Monks on the move: Evaluating pilgrimage to Byzantine St. Stephen's monastery using strontium isotopes

American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Susan Guise Sheridan, Lesley A Gregoricka

Abstract

Written and archaeological evidence indicates that migration, in the form of pilgrimage to Byzantine Palestine, was a major social phenomenon between the 5th and 7th centuries CE. Monasteries saw record growth at this time as pilgrims chose to stay in the region and take up religious life. A major influx of people to the region, with a corresponding growth in monastic vocations that led travelers to stay in the area, is not in question; however, the distant origins of pilgrims reflected in surviving texts may be an artifact of preservation, biased towards an elite minority. The Byzantine monastery of St. Stephen's provides an opportunity to study this question from a bioarchaeological perspective, given the excellent preservation of the human skeletal assemblage, a wealth of written works about the community as well as daily life in Byzantine Palestine, and a rich archaeological record for the site and region. An analysis of radiogenic strontium isotope values from the third molars of 22 individuals recovered from the St. Stephen's crypt complex was conducted to test whether those interred at the monastery were of local origin. Of those examined ( x¯= 0.7084 ± 0.0007, 1σ), 8 out of 22 (36%) exhibited (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios that...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 16, 2016·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Lesley A Gregoricka, Susan Guise Sheridan
Jan 21, 2017·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Susan Guise Sheridan
Dec 7, 2019·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Lesley A GregorickaSusan G Sheridan
Jan 8, 2020·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Margaret A Judd
Feb 24, 2021·American Journal of Physical Anthropology·Tracy K Betsinger, Sharon N DeWitte

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