Conspicuous Consumption in Ancient Civilisations

One of the main stereotypes associated with archaeology is the discovery of ancient treasure, perpetuated by many works of archaeological fiction. Despite being primarily a caricature of an extremely varied discipline, these examples of rich grave goods or precious artefacts remain a vital element of exploring past civilisations, particularly in the Near East.

A prime example of this conspicuous consumption within Near Eastern Archaeology is the Royal Cemetery of Ur. The cemetery is located 200m outside of the site centre and holds 2000 graves. The grave goods at the site include a mixture of decedent material culture, from lapis lazuli to gold artefacts. One such treasure includes a gold dagger with a lapis lazuli handle. The presence of such material culture brings to light not only the high value of these, but the skill and craftsmanship involved in their creation.

Figure 1 — replica of gold and lapis lazuli dagger, currently in the British Museum

As well as this, the cemetery demonstrates the political significance of this opulence, and how ideology justified the social stratification in place. This is evident in particular due to the presence of human sacrifice at Ur, and death as a form of conspicuous consumption. It is thought that the bodies there are those of the king’s household, which suggests a display of status, wealth and power. Initially, Wooley’s excavation between 1922 and 1934 theorised mass suicide by poisoning, due to the presence of many cups around the bodies. This holds some merit, especially when considering the importance of religion and ideology in these societies. Alternatively, however, The British Museum has suggested death by blunt force trauma for some individuals, which is rather dubious. Regardless of these conflicting arguments, the sheer volume of individuals at the site is testament to the power of the elite and ideology.

Additionally, conspicuous consumption in ancient civilisations is often associated with religion. An example of this is at the site of Eridu in the south of modern Iraq. Here there is a large temple that was superimposed 16 times to form a ziggurat. The temple remains house complex clay mosaics and large columns, suggesting it would have been an intimidating structure.

Overall, these examples of conspicuous consumption are useful for archaeologists to understand the elites and social stratification in ancient civilisations, as well as specialisation and craftsmanship.

Written by Abi Akerman, DUAS secretary

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References

Van Buren, E. Douglas. “Excavations at Eridu.” Orientalia, vol. 17, no. 1, 1948, pp. 115–119

De Gruyter, Walter. ‘In Critical Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Art, pp 545 -568

Van De Mieroop, ‘A History of the Near East’

Winter, Irene J, ‘The Aesthetic Value of Lapis Lazuli in Mesopotamia’, pp 47–48

Cohen, Andrew C, ‘Death Rituals and the development of early Mesopotamian Kingship’ (2005) pp 67–73

Baadsgaard, Aubrey, Monge, Janet, Cox, Samantha, Zettler, Richard L, ‘Human sacrifice and intentional corpse preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur’, 2011