Being a royal or a noble at death : Funerary expressions of social status in Macedonia

Sammanfattning: This thesis discusses the funerary expression of social status in Macedonia during the 4th century BCE. Specifically, this thesis aims to examine the royal and the noble status and the way this is expressed in death, by making a distinction between royals and nobles. The major questions of this research concern their differences and their similarities, as well as any potential indicators of each one. As part of the material, the thesis has employed four tombs to study that come from three cemeterial areas. The two first tombs are examined as royal tombs and are located in the ancient area of Aegae, located in the modern area of Vergina, while the other two tombs which are examined as noble tombs are located in the modern area of Hagios Athanasios and Derveni. By focusing on the wider cemeterial area, as well as on their architec-ture, their decoration, the grave goods and the human remains, the thesis is treating the archaeological assemblage as a holistic reflection of the social status of the de-ceased, assuming that wealthy tombs should be in accordance with the social ranking of the deceased. However, this thesis also takes into consideration other factors that might affect that funeral assemblage, such as the deceased’s or the family choices. But even despite this choice for planning to have a death as somebody wanted to, the thesis considers that having a wealthy tomb and burial mean that it was affordable and again in this case the funerary assemblage is an aspect by which the social status of the deceased can be illustrated. Finally, the thesis concludes by discussing that straight interpretations of what is considered to be of royal nature appear to be com-plicated and factors such as whoever wanted could have a prominent burial, blur the line between royals and nobles at death.