T. Tartaron, M. Guterres and students (2004)

The research program of KCP applies a new approach to the study of Greek cemeteries that documents and interprets funerary rituals as expressions of social structure. This approach has four stages:

• First, we integrate the techniques of archaeology, art history, anthropology and geology to document the physical remains and natural setting of the cemetery.
• Second, we reconstruct funerary rituals from their material residues as documented by integrated techniques.
• Third, we explore the relationship between social structure and funerary rituals as reconstructed from their material residues. A social structure is a network of relations in society that is variously defined by hierarchical roles, group memberships, and ideologies. Funerary rituals across cultures serve as an arena for the assertion and contestation of separate identities within a social structure.
• Fourth, we trace the diachronic and regional variation in social structure as expressed in ritual activities performed in cemeteries.