Description:
This study describes and interprets the graves and human remains of Roman and Byzantine date recovered by excavation between 1954 and 1976 in several locales around the Isthmian Sanctuary and the succeeding fortifications. This material provides important evidence for both death and life in the Greek countryside during the Late Roman to Early Byzantine periods. Examination of burial within the local settlement, comparative study of mortuary behavior, and analysis of skeletal morphology, ancient demography, oral health and paleopathology all contribute to a picture of the rural Corinthians over this transitional era as interactive, resilient and modestly innovative.

Winner of the 2012-2013 CAMWS Outstanding Publication Award.

About the Author: Joseph L. Rife is Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Vanderbilt University.

Reviews:
"Rife is to be commended for the clear and well-organized presentation of a mammoth corpus of fieldwork and research. His careful and precise prose is augmented by copious illustrations of the highest quality." Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver, CJ-Online 2013.02.02

". . . Isthmia IX presents a new standard in the publication and presentation of burials and funerary material from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. What makes this volume so exceptional is the depth of material (both archaeological and bioarchaeological) covered by a single author." Edward M. Schoolman, BMCR 2013.04.21

"Rife provides an extremely detailed monograph that not only presents mortuary and skeletal information for further comparative study, but also attempts to confront larger goals of integrating mortuary archaeological and bioarchaeological data, interpreting the social elements of the burial program at Isthmia, and understanding the site within the context of larger Corinthian social networks." Megan A. Perry, AJA 120.1 (2016)