Dealing with the Dead in Roman Seleukeia Sidera: reconstructing funerary culture from ex situ material

This article presents a comprehensive description and analysis of the Roman period
funerary materials from Seleukeia Sidera in Pisidia found outside of their original
context. The sarcophagi, ostothekai, stelae, and busts in this collection were
brought to the regional museum in past decades or were found during more recent
archaeological surveys. This article offers a full catalogue of the funerary items,
many of which are unpublished. Despite the relatively modest number of items,
the collection allows us to reconstruct funerary customs at the site and to investigate
processes of identity-formation in the burial grounds. We highlight the significant
research potential of such ex-situ materials and treat them as one assemblage,
integrating their textual, visual, and physical components. Our article is intended
to demonstrate the value hidden in these so-called legacy datasets, thereby intersecting
with debates on curation issues of heritage institutions in Turkey.