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| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death and Burial Michael Parker Pearson, 1999 This book reviews the latest research in this field, and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to rapid advances in our understanding of life and death in the distant past.. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial Sarah Tarlow, Liv Nilsson Stutz, 2013-06-06 The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial reviews the current state of mortuary archaeology and its practice, highlighting its often contentious place in the modern socio-politics of archaeology. It contains forty-four chapters which focus on the history of the discipline and its current scientific techniques and methods. Written by leading, international scholars in the field, it derives its examples and case studies from a wide range of time periods, such as the middle palaeolithic to the twentieth century, and geographical areas which include Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. Combining up-to-date knowledge of relevant archaeological research with critical assessments of the theme and an evaluation of future research trajectories, it draws attention to the social, symbolic, and theoretical aspects of interpreting mortuary archaeology. The volume is well-illustrated with maps, plans, photographs, and illustrations and is ideally suited for students and researchers. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death Robert Chapman, Ian Kinnes, Klavs Randsborg, 1981-10-22 This volume brings together studies on the disposal of the dead and the archaeological research potential of found remains. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Cremation and the Archaeology of Death Jessica Cerezo-Román, Anna Wessman, Howard Williams, 2017 The fiery transformation of the dead is replete in our popular culture and Western modernity's death ways, and yet it is increasingly evident how little this disposal method is understood by archaeologists and students of cognate disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. In this regard, the archaeological study of cremation has much to offer. Cremation is a fascinating and widespread theme and entry-point in the exploration of the variability of mortuary practices among past societies. Seeking to challenge simplistic narratives of cremation in the past and present, the studies in this volume seek to confront and explore the challenges of interpreting the variability of cremation by contending with complex networks of modern allusions and imaginings of cremations past and present and ongoing debates regarding how we identify and interpret cremation in the archaeological record. Using a series of original case studies, the book investigates the archaeological traces of cremation in a varied selection of prehistoric and historic contexts from the Mesolithic to the present in order to explore cremation from a practice-oriented and historically situated perspective. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death in Roman Syria Lidewijde de Jong, 2017-07-20 This book sheds new light on funerary customs in Roman Syria, offering a novel way of understanding its provincial culture. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death in Post-medieval Europe Sarah Tarlow, 2015-01-01 Historical burial grounds are an enormous archaeological resource and have the potential to inform studies not only of demography or the history of disease and mortality, but also histories of the body, of religious and other beliefs about death, of changing social relationships, values and aspirations. In the last decades, the intensive urban development and a widespread legal requirement to undertake archaeological excavation of historical sites has led to a massive increase in the number of post-medieval graveyards and burial places that have been subjected to archaeological investigation. The archaeology of the more recent periods, which are comparatively well documented, is no less interesting and important an area of study than prehistoric periods. This volume offers a range of case studies and reflections on aspects of death and burial in post-medieval Europe. Looking at burial goods, the spatial aspects of cemetery organisation and the way that the living interact with the dead, contributors who have worked on sites from Central, North and West Europe present some of their evidence and ideas. The coherence of the volume is maintained by a substantial integrative introduction by the editor, Professor Sarah Tarlow. “This book is a ‘first’ and a necessary one. It is an exciting and far-ranging collection of studies on post-medieval burial practice across Europe that will most certainly be used extensively” Professor Howard Williams |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Gender and the Archaeology of Death Bettina Arnold, Nancy L. Wicker, 2001-06-26 Burials are places where archaeologists reasonably expect gendered ideologies and practices to play out in the archaeological record. Yet only modest progress has been made in teasing out gender from these mortuary contexts. In this volume, methods for doing so are presented, cases of successful gender theorizing from mortuary data presented, and comparisons made between European and Americanist traditions in this kind of work. Cases are broad in temporal and geographic scope—from Inuit burials in Alaska and Oneota mortuary rituals to Viking Scandinavia, Neolithic China and Iron Age Britain. Methods for identifying and analyzing gender are suggested for cultures at various levels of social complexity with or without documentary or ethnoarchaeological evidence to assist in the analysis. A volume of great interest for those attempting to develop an archaeology of gender. Visit Bettina Arnold's web page |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of the Dead Henri Duday, Anna Maria Cipriani, John Pearce, 2009-12-01 Henri Duday is Director of Research for CNRS at the University of Bordeaux. The Archaeology of the Dead is based on an intensive specialist course in burial archaeology given by Duday in Rome in November 2004. The primary aim of the project was to contribute to the development of common procedures for excavation, data collection and study of Roman cemeteries of the imperial period. Translated into English by Anna Maria Cipriani and John Pearce, this book looks at the way in which the analysis of skeletons can allow us to re-discover the lives of people who came before us and inform us of their view of death. Duday throughly examines the means at our disposal to allow the dead to speak, as well as identifying the pitfalls that may deceive us. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Children, Death and Burial Eileen Murphy, Mélie Le Roy, 2017-08-31 Children, Death and Burials assembles a panorama of studies with a focus on juvenile burials; the 16 papers have a wide geographic and temporal breadth and represent a range of methodological approaches. All have a similar objective in mind, however, namely to understand how children were treated in death by different cultures in the past; to gain insights concerning the roles of children of different ages in their respective societies and to find evidence of the nature of past adult–child relationships and interactions across the life course. The contextualisation and integration of the data collected, both in the field and in the laboratory, enables more nuanced understandings to be gained in relation to the experiences of the young in the past. A broad range of issues are addressed within the volume, including the inclusion/exclusion of children in particular burial environments and the impact of age in relation to the place of children in society. Child burials clearly embody identity and ‘the domestic child’, ‘the vulnerable child’, ‘the high status child’, ‘the cherished child’, ‘the potential child’, ‘the ritual child’ and the ‘political child’, and combinations thereof, are evident throughout the narratives. Investigation of the burial practices afforded to children is pivotal to enlightenment in relation to key facets of past life, including the emotional responses shown towards children during life and in death, as well as an understanding of their place within the social strata and ritual activities of their societies. An important new collection of papers by leading researchers in funerary archaeology, examining the particular treatment of juvenile burials in the past. In particular focuses on the expression of varying status and identity of children in the funerary archaeological record as a key to understanding the place of children in different societies. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Public Archaeology of Death Howard Williams, Benedict Wills-Eve, Jennifer Osborne, 2019 Foreword / Jodie Lewis -- Dead relevant : introducing the public archaeology of death / Howard Williams -- The St Patrick's Chapel excavation project : public engagement with the rescue excavation of an early medieval cemetery in south west Wales / Marion Shiner, Katie A. Hemer and Rhiannon Comeau -- Death's diversity : the case of Llangollen Museum / Suzanne Evans and Howard Williams -- Displaying the deviant : Sutton Hoo's Sand people / Madeline Walsh and Howard Williams -- Grave expectations : burial posture in popular and museum representations / Sian Mui -- Photographing the dead : images in public mortuary archaeology / Chiara Bolchini -- Death on canvas : artistic reconstructions in Viking age mortuary archaeology / Leszek Gardeła -- Envisioning cremation : art and archaeology / Aaron Watson and Howard Williams -- Controversy surrounding human remains from the First World War / Sam Munsch -- Here lies ZOMBIESLAYER2000, may he rest in pieces : mortuary archaeology in MMOS, MMORPGS, and MOBAS / Rachael Nicholson -- Death's drama : mortuary practice in Vikings season 1-4 / Howard Williams -- Afterword / Karina Croucher |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Burial and Death in Colonial North America Robyn S. Lacy, 2020-09-09 This book explores the relationship and organization of 17th Century burial landscapes within their associated settlements and the wider setting of colonial northeast British North America to provide readers with a more holistic understanding of settlers’ relationship with mortality. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death and Burial in the Roman World J. M. C. Toynbee, 1996-10-31 The most comprehensive book on Roman burial practices—now available in paperback Never before available in paperback, J. M. C. Toynbee's study is the most comprehensive book on Roman burial practices. Ranging throughout the Roman world from Rome to Pompeii, Britain to Jerusalem—Toynbee's book examines funeral practices from a wide variety of perspectives. First, Toynbee examines Roman beliefs about death and the afterlife, revealing that few Romans believed in the Elysian Fields of poetic invention. She then describes the rituals associated with burial and mourning: commemorative meals at the gravesite were common, with some tombs having built-in kitchens and rooms where family could stay overnight. Toynbee also includes descriptions of the layout and finances of cemeteries, the tomb types of both the rich and poor, and the types of grave markers and monuments as well as tomb furnishings. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death in the Ancient Near East Stuart Campbell, Anthony Green, 1995 The conference in Manchester in 1992 which this book came out of was organised to raise the profile of the study of mortuary remains in the Ancient Near East. Thirty papers from the conference are published here, covering a wide variety of regions and periods, from Epipalaeolithic to modern. Many different aspects are examined: physical anthropology, burial goods, social structure, ethoarchaeology, etc. This volume has a wide relevance not only to the areas specifically addressed, but also in the interpretation of burial remains and the evolution of society. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death Rituals and Social Order in the Ancient World Colin Renfrew, Michael J. Boyd, Iain Morley, 2016 This volume, with essays by leading archaeologists and prehistorians, considers how prehistoric humans attempted to recognise, understand and conceptualise death. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death, Mourning, and Burial Antonius C. G. M. Robben, 2009-02-04 In Death, Mourning, and Burial, an indispensable introduction to the anthropology of death, readers will find a rich selection of some of the finest ethnographic work on this fascinating topic. Comprised of six sections that mirror the social trajectory of death: conceptualizations of death; death and dying; uncommon death; grief and mourning; mortuary rituals; and remembrance and regeneration Includes canonical readings as well as recent studies on topics such as organ donation and cannibalism Designed for anyone concerned with issues of death and dying, as well as: violence, terrorism, war, state terror, organ theft, and mortuary rituals Serves as a text for anthropology classes, as well as providing a genuinely cross-cultural perspective to all those studying death and dying |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Death and Burial Michael Parker Pearson, 1999 This is the official guide to the theory test for drivers of large goods vehicles, including guidance on the new hazard perception element of the theory test. This updated 2003 edition contains details of where and when tests can be taken, guidance on how the new test works and examples of hazard perception questions. It also provides advice on safe driving practice and explanations of all the correct answers by the people who set the test, the Driving Standards Agency. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Archaeologists and the Dead Howard Williams, Melanie Giles, 2016 This volume addresses the relationship between archaeologists and the dead, through the many dimensions of their relationships: in the field (through practical and legal issues), in the lab (through their analysis and interpretation), and in their written, visual and exhibitionary practice--disseminated to a variety of academic and public audiences. Written from a variety of perspectives, its authors address the experience, effect, ethical considerations, and cultural politics of working with mortuary archaeology. Whilst some papers reflect institutional or organizational approaches, others are more personal in their view: creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues that have hitherto often remained unspoken among the discipline. Reframing funerary archaeologists as death-workers of a kind, the contributors reflect on their own experience to provide both guidance and inspiration to future practitioners, arguing strongly that we have a central role to play in engaging the public with themes of mortality and commemoration, through the lens of the past. Spurred by the recent debates in the UK, papers from Scandinavia, Austria, Italy, the US, and the mid-Atlantic, frame these issues within a much wider international context that highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which this work takes place. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Sea Their Graves David J. Stewart, 2019-04-08 Like other groups with dangerous occupations, mariners have developed a close-knit culture bound by loss and memory. Death regularly disrupts the fabric of this culture and necessitates actions designed to mend its social structure. From the ritual of burying a body at sea to the creation of memorials to honor the missing, these events tell us a great deal about how sailors see their world. Based on a study of more than 2,100 gravestones and monuments in North America and the United Kingdom erected between the seventeenth and late twentieth centuries, David Stewart expands the use of nautical archaeology into terrestrial environments. He focuses on those who make their living at sea--one of the world's oldest and most dangerous occupations--to examine their distinct folkloric traditions, beliefs, and customs regarding death, loss, and remembrance. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Bronze Age Britain Michael Parker Pearson, 2021-01-29 During the Neolithic and Bronze Age - a period covering some 4,000 years from the beginnings of farming by stone-using communities to the end of the era in which bronze was an important material for weapons and tools - the face of Britain changed profoundly, from a forest wilderness to a large patchwork of open ground and managed woodland. The axe was replaced as a key symbol, first by the dagger and finally by the sword. The houses of the living came to supplant the tombs of the dead as the most permanent features in the landscape. In this fascinating book, eminent archeologist Michael Parker Pearson looks at the ways in which we can interpret the challenging and tantalising evidence from this prehistoric era. He also examines the various arguments and current theories of archeologist about these times. Drawing on recent discoveries and research, and illustrated with numerous maps, plans, reconstructions and photographs, this book shows what life was like and how it changed during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Merovingian Mortuary Archaeology and the Making of the Early Middle Ages Bonnie Effros, 2003-03-03 Clothing, jewelry, animal remains, ceramics, coins, and weaponry are among the artifacts that have been discovered in graves in Gaul dating from the fifth to eighth century. Those who have unearthed them, from the middle ages to the present, have speculated widely on their meaning. This authoritative book makes a major contribution to the study of death and burial in late antique and early medieval society with its long overdue systematic discussion of this mortuary evidence. Tracing the history of Merovingian archaeology within its cultural and intellectual context for the first time, Effros exposes biases and prejudices that have colored previous interpretations of these burial sites and assesses what contemporary archaeology can tell us about the Frankish kingdoms. Working at the intersection of history and archaeology, and drawing from anthropology and art history, Effros emphasizes in particular the effects of historical events and intellectual movements on French and German antiquarian and archaeological studies of these grave goods. Her discussion traces the evolution of concepts of nationhood, race, and culture and shows how these concepts helped shape an understanding of the past. Effros then turns to contemporary multidisciplinary methodologies and finds that we are still limited by the types of information that can be readily gleaned from physical and written sources of Merovingian graves. For example, since material evidence found in the graves of elite families and particularly elite men is more plentiful and noteworthy, mortuary goods do not speak as directly to the conditions in which women and the poor lived. The clarity and sophistication with which Effros discusses the methods and results of European archaeology is a compelling demonstration of the impact of nationalist ideologies on a single discipline and of the struggle toward the more pluralistic vision that has developed in the post-war years. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Living Through the Dead Maureen Carroll, Jane Rempel, 2011 This volume investigates the archaeology of death and commemoration through thematically linked case studies drawn from the Classical world. These investigations stress the processes of burial and commemoration as inherently social and designed for an audience, and they explore the meaning and importance attached to preserving memory. While previous investigations of Greek and Roman death and burial have tended to concentrate on period- or regionally-specific sets of data, this volume instead focuses on a series of topical connections that highlight important facets of death and commemoration significant to the larger Classical world. Living through the dead investigates the subject of death and commemoration from a diverse set of archaeologically informed approaches, including visual reception, detailed analysis of excavated remains, landscape, and post-classical reflections and draws on artefactual, documentary and pictorial evidence. The nine papers present recent research by some of the leading voices on the subject, as well as some fresh perspectives. Case studies come from Thermopylae, the Bosporan kingdom, Athens, Republican Rome, Pompeii and Egypt. As a collected volume, they provide thematically linked investigations of key issues in ritual, memory and (self)presentation associated with death and burial in the Classical period. As such, this volume will be of particular interest to postgraduate students and academics with specialist interests in the archaeology of the Classical world and also more broadly, as a source of comparative material, to people working on issues related to the archaeology of death and commemoration. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Transformation by Fire Gabriel Cooney, 2014-11-27 Transformation by Fire offers a current assessment of the archaeological research on the widespread social practice of cremation. Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney chart a path for the development of interpretive archaeology surrounding this complex social process. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Cremation Tim Thompson, 2015-03-31 Human societies have disposed of their dead in a variety of ways. However, while considerable attention has been paid to bodies that were buried, comparatively little work has been devoted to understanding the nature of cremated remains, despite their visibility through time. It has been argued that this is the result of decades of misunderstanding regarding the potential information that this material holds, combined with properties that make burned bone inherently difficult to analyse. As such, there is a considerable body of knowledge on the concepts and practices of inhumation yet our understanding of cremation ritual and practice is by comparison, woefully inadequate. This timely volume therefore draws together the inventive methodology that has been developed for this material and combines it with a fuller interpretation of the archaeological funerary context. It demonstrates how an innovative methodology, when applied to a challenging material, can produce new and exciting interpretations of archaeological sites and funerary contexts. The reader is introduced to the nature of burned human remains and the destructive effect that fire can have on the body. Subsequent chapters describe important cremation practices and sites from around the world and from the Neolithic period to the modern day. By emphasising the need for a robust methodology combined with a nuanced interpretation, it is possible to begin to appreciate the significance and wide-spread adoption of this practice of dealing with the dead. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death as a Process John Pearce, Jake Weekes, 2017 Wide ranging exploration of how archaeological evidence for death and burial in the Roman world can illustrate process and ritual sequence, from laying out the dead to the pyre and tomb, and from placing the dead in the earth to the return of the living to commemorate them. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean, 2 Volume Set Irene S. Lemos, Antonis Kotsonas, 2020-01-09 A Companion that examines together two pivotal periods of Greek archaeology and offers a rich analysis of early Greek culture A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers an original and inclusive review of two key periods of Greek archaeology, which are typically treated separately—the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. It presents an in-depth exploration of the society and material culture of Greece and the Mediterranean, from the 14th to the early 7th centuries BC. The two-volume companion sets Aegean developments within their broader geographic and cultural context, and presents the wide-ranging interactions with the Mediterranean. The companion bridges the gap that typically exists between Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology and examines material culture and social practice across Greece and the Mediterranean. A number of specialists examine the environment and demography, and analyze a range of textual and archaeological evidence to shed light on socio-political and cultural developments. The companion also emphasizes regionalism in the archaeology of early Greece and examines the responses of different regions to major phenomena such as state formation, literacy, migration and colonization. Comprehensive in scope, this important companion: Outlines major developments in the two key phases of early Greece, the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age Includes studies of the geography, chronology and demography of early Greece Explores the development of early Greek state and society and examines economy, religion, art and material culture Sets Aegean developments within their Mediterranean context Written for students, and scholars interested in the material culture of the era, ACompanion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide that bridges the gap between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Winner! |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Archaeology of Ancestors Hill/Hageman, Hageman, Jon B, 2016-03-23 Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more than claiming property rights: the spirits of the dead were central to domestic disputes, displays of wealth, and power and status relationships. Case studies from China, Africa, Europe, and Mesoamerica use the evidence of art, architecture, ritual, and burial practices to explore the complex roles of ancestors in the past. Including a comprehensive overview of nearly two hundred years of anthropological research, The Archaeology of Ancestors reveals how and why societies remember and revere the dead. Through analyses of human remains, ritual deposits, and historical documents, contributors explain how ancestors were woven into the social fabric of the living. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Craft Production and Social Change in Northern China Anne P. Underhill, 2012-12-06 This book offers an anthropological analysis of how craft production changed in relation to the development of complex societies in northern China. It focuses on the production and use of food containers-pottery and bronze vessels-during the late prehistoric and early historic periods. A major theme is how production and use of prestige vessels changed in relation to increase in degree of social inequality. The research and writing of this book took place intermittently over a period of several years. When I first outlined the book in 1994, I planned to offer a more limited and descriptive account of social change during the late prehistoric period. In considering the human desire to display status with prestige goods, my initial approach emphasized how the case of northern China was similar to other areas of the world. I began to realize that in order to adequately explain how and why craft production changed in ancient China, it was crucial to consider the belief systems that motivated produc tion and use of food containers. Similarly, a striking characteristic of ancient China that I needed to include in the analysis was the preponderance of food containers, rather than other goods, that were buried with the deceased. I decided to investigate the social and ritual uses of food, bever ages, and containers during more than one period of Chinese history. Some strong patterns could have emerged during the late prehistoric period. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Life And Death At Paloma Jeffrey Quilter, 2005-02-15 Gold, pomp, and circumstances surrounded the mummies of Inca emperors, but the elaborate funerary rites at the end of prehistory were only part of a tradition that began thousands of years earlier. Life and Death at Paloma, the first in-depth treatment of burials from a preagricultural South American village, analyzes the life of its people during a revolutionary time in prehistory: the transition from a hunting-gathering-fishing way of life to a more sedentary horticultural society. Drawing upon the data that he collected as part of the University of Missouri's excavations at Paloma, Jeffrey Quilter gives us the first study of preceramic Peruvian life through his analysis of this site's graves and contents. His extensively illustrated book is also the first attempt to infer social organization from such data for this period—circa 5000 to 2500 B.C.—in Peru. In addition, he presents the only available summary and discussion of the known preceramic interments from western South America. Coastal Peru is one of the few New World regions where the early development of complex societies can be studied. Life and Death at Paloma will greatly assist such research by specialists in mortuary studies, in Andean prehistory, and in hunter-gatherer societies. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity Ian Morris, 1992-10-22 In this innovative book Dr Morris seeks to show the many ways in which the excavated remains of burials can and should be a major source of evidence for social historians of the ancient Graeco-Roman world. Burials have a far wider geographical and social range than the surviving literary texts, which were mainly written for a small elite. They provide us with unique insights into how Greeks and Romans constituted and interpreted their own communities. In particular, burials enable the historian to study social change. Ian Morris illustrates the great potential of the material in these respects with examples drawn from societies as diverse in time, space and political context as archaic Rhodes, classical Athens, early imperial Rome and the last days of the western Roman empire. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Deviant Burial in the Archaeological Record Eileen M. Murphy, 2008 This edited volume contains twelve papers that present evidence on non-normative burial practices from the Neolithic through to Post-Medieval periods and includes case studies from some ten countries. It has long been recognised by archaeologists that certain individuals in a variety of archaeological cultures from diverse periods and locations have been accorded differential treatment in burial relative to other members of their society. These individuals can include criminals, women who died during childbirth, unbaptised infants, people with disabilities, and supposed revenants, to name but a few. Such burials can be identifiable in the archaeological record from an examination of the location and external characteristics of the grave site. Furthermore, the position of the body in addition to its association with unusual grave goods can be a further feature of atypical burials. The motivation behind such non-normative burial practices is also diverse and can be related to a wide variety of social and religious beliefs. It is envisaged that the volume will make a significant contribution towards our understanding of the complexities involved when dealing with non-normative burials in the archaeological record. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Staging Death Anastasia Dakouri-Hild, Michael John Boyd, 2016-12-19 Places are social, lived, ideational landscapes constructed by people as they inhabit their natural and built environment. An ‘archaeology of place’ attempts to move beyond the understanding of the landscape as inert background or static fossil of human behaviour. From a specifically mortuary perspective, this approach entails a focus on the inherently mutable, transient and performative qualities of 'deathscapes': how they are remembered, obliterated, forgotten, reworked, or revisited over time. Despite latent interest in this line of enquiry, few studies have explored the topic explicitly in Aegean archaeology. This book aims to identify ways in which to think about the deathscape as a cross between landscapes, tombs, bodies, and identities, supplementing and expanding upon well explored themes in the field (e.g. tombs as vehicles for the legitimization of power; funerary landscapes as arenas of social and political competition). The volume recasts a wealth of knowledge about Aegean mortuary cultures against a theoretical background, bringing the field up to date with recent developments in the archaeology of place. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity Jon Davies, 2013-04-03 In Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity, Jon Davies charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. He analyses the varied burial rituals and examines the different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered are: * Osiris and Isis: the life theology of Ancient Egypt * burying the Jewish dead * Roman religion and Roman funerals * Early Christian burial * the nature of martyrdom. Jon Davies also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to and overview of death, burial and the afterlife in the first Christian centuries which offers insights into the relationship between social change and attitudes to death and dying. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Interacting with the Dead Gordon F. M. Rakita, 2005 This collection explores the behavioral and social facets of funerary, mortuary, and burial rites in both past and present societies. By utilizing data from around the world and combining recent and ongoing concerns in anthropology, it takes the study of mortuary archaeology to a new and significant level of interdisciplinary research. Drawing inspiration from ethnohistory, ethnography, bioarchaeology, and sociocultural anthropology, the authors focus on themes of gender, ancestorhood, ritual violence, individual agency, space and placement, and extended and secondary mortuary ceremonialism. They also expand the interdisciplinary focus of mortuary practices and reassess previous anthropological theories. No previously published work on the archaeology of mortuary remains presents such a range of examples of ritual practices through time and around the globe. Because of its wide scope and interdisciplinary approach, Interacting with the Dead will be indispensable not only to archaeologists and anthropologists but also across the social sciences and humanities and to all who study cross-cultural rituals. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Celebrations of Death Peter Metcalf, Richard Huntington, 1991-10-25 Machine derived contents note: List of illustrations -- Preface -- Introduction to the second edition -- 1. Preliminaries -- Part I. Universals and Culture: 2. Emotional reactions to death -- 3. Symbolic associations of death -- Part II. Death as Transition: 4. The living and the dead: a re-examination of Hertz -- 5. Death rituals and life values: rites of passage reconsidered -- Part III. The Royal Corpse and the Body Politic: 6. The dead king -- 7. The immortal kingship -- Part IV. Seeing Ourselves Anew: 8. American deathways -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers Vicki Cummings, Peter Jordan, Marek Zvelebil, 2014-04-24 For more than a century, the study of hunting and gathering societies has been central to the development of both archaeology and anthropology as academic disciplines, and has also generated widespread public interest and debate. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers provides a comprehensive review of hunter-gatherer studies to date, including critical engagements with older debates, new theoretical perspectives, and renewed obligations for greater engagement between researchers and indigenous communities. Chapters provide in-depth archaeological, historical, and anthropological case-studies, and examine far-reaching questions about human social relations, attitudes to technology, ecology, and management of resources and the environment, as well as issues of diet, health, and gender relations - all central topics in hunter-gatherer research, but also themes that have great relevance for modern global society and its future challenges. The Handbook also provides a strategic vision for how the integration of new methods, approaches, and study regions can ensure that future research into the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers will continue to deliver penetrating insights into the factors that underlie all human diversity. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Funeral Kit Jill L Baker, 2012-01-15 Studies of mortuary archaeology tend to focus on difference—how the researcher can identify age, gender, status, and ethnicity from the contents of a burial. Jill L. Baker’s innovative approach begins from the opposite point: how can you recognize the commonalities of a culture from the “funeral kit” that occurs in all burials, irrespective of status differences? And what do those commonalities have to say about the world view and religious beliefs of that culture? Baker begins with the Middle and Late Bronze Age tombs in the southern Levant, then expands her scope in ever widening circles to create a general model of the funeral kit of use to archaeologists in a wide variety of cultures and settings. The volume will be of equal value to specialists in Near Eastern archaeology and those who study mortuary remains in ancient cultures worldwide. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 14 Sarah Semple, Howard Williams, 2007-10-10 Volume 14 of the Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History series is dedicated to the archaeology of early medieval death, burial and commemoration. Incorporating studies focusing upon Anglo-Saxon England as well as research encompassing western Britain, Continental Europe and Scandinavia, this volume originated as the proceedings of a two-day conference held at the University of Exeter in February 2004. It comprises of an Introduction that outlines the key debates and new approaches in early medieval mortuary archaeology followed by eighteen innovative research papers offering new interpretations of the material culture, monuments and landscape context of early medieval mortuary practices. Papers contribute to a variety of ongoing debates including the study of ethnicity, religion, ideology and social memory from burial evidence. The volume also contains two cemetery reports of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries from Cambridgeshire. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology Christopher J. Knüsel, Eline M. J. Schotsmans, 2022-04-29 The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology spans the gap between archaeology and biological anthropology, the field and laboratory, and between francophone and anglophone funerary archaeological approaches to the remains of the dead and the understanding of societies, past and present. Interest in archaeothanatology has grown considerably in recent years in English-language scholarship. This timely publication moves away from anecdotal case studies to offer syntheses of archaeothanatological approaches with an eye to higher-level inferences about funerary behaviour and its meaning in the past. Written by francophone scholars who have contributed to the development of the field and anglophone scholars inspired by the approach, this volume offers detailed insight into the background and development of archaeothanatology, its theory, methods, applications, and its most recent advances, with a lexicon of related vocabulary. This volume is a key source for archaeo-anthropologists and bioarchaeologists. It will benefit researchers, lecturers, practitioners and students in biological anthropology, archaeology, taphonomy and forensic science. Given the interdisciplinary nature of these disciplines, and the emphasis placed on analysis in situ, this book will also be of interest to specialists in entomology, (micro)biology and soil science. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Performing Death Nicola Laneri, 2007 This volume represents a collection of contributions presented by the authors during the Second Annual University of Chicago Oriental Institute Seminar Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean, held at the Oriental Institute, February 17-18, 2006. The principal aim of the two-day seminar was to interpret the social relevance resulting from the enactment of funerary rituals within the broad-reaching Mediterranean basin from prehistoric periods to the Roman Age. Efforts were concentrated on creating a panel composed of scholars with diverse backgrounds - anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, art historians, and philologists - and the knowledge and expertise to enrich the discussion through the presentation of case-studies linked to both textual and archaeological evidence from the Mediterranean region. Fundamental to the successful realisation of this research process was the active dialogue between scholars of different backgrounds. These communicative exchanges provided the opportunity to integrate different approaches and interpretations concerning the role played by the performance of ancient funerary rituals within a given society and, as a result, helped in defining a coherent outcome towards the interpretation of ancient communities' behaviours. |
| the archaeology of death and burial: Life and Death in Asia Minor in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Times J. Rasmus Brandt, Erika Hagelberg, Gro Bjørnstad, Sven Ahrens, 2016-12-31 Life and Death in Asia Minor combines contributions in both archaeology and bioarchaeology in Asia Minor in the period ca. 200 BC – AD 1300 for the first time. The archaeology topics are wide-ranging including death and territory, death and landscape perception, death and urban transformations from pagan to Christian topography, changing tomb typologies, funerary costs, family organization, funerary rights, rituals and practices among pagans, Jews, and Christians, inhumation and Early Byzantine cremations and use and reuse of tombs. The bioarchaeology chapters use DNA, isotope and osteological analyses to discuss, both among children and adults, questions such as demography and death rates, pathology and nutrition, body actions, genetics, osteobiography, and mobility patterns and diet. The areas covered in Asia Minor include the sites of Hierapolis, Laodikeia, Aphrodisias, Tlos, Ephesos, Priene, Kyme, Pergamon, Amorion, Gordion, Boğazkale, and Arslantepe. The theoretical and methodological approaches used make it highly relevant for people working in other geographical areas and time periods. Many of the articles could be used as case studies in teaching at schools and universities. An important objective of the publication has been to see how the different types of results emerging from archaeological and natural science studies respectively could be integrated with each other and pose new questions on ancient societies, which were far more complex than historical and social studies of the past often manage to transmit. |
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL - University of Utah
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL was separated from the soul in death but would be reunited thereto on the Day of Judgement when the living would rise from the dead. This …
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL
The rarest species are humans (only represented as bearded heads), horses, fish, boar, wolves, and eagles or predatory birds. Herbivorous elks, deer and rams are largely confined to bridle …
Grave Matters: The Archaeology of Death, Decay, and Discovery
Parker Pearson, M. (1999). Chapter 1: Learning from the dead. The archaeology of death and burial. College Station, Texas A&M University Press: 1-20.
The Archaeology of Death
The Archaeology of Death. Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of Italian Archaeology held at the National University of Ireland, Galway, April 16-18, 2016. edited by. Edward Herring and …
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL - University of Utah
Batammaliba graves, in Togo and Benin, are constructed as underground miniature houses of the dead.7 The graves of household heads are closed with a round flat stone, the kubotan, which …
ARCL0156: FUNERARY ARCHAEOLOGY
• a good knowledge of the principles and practice of funerary archaeology • engagement with different forms of evidence and methodologies, and understanding of how to use them critically …
Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in …
Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the Ancient World Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, …
Guidance for Best Practice for the Treatment of Human Remains …
all aspects of burial archaeology, not just human remains, the treatment of grave markers and burial artefacts will also be considered. The document covers remains from crypts and vaults …
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY - UCL
Case studies will focus on the interpretation of rank and status, ritual and symbolism, territory and legitimation, and the ethical and legal aspects of exhumation and reburial. These studies will …
Funerary Practices, Funerary Contexts, and Death in Archaeology
INTRODUCTION. This essay considers the current status and future potential of archaeologi-cal research on funerary practices, contexts, and death. Most archaeological work to date has …
Living Through The Dead Burial And Commemoration In The …
This study, which is the first to incorporate archaeological evidence of early modern death and burial from across Britain and Ireland, addresses new questions about the materiality of death: …
Archaeological Perspectives on Burial Practices and Societal ... - DiVA
‘Burial Archaeology,’ which uses archaeological sources from burial contexts to enrich our understanding of the past, and ‘the Archaeology of Death’, which seeks to understand how …
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN BURIAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE …
what ways burial archaeology is valuable and relevant. By exploring these three themes – that the archaeology of death often remains too separate from burial or bioarchaeology; the strengths …
ARCHAEOTHANATOLOGY AND FUNERAL ARCHAEOLOGY.
ARCHAEOLOGY. APPLICATION TO THE STUDY OF PRIMARY SINGLE BURIALS ABSTRACT: In funeral archaeology, to understand a burial is to bear in mind, above all, that skeletons were …
Introduction: The materiality and spatiality of death, burial and ...
The materiality and spatiality of death, burial and commemoration. In this special issue, we deal with not just one but a multitude of places for the dead to reside, in whatever shape or form, …
Death, Identity and the Body in Neolithic Britain - JSTOR
The eventual adoption of a form of burial in which a single body was placed in a grave accompanied by a series of grave goods was attributed to the arrival in western Europe of a …
Review article Death, burial and ritual in Iron Age Britain and the ...
practice in archaeology and anthropology. The book is structured into ten chapters. Harding starts with a discussion of key themes and issues, including problems with data visibility (Chapters 1 …
Do Not Disturb? Archaeology and the Rights of the Dead - JSTOR
the very existence of burial is generally taken as an indicator of a belief in an afterlife—indeed, its appearance in the Middle Palaeolithic is seen as a major milestone in human …
Who's afraid of the dead? Archaeology, modernity and the death …
Abstract. Archaeologists have often taken it for granted that death is a taboo topic in modern society. However, the fear of death hypothesis is contested within the social sciences, so does …
Material Culture and Social Death: African-American Burial Practices
Burials, Social Death, and Africanisms in the New World The excavation of burials has always been central to archaeology, and up until the mid-20th century, the emphasis was usually on …
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL - University of Utah
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL was separated from the soul in death but would be reunited thereto on the Day of Judgement when the living would rise from the dead. This theme of ultimate and universal resurrection was tied to the notion of the man-god Jesus Christ's return from the dead, subsequent to his sacrifice
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL
The rarest species are humans (only represented as bearded heads), horses, fish, boar, wolves, and eagles or predatory birds. Herbivorous elks, deer and rams are largely confined to bridle fittings. Carnivorous felines are also found on bridles but are equally found on saddle decorations.
Grave Matters: The Archaeology of Death, Decay, and Discovery
Parker Pearson, M. (1999). Chapter 1: Learning from the dead. The archaeology of death and burial. College Station, Texas A&M University Press: 1-20.
The Archaeology of Death
The Archaeology of Death. Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of Italian Archaeology held at the National University of Ireland, Galway, April 16-18, 2016. edited by. Edward Herring and Eóin O’Donoghue. Archaeopress Archaeology. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG. www.archaeopress.com.
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH AND BURIAL - University of Utah
Batammaliba graves, in Togo and Benin, are constructed as underground miniature houses of the dead.7 The graves of household heads are closed with a round flat stone, the kubotan, which in life is used to seal the hole which links the ground floor and first floor in the house.
ARCL0156: FUNERARY ARCHAEOLOGY
• a good knowledge of the principles and practice of funerary archaeology • engagement with different forms of evidence and methodologies, and understanding of how to use them critically in class discussions and writing assessments • a nuanced understanding of the themes and controversies surrounding the study of funerary archaeology
Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the ...
Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the Ancient World Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries, and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book off ers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife.
Guidance for Best Practice for the Treatment of Human Remains …
all aspects of burial archaeology, not just human remains, the treatment of grave markers and burial artefacts will also be considered. The document covers remains from crypts and vaults as well as those from earth-cut graves.
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY - UCL
Case studies will focus on the interpretation of rank and status, ritual and symbolism, territory and legitimation, and the ethical and legal aspects of exhumation and reburial. These studies will range across a wide variety of periods and places, from the Lower Palaeolithic to the present day.
Funerary Practices, Funerary Contexts, and Death in Archaeology
INTRODUCTION. This essay considers the current status and future potential of archaeologi-cal research on funerary practices, contexts, and death. Most archaeological work to date has worked with tacit definitions of death and funerary practice, …
Living Through The Dead Burial And Commemoration In The …
This study, which is the first to incorporate archaeological evidence of early modern death and burial from across Britain and Ireland, addresses new questions about the materiality of death: what the dead body means, and how its physical substance could be attributed with sentience and even agency.
Archaeological Perspectives on Burial Practices and Societal
‘Burial Archaeology,’ which uses archaeological sources from burial contexts to enrich our understanding of the past, and ‘the Archaeology of Death’, which seeks to understand how people handled death and the dead (Nilsson Stutz 2016a).
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN BURIAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH
what ways burial archaeology is valuable and relevant. By exploring these three themes – that the archaeology of death often remains too separate from burial or bioarchaeology; the strengths and challenges of a properly transdisciplinary burial archaeology; and the ethical responsibilities integral to burial archaeology – this paper will
ARCHAEOTHANATOLOGY AND FUNERAL ARCHAEOLOGY.
ARCHAEOLOGY. APPLICATION TO THE STUDY OF PRIMARY SINGLE BURIALS ABSTRACT: In funeral archaeology, to understand a burial is to bear in mind, above all, that skeletons were once corpses. The process by which a corpse is transformed into a skeleton is one of the key questions when excavating burials.
Introduction: The materiality and spatiality of death, burial …
The materiality and spatiality of death, burial and commemoration. In this special issue, we deal with not just one but a multitude of places for the dead to reside, in whatever shape or form, beyond the consideration of simple grave artefacts on the one hand and graveyards as a …
Death, Identity and the Body in Neolithic Britain - JSTOR
The eventual adoption of a form of burial in which a single body was placed in a grave accompanied by a series of grave goods was attributed to the arrival in western Europe of a new people at the end of the Neolithic, the 'Beaker folk'.
Review article Death, burial and ritual in Iron Age Britain and the ...
practice in archaeology and anthropology. The book is structured into ten chapters. Harding starts with a discussion of key themes and issues, including problems with data visibility (Chapters 1 & 2), moving on to contrast formal burial with decay and selective retention or deposition (Chapters 3 & 4). A key hypothesis, presented in Chapter 5,
Do Not Disturb? Archaeology and the Rights of the Dead - JSTOR
the very existence of burial is generally taken as an indicator of a belief in an afterlife—indeed, its appearance in the Middle Palaeolithic is seen as a major milestone in human development—and the presence of grave-goods reinforces this impression. However, ethnography shows that burial, with or without grave-goods,
Who's afraid of the dead? Archaeology, modernity and the death …
Abstract. Archaeologists have often taken it for granted that death is a taboo topic in modern society. However, the fear of death hypothesis is contested within the social sciences, so does it still follow that the display of the ancient dead is in some way shameful or unacceptable?
Material Culture and Social Death: African-American Burial Practices
Burials, Social Death, and Africanisms in the New World The excavation of burials has always been central to archaeology, and up until the mid-20th century, the emphasis was usually on the "flow of traits" visible in mortuary remains that defined culture Historical Archaeology, 1995, 29(4):39-58. Permission to reprint required.
