By analyzing the topography of Selinous, a colonial foundation of the late seventh century BC, the chapter explores the way in which temple building and sacred architecture became subordinated to urban design. From the sixth century BC onward, Greek cult places and temples were increasingly seen as an expression of the urban rather than the natural landscape. This holds true for altars and temples at the center of cult places, but also for fountain houses that replaced or were built over natural fountains. The sacredness of a place was increasingly represented and communicated through monumental stone architecture. At the same time, the novel use of man-made images in Greek sanctuaries contributed to a radical change in which the presence of the gods was imagined and experienced. All this went along with a shift of power and agency from local groups to urban elites, who had the means to control the restructuring and reorganization of sacred landscapes. The violence of this shift is reflected in the iconography that tends to rationalize and sublimize violence against the non-Greek, non-urban, and non-male.

As early as the mid-nineteenth century, tangible evidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) was found in Egyptian mummies, indicating that these people must have experienced atherosclerosis in the same way as modern humans do (Czermak, 1852; Ruffer, 1921). It has been suggested that the origin of the condition among the Egyptian elites was their diet, given that these people consumed food rich in saturated fat (David et al., 2010). However, we do not possess much data on the non-elite individuals from the Nile Valley, as they could not afford mummification.

At the beginning of the sixth century BC, the Aphaia sanctuary on the island of Aegina underwent a radical transformation. What until then had been a local open-air cult place in the woody mountains of the western part of the island, where a female deity had been worshipped as early as the second millennium BC, became an architecturally structured sanctuary that conformed to the novel Doric architectural order. At the same time, a cult image made of ivory was set up in the newly built temple. The goddess, who had previously “shown herself” in the open grove that was associated with her presence, was now represented through a man-made image. In addition, a wall was built around the temple that separated the sacred precinct from the “profane” land outside the sanctuary. Around the same time, the island of Aegina became one of the most important trade centers in the Greek world. The book argues that the transformation of the Aphaia sanctuary on Aegina is typical of the larger area in which the Doric order emerged. This transformation was characterized by economic growth, urbanization, land reclamation, and colonization and prompted the Greeks to rethink their relationship with the gods who inhabited the land.

Computed tomography (CT) is transforming our understanding of mummification in ancient Egypt, revealing a complex evolution of the preparation of the body for its journey to the afterlife and the methods used to preserve it (Ikram & Dodson, 1998; Taylor, 2001, 2010; Aufderheide, 2003; Antoine & Vandenbeusch, 2021). For example, new analyses and large-scale reviews of the treatment of the brain and organs have highlighted previously unappreciated temporal and regional variations, as well as differences according to status (Wade et al., 2011; Wade & Nelson, 2013a, 2013b; Nelson & Wade, 2015; Antoine & Vandenbeusch, 2021).

The Horus and other research teams have found that atherosclerosis is not uncommon in ancient people through the study of their mummified remains (Murphy et al., 2003; Allam et al., 2009, 2011; Thompson et al., 2013, 2014). However, some have postulated that traditional hunter-gatherers are in some ways healthier than modern people and that they had very little atherosclerotic disease (O’Keefe et al., 2010).

The very high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in populations today makes their study unavoidable, necessary and of paramount importance in forensic sciences. Knowledge about pathological conditions affecting a skeletonised individual is crucial information for reconstructing the biological profile of a victim of crime and may be used in the individualisation and identification of an unknown deceased person (Cunha, 2006). In addition, a correct diagnosis of atherosclerosis in skeletal remains may provide information on the cause of death of the individual.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, accounting for around one-third of all deaths overall in 2019 (17.9 million; World Health Organization, 2021). Since then, we have also learnt that there are worse outcomes for people with underlying CVD comorbidities who contract COVID-19: they have an increased risk of death (Nishiga et al., 2020). CVDs are still challenging to manage in populations worldwide, and their continuing presence resonates with many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, not least good health and well-being.

The sanctuary of Artemis on the island of Korkyra, modern Corfu, is presented as a case study of the relationship between the changing environment and the monumentalization of Greek sanctuaries through Doric stone architecture. Although the sculptural decoration of the Artemis temple, which is one of the earliest Doric temples known so far, is relatively well preserved, modern scholars disagree on the interpretation of the sculptures. The question of how the representations of Medusa and other mythological figures on the pediments and metopes related to the divinity worshipped in the sanctuary and to the local context are particularly controversial. However, as the chapter argues, the builders of the temple had no interest in highlighting this relationship in the first place. The temple and its sculptural decoration were meant to express Panhellenic values and standards rather than local traditions. Thus, the local elite of Korkyra presented themselves as part of a Panhellenic elite network. At the same time, the elite showed the local population that they were taking care of the religious landscape in an unstable and radically transformative situation.

The vascular system, as it passes through grooves and foramina along the surfaces of bones, can leave impressions on the skeleton. The areas where bones and vessels come into close contact can allow palaeopathologists to investigate vascular variations and pathological changes long after the loss of any soft tissues. For example, abdominal (Diekerhof et al., 2002; Ando et al., 2003) and thoracic (Sheeran & Sclafani, 2000; Takahashi et al., 2007) aneurysms can lead to lesions on the vertebrae.