The Archaeology of Death and BurialThe archaeology of death and burial is central to our attempts to understand vanished societies. Through the remains of funerary rituals we learn not only about prehistoric people's attitudes toward death and the afterlife but also about their culture, social system, and world view. This ambitious book reviews the latest research in this huge and important field and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to our understanding of life and death in the distant past. Mike Parker Pearson draws on case studies from different periods and locations throughout the world--the Paleolithic in Europe and the Near East, the Mesolithic in northern Europe, and the Iron Age in Asia and Europe. He also uses evidence from precontact North America, ancient Egypt, and Madagascar, as well as from the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Britain and Europe, to reconstruct vivid pictures of both ancient and not so ancient funerary rituals. He describes the political and ethical controversies surrounding human remains and the problems of reburial, looting, and war crimes. The Archaeology of Death and Burial provides a unique overview and synthesis of one of the most revealing fields of research into the past, which creates a context for several of archaeology's most breathtaking discoveries--from Tutankhamen to the Ice Man. This volume will find an avid audience among archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and others who have a professional interest in, or general curiosity about, death and burial. |
Contents
ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY AND ANALOGY | 21 |
READING THE BODY | 45 |
STATUS RANK AND POWER | 72 |
Copyright | |
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adult analysis ancestors ancient animals anthropologists archaeological archaeologists areas artefacts associated Atapuerca Barrow Binford bog bodies Britain British burials buried Cambridge cannibalism cemetery century ceremonial chiefdoms clusters coffin communities complex considered constructed context corpse cremation dead death deceased deposits Early Bronze Age élite ethnoarchaeology ethnographic evidence example excavation female Figure figurines funeral funerary funerary practices funerary rites funerary ritual gender grave groups Hodder human bones human remains identified indicate individuals inhumation interpretation Iron Age kinship landscape linked living London Madagascar maize male material culture Merina Mesolithic Mississippian Mokrin monuments mortuary practices mounds Moundville mourners Museum Native American Natufian Neanderthal Neolithic O'Shea Palaeolithic Pazyryk period placed political post-processual prehistoric reburial relationships religions Renfrew representations role Roman Iron Age settlements significance skeletons skull societies status stone tombs structure suggests Sutton Hoo symbolism Tandroy tattoos treatment University Press Upper Palaeolithic wealth women