The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology

David K. Pettegrew is a scholar of the ancient Mediterranean and Early Christian world. He has participated in and directed archaeological research programs in the United States, Greece, and Cyprus, and authored articles and books on Greek, Roman, and Late Antique cities and landscapes.William R. Caraher is an associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota. His interests include the archaeology of Late Antique and Early Christian worlds and the archaeology of contemporary America.Thomas W. Davis is an archaeologist with more than three decades of field experience in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and the United States. A specialist in the New Testament world of Paul, he served as Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) in Nicosia, Cyprus.

• 1. The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field William R. Caraher and David K. Pettegrew PART I. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY2. Archaeology of the Gospels James F. Strange3. New Testament Archaeology beyond the Gospels Thomas W. Davis PART II. SACRED SPACE AND MORTUARY CONTEXTS4. The Catacombs Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai5. Martyria David L. Eastman6. Burials and Human Remains in Early Christian Context Sherry C. Fox and Paraskevi Tritsaroli7. Churches Charles Stewart8. The Archaeology of Early Monastic Communities Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom9. Baptisteries in Ancient Sites and Rites H. Richard Rutherford10. Baths, Christianity, and Bathing Culture in Late Antiquity Dallas DeForest PART III. ART AND ARTIFACTS IN CONTEXT11. The Art of the Catacombs Fabrizio Bisconti12. Visual Rhetoric of Early Christian Reliquaries Galit Noga-Banai13. An Anarchéologie of Icons Gleen Peers14. Spolia, its Viewers, and the 'Victory of Christianity' Jon Michael Frey15. Early Christian Mosaics in Context Karen C. Britt16. Pottery R. Scott Moore17. Lamps Maria Parani18. Statues Troels Myrup Kristensen19. Amulets and the Ritual Efficacy of Christian Symbols Rangar H. Cline PART IV. CHRISTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE20. Christian Archaeology in Palestine: the Roman and Byzantine Periods Joan E. Taylor21. Jordan Robert Schick22. Syria Emma Loosley23. The Church of the East until the 8th century Stefan R. Hauser24. Armenia Christina Maranci25. The Holy Island: An Archaeology of Early Christian Cyprus Jody Michael Gordon and William R. Caraher26. Asia Minor Peter Talloen27. Community, Church and Conversion in the prefecture of Illyricum and the Cyclades Rebecca Sweetman28. The Early Christian Archaeology of the Balkans William Bowden29. The Archaeology of Early Italian Churches in Context, AD 313-569 Alexandra Chavarría30. The Christianization of Gaul: Buildings and Territories Bastien Lefebvre31. Britain and Ireland, AD 100-700 David Petts32. Constructing Christian Landscapes in the Iberian Peninsula: The Archaeological Evidence (4th-6th centuries) Alexandra Chavarría33. Incorporating Christian communities in North Africa. Churches as bodies of communal history Susan T. Stevens34. Archaeology of Early Christianity in Egypt Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom Index

Oxford remains at the vanguard of well-researched topical summaries. Pettegrew, Caraher, and Davis are to be commended for offering an impressive range of interdisciplinary voices and expanding both the thematic and geographical horizons of archaeological investigations into Christian origins.