THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF

EARLY

CHRISTIAN

ARCHAEOLOGY

Edited by

DAVID K. PETTEGREW,

WILLIAM R. CARAHER,

and

THOMAS W. DAVIS

OXFORD

university press

OXFORD

university press

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pettegrew, David K., editor. | Caraher, William R. (William Rodney), 1972– editor. | Davis, Thomas W., 1956– editor.

Title: The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology / edited by David K. Pettegrew, William R. Caraher, and Thomas W. Davis.

Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018012949 (print) | LCCN 2018033744 (ebook) | ISBN 9780199369058 (updf) | ISBN 9780199369065 (Oxford Handbooks Online) | ISBN 9780190917562 (epub) | ISBN 9780199369041 (bb: alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian antiquities.

Classification: LCC BR131 (ebook) | LCC BR131 .O94 2018 (print) | DDC 270.109/009—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012949

For those who introduced us to the Ancient and Early Christian World

Timothy E. Gregory, Thomas Kay, and Walt Stevenson

Acknowledgments

The idea for this handbook came to us in early summer 2012 in the midst of a busy excavation season near Larnaca, Cyprus. Bill Caraher had published a blog reflection on Kimberly Bowes’ recent state-of-the field publication on early Christian archaeology in the journal Religion Compass, and Stefan Vranka of Oxford University Press invited us to put together a handbook on the subject. This opportunity presented a chance to fill a lacuna in modern Anglophone scholarship with a collection of fulsome essays highlighting how archaeology has contributed to historical studies of early Christianity.

The work itself unfolded over the course of years through the labors and talents of scholars, editors, and publishers. Our contributors shared their time and expertise in Roman and Late Antique material culture and its intersections with early Christianity. ...