Pediment Blocks in the Valley of Apollonia Pisidia

Year 2019, Issue: 18, 209 - 231, 01.06.2019

Dies Van Der Lınde

Abstract

Funerary material in Roman Pisidia has survived in abundance. Yet, few scholars have embarked upon a comprehensive study of dispersed and frequently decontextualized funerary monuments. This article presents an analysis of a specific category of grave monuments: ‘pediment blocks’. The first section discusses the material, iconographic and epigraphic characteristics of these pediment blocks, followed by an analysis of their social and funerary context in the second section. In the third section, the pediment blocks are compared with similar grave monuments from Phrygia. Conclusively, it is argued that these pediment blocks were not independent grave markers, but should be seen as parts of a composite grave monument which functioned as the entrance to tumulus graves. These monuments constituted prominent and distinctive characteristics of the rural landscape of the Valley of Apollonia, whilst combining cultural elements derived from Greco-Roman, Phrygian and local origin.

Keywords

grave monuments, ‘pediment blocks’, funerary landscape, Roman Pisidia, Valley of Apollonia

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