The construction of personhood in Veneto (Italy) between the late Bronze Age and the early Roman period
This research offers a theoretically informed application of the concept of 'personhood' to archaeology by analysing the rich funerary record of Veneto (1050 BC - AD 25). Anthropologically, âpersonhoodâ is understood as a moral categorization discriminating between the individuals given full or partial membership in society and those denied it. Today, the ascription of personhood to subjects such as foetuses and brain-dead patients is an issue painfully at the core of debates over human rights, female reproductive concerns and the acceptable limits of the control that states and individuals can achieve over the human body. Within this framework, I explore whether practices relating to personhood in 1st millennium BC Veneto â albeit concerned with different issues than those of modern Western cultures â were equally embedded in a social milieu entailing elite control over subordinates, reproduction of inequalities and exclusion of marginal individuals from the centre of society. My argument is that Venetic cemeteries were ritual spaces actively structured to enhance inequality ideologically. Therefore, I argue that differences in funerary treatment offer important glimpses into the degree of social
Perego, E. M.
The construction of personhood in Veneto (Italy) between the late Bronze Age and the early Roman period. This research offers a theoretically informed application of the concept of 'personhood' to archaeology by analysing the rich funerary record of Veneto (1050 BC - AD 25). Anthropologically, âpersonhoodâ is understood as a moral categorization discriminating between the individuals given full or partial membership in society and those denied it. Today, the ascription of personhood to subjects such as foetuses and brain-dead patients is an issue painfully at the core of debates over human rights, female reproductive concerns and the acceptable limits of the control that states and individuals can achieve over the human body. Within this framework, I explore whether practices relating to personhood in 1st millennium BC Veneto â albeit concerned with different issues than those of modern Western cultures â were equally embedded in a social milieu entailing elite control over subordinates, reproduction of inequalities and exclusion of marginal individuals from the centre of society. My argument is that Venetic cemeteries were ritual spaces actively structured to enhance inequality ideologically. Therefore, I argue that differences in funerary treatment offer important glimpses into the degree of social
construction personhood italy late_bronze age_early roman_period offer theoretically inform application concept personhood archaeology analyse rich funerary record personhood understood moral categorization discriminate individual give_full partial membership society deny today ascription personhood subject brain dead patient issue core debate human_right female reproductive concern acceptable limit control state individual achieve human_body within_framework explore_whether practice relate personhood albeit concern different issue modern_western culture equally embed social milieu entail elite control subordinate reproduction inequality exclusion marginal individual centre society argument cemetery ritual space actively structure enhance inequality ideologically therefore argue difference funerary_treatment offer important glimpse degree social