and medieval women, such research has largely focused on female saints, imperial figures, and prominent women of local communities. But what about secular and non-privileged women? Bringing together scholars from various fields, including archaeology, history, theology, anthropology and ethnography, this volume seeks to answer this important question. Chapters examine the everyday lives of lay women, including their working routines, their clothing, and precious possessions. This book will appeal to scholars and students of Byzantine history, art and archaeology, as well as those interested in gender and material culture studies. This book examines female material culture during the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine eras to better understand the lives of ordinary and humble women during this period. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 List of figures, plans, maps, tables 10 List of contributors 18 Preface 20 List of abbreviations 26 Introduction 28 Part I: Modest vanity, social identity 38 1 Women’s accessories from a bath house on Santorini (Thira), Cyclades (2th–4th centuries) 40 2 Unheard voices of Early Byzantine girls. On the custom of adorning secular girls with earrings, as seen through the evidence of burials 59 3 Not even a band on my finger? Rings of non-elite women 72 Part II: Working girls 108 4 Women and beekeeping – a forbidden liaison (?). Scattered evidence with emphasis on Christian era (Byzantine - Medieval culture) 110 5 Eve at the forge: Byzantine women and manual labour. Comments on a rare iconographical theme and its connection to reality 125 6 Female family status during the Late Byzantine period; evidence from MS Parisinus graecus 135 141 7 Ordinary women in Byzantine funerary contexts from Greece; a view from the bones 160 Part III: Earthly delights, holy concerns 178 8 The ̔transcendentalʼ role of woman in Early Patristics (theological and philosophical insights) 180 9 Interpreting the female dances of “Ainoi” (Laudes) in the Post-Byzantine painting 190 Part IV An ethnographic glimpse 212 10 Illustrating the everyday life of women in Mani during the Post-Byzantine period. A small contribution to the subject 214 11 Womens’ work in pre-industrial rural Greece. An ethnographic point of view 228 Index 242 Women’s,Accessories;,Non-elite,Women;,Medieval,Culture;,Byzantine,Women;,Holy,Concerns;,Transcendental,Role Women’s Accessories,Non-elite Women,Medieval Culture,Byzantine Women,Holy Concerns,Transcendental Role "Secular Byzantine Women examines female material culture during the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine eras, in order to better understand the lives of ordinary and humble women during this period. Although recent scholarship has contributed greatly to our knowledge of Byzantine and medieval women, such research has largely focused on female saints, imperial figures, and prominent women of local communities. But what about secular and non-privileged women? Bringing together scholars from various fields, including archaeology, history, theology, anthropology and ethnography, this volume seeks to answer this important question. Chapters examine the everyday lives of lay women, including their working routines, their clothing, and precious possessions. This book will appeal to scholars and students of Byzantine history, art and archaeology, as well as those interested in gender and material culture studies"-- Provided by publisher Secular Byzantine Women examines female material culture during the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine eras, to better understand the lives of ordinary and humble women during this period. Although recent scholarship has contributed greatly to our knowledge of Byzantine and medieval women, such research has largely focused on female saints, imperial figures, and prominent women of local communities. But what about secular and non-privileged women? Bringing together scholars from various fields, including archaeology, history, theology, anthropology, and ethnography, this volume seeks to answer this important question. The chapters examine the everyday lives of lay women, including their working routines, their clothing, and precious possessions. This book will appeal to scholars and students of Byzantine history, art, and archaeology, as well as those interested in gender and material culture studies. This book examines female material culture during the Late Roman, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine eras, in order to better understand the lives of humble women during this period. It will appeal to scholars and students of Byzantine history, art and archaeology, as well as those interested in gender and material culture studies.