Birds and burials at Ajvide (Gotland,Sweden) and Zvejnieki (Latvia) about 8000–3900 BP

Animal bones in human burials may reveal aspects of the relationship between animals and humans. This article describes the roles of birds in mortuary practices and in the ideology of Stone Age northern Europe. Bird bones from two large burial sites, Middle Neolithic Ajvide (Gotland, Sweden) and Mesolithic and Neolithic Zvejnieki (Latvia) are investigated with osteological methods. Beads and pendants were fashioned from the wing bones of waterbirds, and used in the decoration of the body or the burial dress. The jay was found in three Neolithic burials at Zvejnieki, and it may have been a totem animal for the Middle Neolithic people at Zvejnieki, and its wings or feathers were presumably attached to dresses and costumes for the dead. Bird remains in burials at Ajvide, Zvejnieki and some other Stone Age cemeteries may indicate similar features in the way of perceiving birds, especially the possible symbolic roles of waterbirds and wings. The findings are discussed from the perspective of the cosmology of historical hunter–gatherer (and herding) groups in modern Russia.     

Empty tombs? The taphonomy of burials on Bahrain

The number of empty tombs on Bahrain has been the focus of several analyses of Bronze Age burial practices on the island. Such analyses, however, have failed to take into account normal taphonomic processes affecting the recovery of bone. Once the factors determining the state of preservation have been accounted for, the frequency of empty tombs found on Bahrain is seen to be comparable to numerous other sites in the world. It is argued that mortuary analysis must take account of the intervening steps between burial in an ancient society and modern excavation of that burial, and that, in the case of Bahrain, elaborate explanations of the absence of human bone are unnecessary.     

Mortuary patterns in burial caves on Mangaia,Cook Islands

The behavioural, cultural, and political implications of archaeological human remains in non‐mortuary, possibly culinary, contexts requires that we understand the range of mortuary practices in a particular region. Although several rockshelter sites on Mangaia, Cook Islands have yielded burned, fragmentary human bones in earth ovens that seem to support archaeological models and ethnohistoric accounts of ritual sacrifice and cannibalism, the absence of data on the range of Mangaian mortuary patterns obscures these interpretations. We describe burial patterns based on 40 above‐ground interments representing at least 92 individuals in caves of Mangaia, Cook Islands, in order to begin to develop an island‐wide perspective on mortuary patterns. Sampling both pre‐ and post‐European contact sites we found that multiple interments dominate probable pre‐contact burials (73%, 19 of 26) and single interments dominate post‐contact contexts (80%, eight of ten burials), probably reflecting the influence of Christianity on mortuary ritual. Subadults were more frequent in all post‐contact contexts suggesting alternative burial places, probably church cemeteries, for adults. Burial cave remains are broadly consistent with ethnohistoric accounts of interment in caves, however, they also illustrate additional burial practices and differences between time periods, such as primary body position and the role of multiple‐individual interments, which are not discussed ethnohistorically. The mortuary practices in Mangaian burial caves differ from burials associated with marae and seem completely unrelated to the presence of highly fragmentary and burnt human remains in pre‐contact rockshelter middens elsewhere on the island. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpretations of Burial and Commemoration in Moravian and African Diasporas on St. John, Virgin Islands

I address change and continuity in mortuary practices from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries within enslaved and free populations on the former Danish and current US Virgin Island of St. John. Based on the evidence I present, St. John’s former residents created diverse burial sites for practical and symbolic reasons related to environment, kinship, socio-cultural politics, and religion. The following analysis reveals how people historically transformed identities of selves and communities as they perceived and commemorated the dead through meaningful mortuary sites and practices within dynamic local and regional contexts.     

Sourcing galena from a Middle Woodland habitation site in northeast Mississippi

Galena has been recovered mostly in mortuary contexts – burial mounds, burial caves, and associated mortuary facilities – from Middle Woodland sites in the Southeast. Three small pieces of galena from the Cork site (22OK746) in northeast Mississippi came from midden deposits at a site with no mound or burials. Lead isotope analysis was used to source the samples to the Central Missouri-Tri-State-North Arkansas region. Isotopes provide an excellent sourcing method because their ratios are stable and large comparative source datasets are available. Recovery bias may have led to underestimation of galena presence in Middle Woodland habitation sites.     

Hunter-gatherer burials and the creation of persistent places in southeastern Australia

One of the difficulties in interpreting hunter-gatherer mortuary practices is that many mortuary theories are derived from sedentary societies and rely upon an excavated record. This paper is an analysis of both historical and archaeological evidence of Aboriginal burial practices in the Murray River region of southeastern Australia. The archaeological data relies primarily upon analysis of burials exposed through erosion rather than systematic excavations which limits the range of burial characteristics that may be recorded and interpreted. The mortuary practices identified are highly patterned but regionally and locally variable. It is argued that the evidence demonstrates the persistence of place for Aboriginal people. The existence of persistent places is further related to a potentially fluid but structured connection between people and land.     

LOOKING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS: IDENTIFYING PATTERNS IN COLES CREEK MORTUARY DATA

Abstract

While the lack of grave goods has been the focus of most scholarly discussion of Coles Creek burial practices, the mortuary analyses presented here focus on recognizing correspondences among sex, age, and burial position. Using assemblages from three Coles Creek sites (Greenhouse, Lake George, and Mount Nebo), I find that while there is significant intersite variability among Coles Creek mortuary programs, certain age groups are consistently treated differently from each other and from everyone else. Thus interments were being made with deliberate care and consideration for those involved and are not nearly as haphazard and disorderly as previously thought.     

BRINGING IN THE DEAD: BURIALS AND THE LOCAL PERSPECTIVE ON KYTHERA IN THE SECOND PALACE PERIOD

Summary.   This article analyses the mortuary data of the 'Second Palace' period (c. 1700–1450 BC) on the Aegean island of Kythera. It proposes that the chamber tombs which were first introduced to the island in this period can offer potential insights into aspects of local-level social relations, especially at the central site of Kastri. This approach complements the broader cultural perspective that has usually been taken regarding these tombs, which have been viewed as indicators of Cretan cultural influence and, indeed, colonization. It is proposed that a strong horizontal in-group solidarity was being expressed by the tomb-using group at Kastri through spatial and diachronic uniformity in burial practices, and that this uniformity should be viewed at least partially as a response to local-level social agendas. The hypothesis is then explored that status identities were also being asserted in the burial sphere by at least some members of this group, through tomb location, the resources devoted to mortuary rituals and, perhaps, emphasis on lineage.     

“They Laid Planks ‘Crost the Coffins”: The African Origin of Grave Vaulting in the United States

Grave vaulting, a vernacular burial form common in nineteenth and early twentieth century America, consists of a simple primary grave shaft at the bottom of which is dug a smaller secondary shaft or niche within which the body or coffin is placed. Typically loose boards are then placed over the secondary shaft to offer protection from the soil coming into direct contact with the body or burial container. This tradition is documented through historical accounts and hundreds of excavated graves through a survey of 86 historic cemetery investigations. Although its cultural origins have been previously unknown, this study argues that the vaulted burial form in the United States is likely of African origin. An extensive ethnological survey of historical and modern cultures throughout the continent of Africa, from 1602 to the mid twentieth century, documents both the vaulted grave form and its variations. Correlating this African cultural practice to its use in the United States demonstrates a hitherto unrecognized creolization of Euroamerican mortuary tradition with African roots, and its corollary, the retention of an African mortuary tradition by those of African descent.     

Field anthropology: application to burial contexts in prehistoric Southeast Asia

The context of burials in archaeological sites, that is whether the body was inhumed, wrapped, or in a coffin, is an aspect of mortuary ritual that has been missing from English-language publications on the subject. This is despite the development and use in France over at least the last two decades of methods of determining the context under the rubric ‘l'Anthropologie de Terrain’, or Field Anthropology. This paper briefly reviews the methods and applies them to prehistoric burial samples from two sites in Southeast Asia. This shows that burials at the Bronze Age site of Ban Lum Khao were either in coffins or wrapped. The practice of coffin burial appears to have been abandoned later, as all burials at the nearby Iron Age site of Noen U-Loke were wrapped.     

Burial containers – A hidden aspect of mortuary practices: Archaeothanatology at Ban Non Wat,Thailand

Research on mortuary practices has attracted a wide following for the role it can play in determination of individual social identity and population social structure. One aspect of mortuary practices that is rarely addressed, except where physical remnants are recovered, is the form of burial containers. Archaeothanatology is a taphonomically based methodology applied to infer the form of such containers when no material evidence remains. This paper shows how the archaeothanatological approach can be applied post hoc, with 133 adult burials from the prehistoric site of Ban Non Wat analyzed. Temporal changes in container form were expected as subsistence, technology, and social organization transformed over 1850 years. The deceased were predominantly loosely wrapped in non-durable material or placed in wide coffins, although individuals were buried in other contexts, with a peak in variety towards the end of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. In combination with evidence from other sites in the area, our results identify a reduction in the variety of container forms used within sites in the mid to late Iron Age. We have shown the value of archaeothanatology as a contributor to research on mortuary practices, in particular having shown that it may be usefully applied post-excavation.     

From site formation to social structure in prehistoric Thailand

Abstract

The archaeological record in mainland Southeast Asia from ca. 2000 b.c. to the formation of early states in the mid-first millennium a.d. is built on excavations in mounded settlements that incorporate habitation, industrial, and mortuary remains. For most sites, formation processes are not readily identified. have presented a new view of the social organization of the Southeast Asian “metal age” based on a reinterpretation of mortuary and settlement data, founded on their premise that the dead were interred in, under, or in conjunction with domestic residences rather than dedicated cemeteries. They argue that such house societies were instruments for remarkably long-term occupation of individual settlements by heterarchic, non-violent supravillage affiliative social groupings. A detailed examination of the evidence for such residential burial suggests a lack of convincing evidence until the Iron Age. Moreover, new dating programs have shortened the prehistoric sequence, leading to more rapid and intense social changes than hitherto suspected.     

西汉诸侯王墓棺椁及置椁窆棺工具浅论

西汉诸侯王墓在继承前代的基础上多用棺椁,并有相关配套用具,体现出与身份地位相符的棺椁制度。棺椁在质地、重数及装饰等方面均存在着一些差异,反映了多样化的特点。棺椁是盛放墓主尸身的重要设施,在置椁下棺时会使用较多的工具以达到要求,保证安全。相关工具的使用一方面是对旧葬制、葬俗的继承,另一方面又与墓葬形制、结构,棺椁自身特点等密切相关,体现出丧葬礼俗的演进、相应科学技术的进步及诸侯王墓的时代特点和地域特征等。     

Open-Air “Adena” Paired-Post Ritual Features in the Middle Ohio Valley: A New Interpretation

Circular paired-post structures have been recognized as a quintessential trait of the “Adena” concept. Although once thought restricted to ritual contexts beneath burial mounds, work over the last 30 years has identified several open-air structures in contexts apart from burial mounds or ditches. Uncluttered by overlapping features, open-air examples present a unique opportunity to document the initial roles played by these features. Currently, no unequivocal evidence for mortuary processing has been found directly associated with open-air paired-post structures. This fact calls into question the prevailing belief that most of these features were used to process, or prepare, the dead. Instead, a more reasonable interpretation is that these structures were involved in rituals minimally related to, or entirely devoid of, mortuary activity.     

A Bobcat Burial and Other Reported Intentional Animal Burials from Illinois Hopewell Mounds

Abstract

The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hopewellian (Middle Woodland) times. Recent reanalysis of nonhuman skeletal remains from the site reveals that an intentional burial previously identified as a dog (Canis familiaris) is actually an immature bobcat (Lynx rufus). As a result of this discovery, we reevaluated eight other purported animal burials from Illinois Middle Woodland mounds, including seven dogs and a roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The dogs all appear to be intrusive or unrelated burial events, but both the bobcat and the roseate spoonbill were definite Hopewellian mortuary interments. The roseate spoonbill was decapitated and placed beside a double human burial. But the bobcat was a separate, human-like interment wearing a necklace of shell beads and effigy bear canine teeth (Figures and ). To our knowledge, this is the only decorated wild cat burial in the archaeological record. It provides compelling evidence for a complex relationship between felids and humans in the prehistoric Americas, including possible taming.     

HISTORY AND ITS DEAD

Thomas Laqueur has brought together half a century of research on modern European mortuary culture into an impressive narrative of how the Christian churchyard was replaced by the modern cemetery, how interment was partly replaced by the technology of cremation, and how writing and preserving the names of the dead coincided with democratization and social reform. Beyond the grand narrative of the history of modern burial, he also shows how the modern culture of history and memory is intertwined with the transformation of mortuary practices. On a deeper level, he points toward new ways of conceptualizing the relation between the living and the dead, leading up toward, if not fully confronting, the challenge that propels his own endeavor, namely the existential‐ontological predicament of living after those who have been and the nature of spectrality.     

The ‘Semblance of Immortality'? Resinous Materials and Mortuary Rites in Roman Britain

There is increasing evidence for complexity in mortuary practices in Britain during the Roman period. One class of burials demonstrates an association between inhumation in stone sarcophagi or lead‐lined coffins, ‘plaster’ coatings, textile shrouds and natural resins. It has been suggested that this ‘package’ represents a deliberate attempt at body preservation. Fragments with a resinous appearance found in one such burial from Arrington, Cambridgeshire, UK were analysed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The triterpenic compounds identified are biomarkers for the genus Pistacia and provide the first chemical evidence for an exotic resin in a mortuary context in Roman Britain.     

A Taphonomic Approach to Late Classic Maya Mortuary Practices at Xuenkal,Yucatán,Mexico

Abstract

Following a brief introduction to mortuary practices in Prehispanic Maya society, we outline the analytical procedures followed during the excavation and laboratory investigation of five burial assemblages from the Late Classic period site of Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico. A detailed account of a sequence of primary and secondary interments is provided with a focus on taphonomic and biovital information, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, especially human taphonomy, for the reconstruction of complex Maya mortuary treatments. Our results show that bodies of the dead or their parts followed surprisingly long and complex funerary paths.     

Burial in Early Medieval Scotland: New Questions

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE presents a summary and interpretation of burial practices in Scotland in ad 400–650. Due to the dearth of documentary sources, mortuary archaeology provides a window on the changes occurring at the juncture between prehistory and history. Yet previous work has generally approached burial as evidence for a single aspect of this transition: the conversion to Christianity. Rather than signalling ethnic or religious affiliation, it is argued that graves should be understood as acts of structured deposition which enabled new relationships to be forged between the living and the dead at a local level. The composition of the grave with stone, sand, timber and earth can be seen as a form of furnishing cognate with the use of grave goods elsewhere in Britain and the continent.     

Her Mirror,His Sword: Unbinding Binary Gender and Sex Assumptions in Iron Age British Mortuary Traditions

At the site of Hillside Farm, Bryher, on the Isles of Scilly, a materially rich single Iron Age inhumation was discovered containing the unsexable fragmented remains of one adult with a number of high-quality metal grave goods including an iron sword with a bronze scabbard and a bronze mirror. Swords and mirrors have long been considered high-status, oppositionally gendered grave goods that crosscut regional divisions in the pre-Roman British Iron Age (c. 800 B.C.–A.D. 43). Their combined presence within the burial of a single individual represents a touchstone within the ongoing unraveling of a long-held, interconnected set of reified binary sex and gender assumptions that have permeated discussions of British Iron Age mortuary contexts. In better recognizing this web of “binary binds,” we can deconstruct the a priori, exclusionary, interconnected sex and gender assumptions that configure how we investigate the terms of engagement between materials and persons in these burial contexts. Crucial to this analysis is an approach to patterning that (1) does not begin with a search for sex and gender as evidence of male and female dichotomies, (2) sees the potentiality for any component of a mortuary assemblage to have multiple points of significance, and (3) embraces data ambiguity. Developing such critical approaches will ultimately contribute to the deployment of more inclusive forms of analysis that do not reify sex and gender as the primary organizing principles within mortuary contexts, aiding scholars in avoiding assumptions that bind sex and gender analyses into artificially binary paradigms.