P. J. Marshall (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263518
- eISBN:
- 9780191734021
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263518.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This volume contains sixteen lectures given to the National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2004. The topical issues debated in this volume include the patenting of AIDS drugs, the ...
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This volume contains sixteen lectures given to the National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2004. The topical issues debated in this volume include the patenting of AIDS drugs, the future pensions crisis (a lecture given by the Governor of the Bank of England), Britain's universities, and Pan-Islam. There are studies of Shakespeare, Pope, Montaigne, Robert Graves, and William Faulkner. And there are lectures on the Inquisition, empires in history, and the journey towards spiritual fulfillment.Less
This volume contains sixteen lectures given to the National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2004. The topical issues debated in this volume include the patenting of AIDS drugs, the future pensions crisis (a lecture given by the Governor of the Bank of England), Britain's universities, and Pan-Islam. There are studies of Shakespeare, Pope, Montaigne, Robert Graves, and William Faulkner. And there are lectures on the Inquisition, empires in history, and the journey towards spiritual fulfillment.
Peter S. Wells
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691143385
- eISBN:
- 9781400844777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691143385.003.0008
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
This chapter analyzes the arrangement of objects in grave in late prehistoric Europe. Graves provide direct views onto how people arranged objects so as to make those objects visually meaningful to ...
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This chapter analyzes the arrangement of objects in grave in late prehistoric Europe. Graves provide direct views onto how people arranged objects so as to make those objects visually meaningful to them. Arrangements on the floors of graves, in burial chambers, or in other kinds of funeral settings enable us to see those objects in the way that the people who participated in the event saw them—from the same viewpoint, in their relation to one another, and in relation to the overall frame (walls) of the grave. In many, if not most, instances, the placement of objects in a burial setting was a critical and dramatic part of the funeral event. It is likely that participants witnessed the placing of each object in the grave chamber, while perhaps a few words were spoken about each and its significance to the occasion.Less
This chapter analyzes the arrangement of objects in grave in late prehistoric Europe. Graves provide direct views onto how people arranged objects so as to make those objects visually meaningful to them. Arrangements on the floors of graves, in burial chambers, or in other kinds of funeral settings enable us to see those objects in the way that the people who participated in the event saw them—from the same viewpoint, in their relation to one another, and in relation to the overall frame (walls) of the grave. In many, if not most, instances, the placement of objects in a burial setting was a critical and dramatic part of the funeral event. It is likely that participants witnessed the placing of each object in the grave chamber, while perhaps a few words were spoken about each and its significance to the occasion.
Patricia Lim
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099906
- eISBN:
- 9789882207714
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099906.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This book follows on from the mapping and recording of about 10,000 graves that make up the Hong Kong Cemetery, for a database which will be held in the archives of the Hong Kong Memory Project and ...
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This book follows on from the mapping and recording of about 10,000 graves that make up the Hong Kong Cemetery, for a database which will be held in the archives of the Hong Kong Memory Project and the Royal Asiatic Society among other places. The silent tombs and elegantly carved inscriptions dating from 1842 up to the present day aroused curiosity in the author of this book about who these long-buried people were and how they lived their lives. The book has teased out from many sources the answers to these questions. This small, alien, and rather disparate band of adventurers came from a number of far distant countries to live and work in the tiny and insignificant British foothold of Hong Kong on the edge of a huge and little understood empire. The book tries to show their relationships with each other and with their Chinese neighbours on the island. It has attempted to breathe life into the stories behind the gravestones so that the Hong Kong Cemetery can be viewed as a cradle of history as well as a final resting place for the dead.Less
This book follows on from the mapping and recording of about 10,000 graves that make up the Hong Kong Cemetery, for a database which will be held in the archives of the Hong Kong Memory Project and the Royal Asiatic Society among other places. The silent tombs and elegantly carved inscriptions dating from 1842 up to the present day aroused curiosity in the author of this book about who these long-buried people were and how they lived their lives. The book has teased out from many sources the answers to these questions. This small, alien, and rather disparate band of adventurers came from a number of far distant countries to live and work in the tiny and insignificant British foothold of Hong Kong on the edge of a huge and little understood empire. The book tries to show their relationships with each other and with their Chinese neighbours on the island. It has attempted to breathe life into the stories behind the gravestones so that the Hong Kong Cemetery can be viewed as a cradle of history as well as a final resting place for the dead.
Joy Damousi
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266663
- eISBN:
- 9780191905384
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266663.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
In October 1949, in the closing month of the Greek Civil War, a young soldier named Pandelis Klinkatsis was killed stepping on a landmine in Northern Greece. Pandelis was my uncle. The announcement ...
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In October 1949, in the closing month of the Greek Civil War, a young soldier named Pandelis Klinkatsis was killed stepping on a landmine in Northern Greece. Pandelis was my uncle. The announcement of his death devastated his immediate family including my mother Sophia. I focus this chapter on the individual story of the loss of my uncle and my mother’s grief to cast a wider canvas on the emotions of war and their enduring legacies. This story explores the repercussions of war such as migration, the impact on sibling and romantic love, absence and separation during and after war. It examines the implications of these displacements in writing an emotional history of war. Such a history is typically conveyed through oral storytelling, and oral history forms the basis of the narrative. But there are two other ways in which the memory and emotion of war experience are kept alive in a transnational world. The first expression is in the form of photography, the second is the role grave sites play in the nexus between mourning and memory over time. Pandelis’s story takes us to Greece, Austria, America, and Australia. I argue that it encapsulates the complex geographical and emotional fragments created by war, which are manifest in love and death, mourning and memory, in a transnational context across four countries. Both the Second World War and the Greek Civil War created a landscape of emotions—the legacies of which are indelible—and continue to the present day.Less
In October 1949, in the closing month of the Greek Civil War, a young soldier named Pandelis Klinkatsis was killed stepping on a landmine in Northern Greece. Pandelis was my uncle. The announcement of his death devastated his immediate family including my mother Sophia. I focus this chapter on the individual story of the loss of my uncle and my mother’s grief to cast a wider canvas on the emotions of war and their enduring legacies. This story explores the repercussions of war such as migration, the impact on sibling and romantic love, absence and separation during and after war. It examines the implications of these displacements in writing an emotional history of war. Such a history is typically conveyed through oral storytelling, and oral history forms the basis of the narrative. But there are two other ways in which the memory and emotion of war experience are kept alive in a transnational world. The first expression is in the form of photography, the second is the role grave sites play in the nexus between mourning and memory over time. Pandelis’s story takes us to Greece, Austria, America, and Australia. I argue that it encapsulates the complex geographical and emotional fragments created by war, which are manifest in love and death, mourning and memory, in a transnational context across four countries. Both the Second World War and the Greek Civil War created a landscape of emotions—the legacies of which are indelible—and continue to the present day.
Gawdat Gabra
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774248924
- eISBN:
- 9781617970443
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774248924.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Christianity began in the large and fertile Fayoum Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert as early as the third century, and its presence has endured to the present day. This book, which constitutes a ...
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Christianity began in the large and fertile Fayoum Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert as early as the third century, and its presence has endured to the present day. This book, which constitutes a tribute to the scholarly work of the father of modern Coptology, Martin Krause, contains contributions on various aspects of Coptic civilization in Egypt's largest oasis over the past 1,800 years. The contributors are specialists in Coptology from Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and the United States. A number of the studies included in the book deal with recent archaeological discoveries at Deir al-Banat, the early Christian graves in the necropolis at the eastern edge of the Fayoum, and the monastic settlements and medieval Coptic cemetery at Naqlun. Others provide thorough examinations of archaeological sites at Karanis, Tebtunis, and Naqlun. Chapters cover the rich Christian literary heritage in Greek, Coptic, and Arabic, and they touch on the famous Fayoum portraits and their influence on the production of Coptic icons, as well as on the medieval wall paintings at Naqlun and in textiles, metal objects, and basketry from the region.Less
Christianity began in the large and fertile Fayoum Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert as early as the third century, and its presence has endured to the present day. This book, which constitutes a tribute to the scholarly work of the father of modern Coptology, Martin Krause, contains contributions on various aspects of Coptic civilization in Egypt's largest oasis over the past 1,800 years. The contributors are specialists in Coptology from Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and the United States. A number of the studies included in the book deal with recent archaeological discoveries at Deir al-Banat, the early Christian graves in the necropolis at the eastern edge of the Fayoum, and the monastic settlements and medieval Coptic cemetery at Naqlun. Others provide thorough examinations of archaeological sites at Karanis, Tebtunis, and Naqlun. Chapters cover the rich Christian literary heritage in Greek, Coptic, and Arabic, and they touch on the famous Fayoum portraits and their influence on the production of Coptic icons, as well as on the medieval wall paintings at Naqlun and in textiles, metal objects, and basketry from the region.
J. M. Wallace‐Hadrill
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269069
- eISBN:
- 9780191600777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269064.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The Franks, or any other Germanic people, were not pagan one day and Christian the next; this simple solution does no justice to the texts and is overthrown by archaeological evidence. Fifth‐century ...
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The Franks, or any other Germanic people, were not pagan one day and Christian the next; this simple solution does no justice to the texts and is overthrown by archaeological evidence. Fifth‐century Gaul was Christian and mostly Catholic in a formal sense, but behind the forms lay a scarcely converted countryside where Celtic and other pagan beliefs still worried the clergy, and remained active in the 6th and 7th centuries, not only in indigenous peoples, but also in the various settler enclaves; these pagan beliefs also affected the way the Franks accepted Christianity. This is one side of the picture; the other is the nature of Germanic paganism — no sense can be made of Frankish Christianity, when it comes, unless allowance is first made for the fact that all Germans were religious people, conditioned by the sense they had of good and evil, life and death, gods and demons. This can best be seen in the archaeological evidence from their remote homeland in a more distant time, and much can be inferred from later literary evidence. This chapter discusses Frankish (Germanic) interest in and worship of pagan gods and heroes (Woden, in particular), Frankish grave gods (and the grave gods of settlers, with which they can be easily confused), the new religion the Franks found and were converted to under Clovis (or Chlodovech), their conqueror from northern Gaul, who was himself a convert to Catholicism, and the difficulties in converting the people in the countryside, where there had been a fusion of Germanic and Celtic paganism.Less
The Franks, or any other Germanic people, were not pagan one day and Christian the next; this simple solution does no justice to the texts and is overthrown by archaeological evidence. Fifth‐century Gaul was Christian and mostly Catholic in a formal sense, but behind the forms lay a scarcely converted countryside where Celtic and other pagan beliefs still worried the clergy, and remained active in the 6th and 7th centuries, not only in indigenous peoples, but also in the various settler enclaves; these pagan beliefs also affected the way the Franks accepted Christianity. This is one side of the picture; the other is the nature of Germanic paganism — no sense can be made of Frankish Christianity, when it comes, unless allowance is first made for the fact that all Germans were religious people, conditioned by the sense they had of good and evil, life and death, gods and demons. This can best be seen in the archaeological evidence from their remote homeland in a more distant time, and much can be inferred from later literary evidence. This chapter discusses Frankish (Germanic) interest in and worship of pagan gods and heroes (Woden, in particular), Frankish grave gods (and the grave gods of settlers, with which they can be easily confused), the new religion the Franks found and were converted to under Clovis (or Chlodovech), their conqueror from northern Gaul, who was himself a convert to Catholicism, and the difficulties in converting the people in the countryside, where there had been a fusion of Germanic and Celtic paganism.
Raymond P. Scheindlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195315424
- eISBN:
- 9780199872039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315424.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Halevi justifies his journey to himself and others in four poems. In the first poem, he reproaches himself for worldliness and urges himself to put his ideas of trust in God to the test. In the ...
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Halevi justifies his journey to himself and others in four poems. In the first poem, he reproaches himself for worldliness and urges himself to put his ideas of trust in God to the test. In the second poem, he disputes the contention that the Holy Land has lost its sacredness since the Jews were exiled by asserting that it will be the locus of resurrection of the dead and by unleashing his famous tirade against Greek philosophy. The third poem is a reply to someone who attempted to persuade him to stay in Egypt on the grounds that it, too, was the site of miracles for the Jewish people. The last poem is a long internal monologue in which he responds to friends who objected not only to his pilgrimage but to his whole turn from worldliness to piety.Less
Halevi justifies his journey to himself and others in four poems. In the first poem, he reproaches himself for worldliness and urges himself to put his ideas of trust in God to the test. In the second poem, he disputes the contention that the Holy Land has lost its sacredness since the Jews were exiled by asserting that it will be the locus of resurrection of the dead and by unleashing his famous tirade against Greek philosophy. The third poem is a reply to someone who attempted to persuade him to stay in Egypt on the grounds that it, too, was the site of miracles for the Jewish people. The last poem is a long internal monologue in which he responds to friends who objected not only to his pilgrimage but to his whole turn from worldliness to piety.
Ondrej Beránek and Pavel Tupek
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474417570
- eISBN:
- 9781474444774
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474417570.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In various parts of the Islamic world over the past decades, virulent attacks have targeted Islamic funeral and sacral architecture. Rather than being random acts of vandalism, these are associated ...
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In various parts of the Islamic world over the past decades, virulent attacks have targeted Islamic funeral and sacral architecture. Rather than being random acts of vandalism, these are associated with the idea of performing one’s religious duty as attested to in the Salafi/Wahhabi tradition and texts. Graves, shrines and tombs are regarded by some Muslims as having the potential to tempt a believer to polytheism. Hence the duty to level the graves to the ground (taswiyat al-qubūr). In illuminating the ideology behind these acts, this book explains the current destruction of graves in the Islamic world and traces the ideological sources of iconoclasm in their historical perspective, from medieval theological and legal debates to contemporary Islamist movements including ISIS. The authors look at the destruction of graves in various parts of the Islamic world including the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, and trace the ideological roots of Salafi iconoclasm and its shifts and mutations in an historical perspective. The book contains case studies, among others, on Ibn Taymiyya, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, the Saudi religious establishment, Nasir al-Din al-Albani, and ISIS and the destruction of monuments.Less
In various parts of the Islamic world over the past decades, virulent attacks have targeted Islamic funeral and sacral architecture. Rather than being random acts of vandalism, these are associated with the idea of performing one’s religious duty as attested to in the Salafi/Wahhabi tradition and texts. Graves, shrines and tombs are regarded by some Muslims as having the potential to tempt a believer to polytheism. Hence the duty to level the graves to the ground (taswiyat al-qubūr). In illuminating the ideology behind these acts, this book explains the current destruction of graves in the Islamic world and traces the ideological sources of iconoclasm in their historical perspective, from medieval theological and legal debates to contemporary Islamist movements including ISIS. The authors look at the destruction of graves in various parts of the Islamic world including the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, and trace the ideological roots of Salafi iconoclasm and its shifts and mutations in an historical perspective. The book contains case studies, among others, on Ibn Taymiyya, Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, the Saudi religious establishment, Nasir al-Din al-Albani, and ISIS and the destruction of monuments.
Robert C. Mainfort
Lynne P. Sullivan (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034263
- eISBN:
- 9780813039619
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034263.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The residents of Mississippian towns principally located in the southeastern and midwestern United States from 900 to 1500 A.D. made many beautiful objects, which included elaborate and well-crafted ...
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The residents of Mississippian towns principally located in the southeastern and midwestern United States from 900 to 1500 A.D. made many beautiful objects, which included elaborate and well-crafted copper and shell ornaments, pottery vessels, and stonework. Some of these objects were socially valued goods and often were placed in a ritual context, such as graves. The funerary context of these artifacts has sparked considerable study and debate among archaeologists, raising questions about the place in society of the individuals interred with such items, as well as the nature of the societies in which these people lived. By focusing on how mortuary practices serve as symbols of beliefs and values for the living, this book explores how burial of the dead reflects and reinforces the cosmology of specific cultures, the status of living participants in the burial ceremony, ongoing kin relationships, and other aspects of social organization.Less
The residents of Mississippian towns principally located in the southeastern and midwestern United States from 900 to 1500 A.D. made many beautiful objects, which included elaborate and well-crafted copper and shell ornaments, pottery vessels, and stonework. Some of these objects were socially valued goods and often were placed in a ritual context, such as graves. The funerary context of these artifacts has sparked considerable study and debate among archaeologists, raising questions about the place in society of the individuals interred with such items, as well as the nature of the societies in which these people lived. By focusing on how mortuary practices serve as symbols of beliefs and values for the living, this book explores how burial of the dead reflects and reinforces the cosmology of specific cultures, the status of living participants in the burial ceremony, ongoing kin relationships, and other aspects of social organization.
Bonnie Effros
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520232440
- eISBN:
- 9780520928183
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520232440.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
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 ...
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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 book contributes 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, the book 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, it emphasizes in particular the effects of historical events and intellectual movements on French and German antiquarian and archaeological studies of these grave goods. The discussion traces the evolution of concepts of nationhood, race, and culture and shows how these concepts helped shape an understanding of the past. It 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.Less
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 book contributes 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, the book 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, it emphasizes in particular the effects of historical events and intellectual movements on French and German antiquarian and archaeological studies of these grave goods. The discussion traces the evolution of concepts of nationhood, race, and culture and shows how these concepts helped shape an understanding of the past. It 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.
Engseng Ho
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520244535
- eISBN:
- 9780520938694
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520244535.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses key findings of the first section of this volume about the relevance of sites of burial in Hadrami diaspora. It comments on a narrative of a one-way flow of value arriving with ...
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This chapter discusses key findings of the first section of this volume about the relevance of sites of burial in Hadrami diaspora. It comments on a narrative of a one-way flow of value arriving with the sayyid descendants of the Prophet in Tarim in the twelfth century, and then outward from. It suggests that the graves of Tarim provided an absolute vertical axis to ground and fix all that was of value, whether mobile or sedentary, foreign or local.Less
This chapter discusses key findings of the first section of this volume about the relevance of sites of burial in Hadrami diaspora. It comments on a narrative of a one-way flow of value arriving with the sayyid descendants of the Prophet in Tarim in the twelfth century, and then outward from. It suggests that the graves of Tarim provided an absolute vertical axis to ground and fix all that was of value, whether mobile or sedentary, foreign or local.
R. A. H. Neave and A. J. N. W. Prag
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262962
- eISBN:
- 9780191734533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262962.003.0015
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
This chapter discusses the role of the skull in forming the face and in identifying individuality, particularly in reconstructing ancient faces that bear semblance to the dead. Skulls serve as the ...
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This chapter discusses the role of the skull in forming the face and in identifying individuality, particularly in reconstructing ancient faces that bear semblance to the dead. Skulls serve as the armature of the face, where tissue, muscles and the skin are attached to form a distinct face. Whereas a surgeon removes layers of skin and tissue to reveal the skull, a medical artist builds each muscle in the skull by using well-established statistics for the flesh thickness and adds layers of clay for the skin. In general, the reconstruction of the face involves the use of a plaster cast replica of the skull. In such replicas, pegs are inserted to the cast to mark the thickness of the skull. In the whole process of face reconstruction, the skull, the medical and the pathological evidence provided by the skull and the post cranial skeleton dictate the formation of the face. In instances when the skull is absent or inaccessible, portraits found on the coffins are vital for reconstruction. While face reconstruction may seem simple, the process of reconstructing faces is a difficult task. Reconstruction of the face requires painstaking work, and knowledge of pathology, anatomy, dentistry and much more to build a case for history. Nevertheless, the painstaking work of face reconstruction is important in the field of forensics and in medical applications. Some of the cases of face reconstruction described in this chapter include the face reconstruction of Phillip II of Macedon, the face reconstruction of the Great Harwood case, the recreation of the faces of the Grave Gamma and the Seianti.Less
This chapter discusses the role of the skull in forming the face and in identifying individuality, particularly in reconstructing ancient faces that bear semblance to the dead. Skulls serve as the armature of the face, where tissue, muscles and the skin are attached to form a distinct face. Whereas a surgeon removes layers of skin and tissue to reveal the skull, a medical artist builds each muscle in the skull by using well-established statistics for the flesh thickness and adds layers of clay for the skin. In general, the reconstruction of the face involves the use of a plaster cast replica of the skull. In such replicas, pegs are inserted to the cast to mark the thickness of the skull. In the whole process of face reconstruction, the skull, the medical and the pathological evidence provided by the skull and the post cranial skeleton dictate the formation of the face. In instances when the skull is absent or inaccessible, portraits found on the coffins are vital for reconstruction. While face reconstruction may seem simple, the process of reconstructing faces is a difficult task. Reconstruction of the face requires painstaking work, and knowledge of pathology, anatomy, dentistry and much more to build a case for history. Nevertheless, the painstaking work of face reconstruction is important in the field of forensics and in medical applications. Some of the cases of face reconstruction described in this chapter include the face reconstruction of Phillip II of Macedon, the face reconstruction of the Great Harwood case, the recreation of the faces of the Grave Gamma and the Seianti.
Élisabeth Anstett and Jean-Marc Dreyfus (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously ...
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Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously absent from forensic debate, social scientists and historians here confront historical and contemporary exhumations with the application of social context to create an innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue, enlightening the political, social and legal aspects of mass crime and its aftermaths. Through a ground-breaking selection of international case studies, Human remains and identification argues that the emergence of new technologies to facilitate the identification of dead bodies has led to a “forensic turn”, normalising exhumations as a method of dealing with human remains en masse. However, are these exhumations always made for legitimate reasons? Multidisciplinary in scope, the book will appeal to readers interested in understanding this crucial phase of mass violence’s aftermath, including researchers in history, anthropology, sociology, forensic science, law, politics and modern warfare.Less
Human remains and identification presents a pioneering investigation into the practices and methodologies used in the search for and exhumation of dead bodies resulting from mass violence. Previously absent from forensic debate, social scientists and historians here confront historical and contemporary exhumations with the application of social context to create an innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue, enlightening the political, social and legal aspects of mass crime and its aftermaths. Through a ground-breaking selection of international case studies, Human remains and identification argues that the emergence of new technologies to facilitate the identification of dead bodies has led to a “forensic turn”, normalising exhumations as a method of dealing with human remains en masse. However, are these exhumations always made for legitimate reasons? Multidisciplinary in scope, the book will appeal to readers interested in understanding this crucial phase of mass violence’s aftermath, including researchers in history, anthropology, sociology, forensic science, law, politics and modern warfare.
J.-P. SODINI
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264027
- eISBN:
- 9780191734908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264027.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, although divided into distinct regions by their mountains, were important for the Roman Empire, particularly because they were crossed by the via Egnatia which ...
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The provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, although divided into distinct regions by their mountains, were important for the Roman Empire, particularly because they were crossed by the via Egnatia which snaked its way eastwards, serving as the vital link between Rome and Constantinople at a time when insecurity was increasing along the Danubian frontier. From the middle of the third century, cities in this part of the Empire were under threat and their fortifications were reinforced in the fifth (Thessalonika) and sixth centuries (Byllis under Justininian). There was prosperity in the fourth century and beginning of the fifth. During the fifth century, the houses of Philippi were partly transformed into workshops. The sixth century was difficult and the second half was especially bleak. However, contacts between east and west were still maintained, along with local production. From 540–550, however, barbarian invasions and plague worsened the general situation. Graves appeared inside the city walls. Archaeology (Slav pottery and fibulae) and texts (Miracula Sancti Demetrii) all demonstrate how hard times were from the 580s to the 630s.Less
The provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, although divided into distinct regions by their mountains, were important for the Roman Empire, particularly because they were crossed by the via Egnatia which snaked its way eastwards, serving as the vital link between Rome and Constantinople at a time when insecurity was increasing along the Danubian frontier. From the middle of the third century, cities in this part of the Empire were under threat and their fortifications were reinforced in the fifth (Thessalonika) and sixth centuries (Byllis under Justininian). There was prosperity in the fourth century and beginning of the fifth. During the fifth century, the houses of Philippi were partly transformed into workshops. The sixth century was difficult and the second half was especially bleak. However, contacts between east and west were still maintained, along with local production. From 540–550, however, barbarian invasions and plague worsened the general situation. Graves appeared inside the city walls. Archaeology (Slav pottery and fibulae) and texts (Miracula Sancti Demetrii) all demonstrate how hard times were from the 580s to the 630s.
Gabriel N. Finder
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
In the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Poland was quite literally a vast Jewish cemetery. In fields, forests, by the side of roads, and in Jewish cemeteries throughout the ...
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In the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Poland was quite literally a vast Jewish cemetery. In fields, forests, by the side of roads, and in Jewish cemeteries throughout the country, the corpses of dead Jews were buried helter-skelter in mass graves, partially buried in an apparent rush, or even left unburied. Even Jews who had no intentions of remaining in postwar Poland returned to their home towns resolved to fulfill a solemn duty to give the dead a proper burial, if possible in a Jewish cemetery. Using several yizkor books, this chapter will examine the efforts of Polish Jewish survivors to exhume the corpses of their dead and then rebury them with dignity in accordance with Jewish ritual and the role of memory in depiction of this act.Less
In the immediate aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Poland was quite literally a vast Jewish cemetery. In fields, forests, by the side of roads, and in Jewish cemeteries throughout the country, the corpses of dead Jews were buried helter-skelter in mass graves, partially buried in an apparent rush, or even left unburied. Even Jews who had no intentions of remaining in postwar Poland returned to their home towns resolved to fulfill a solemn duty to give the dead a proper burial, if possible in a Jewish cemetery. Using several yizkor books, this chapter will examine the efforts of Polish Jewish survivors to exhume the corpses of their dead and then rebury them with dignity in accordance with Jewish ritual and the role of memory in depiction of this act.
Karel C. Berkhoff
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
The chapter will show how both the Soviet authorities and the leaders of independent Ukraine attempted to block real investigation and commemoration at the hamlet of Bykivnia, where the NKVD buried ...
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The chapter will show how both the Soviet authorities and the leaders of independent Ukraine attempted to block real investigation and commemoration at the hamlet of Bykivnia, where the NKVD buried murdered bodies from 1939-1941. The chapter will look into how their attempts failed due to pressure from within—grave robbers and activists—and, especially, without—Germany and Poland. Following this account, details about the little-known Nazi and Soviet exhumations at the site will be examined.Less
The chapter will show how both the Soviet authorities and the leaders of independent Ukraine attempted to block real investigation and commemoration at the hamlet of Bykivnia, where the NKVD buried murdered bodies from 1939-1941. The chapter will look into how their attempts failed due to pressure from within—grave robbers and activists—and, especially, without—Germany and Poland. Following this account, details about the little-known Nazi and Soviet exhumations at the site will be examined.
Viacheslav Bitiutckii
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This paper discusses the search for, exhumation and identification of the remains of victims of mass political repression during the Stalinist Great Terror (1937-1938) in the USSR, concentrating on ...
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This paper discusses the search for, exhumation and identification of the remains of victims of mass political repression during the Stalinist Great Terror (1937-1938) in the USSR, concentrating on those who were subjected to the severest form of repression, that is, those who were shot following sentencing during judicial or extrajudicial processes. Even if historians now agree on the number of victims of Stalin's Great Terror (1937-1938) during which nearly 800,000 people were executed by gunshot, we still know little about the ultimate course these victims took as the full trial procedures, executions and burials were marked with the seal of state secrets. By restoring the history of exhumations undertaken from 1989 - quite exceptionally for Russia - in the Voronezh region 500 kilometres south of Moscow, and in focussing more specifically on the discovery of a site where 62 graves were discovered containing the remains of 2,889 individuals, this text lifts the veil on the Soviet logistics of the production of mass death. It sheds light on the human and material resources mobilized by the NKVD for these executions and illegal burials, utilising the repetitive tasks of dozens of individuals.Less
This paper discusses the search for, exhumation and identification of the remains of victims of mass political repression during the Stalinist Great Terror (1937-1938) in the USSR, concentrating on those who were subjected to the severest form of repression, that is, those who were shot following sentencing during judicial or extrajudicial processes. Even if historians now agree on the number of victims of Stalin's Great Terror (1937-1938) during which nearly 800,000 people were executed by gunshot, we still know little about the ultimate course these victims took as the full trial procedures, executions and burials were marked with the seal of state secrets. By restoring the history of exhumations undertaken from 1989 - quite exceptionally for Russia - in the Voronezh region 500 kilometres south of Moscow, and in focussing more specifically on the discovery of a site where 62 graves were discovered containing the remains of 2,889 individuals, this text lifts the veil on the Soviet logistics of the production of mass death. It sheds light on the human and material resources mobilized by the NKVD for these executions and illegal burials, utilising the repetitive tasks of dozens of individuals.
Gillian Fowler and Tim Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
The chapter will examine how forensic scientists, including anthropologists, have been exploring the potential of new methods and processes in the resolution of mass grave contexts. The introduction ...
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The chapter will examine how forensic scientists, including anthropologists, have been exploring the potential of new methods and processes in the resolution of mass grave contexts. The introduction of DNA to contexts where these challenges exist has had some success in the Balkans and in Guatemala, two areas that have experienced brutal civil wars for a number of years. More recently, the analysis of elemental and osteometric measures on the body have demonstrated potential in attempts to re-associate remains. Ultimately however, technological developments complement extensive ante-mortem investigation and the two cannot be utilised independently if the required end result is to successfully identify victims.Less
The chapter will examine how forensic scientists, including anthropologists, have been exploring the potential of new methods and processes in the resolution of mass grave contexts. The introduction of DNA to contexts where these challenges exist has had some success in the Balkans and in Guatemala, two areas that have experienced brutal civil wars for a number of years. More recently, the analysis of elemental and osteometric measures on the body have demonstrated potential in attempts to re-associate remains. Ultimately however, technological developments complement extensive ante-mortem investigation and the two cannot be utilised independently if the required end result is to successfully identify victims.
GRAHAM OLIVER
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264669
- eISBN:
- 9780191753985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264669.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
The chapter focuses on the commemoration of the individual in ancient and modern cultures. It argues that the attitude to individual commemoration adopted by the War Graves Commission in the First ...
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The chapter focuses on the commemoration of the individual in ancient and modern cultures. It argues that the attitude to individual commemoration adopted by the War Graves Commission in the First World War in Britain can be linked to the commemorative practices of ancient Greece, emphasising the importance of the part played by Sir Frederic Kenyon. The chapter draws on examples of commemoration from classical Athens, twentieth-century Britain and the Soviet Union in order to explore the different roles that the commemoration of the individual has played in ancient and modern forms of war commemoration.Less
The chapter focuses on the commemoration of the individual in ancient and modern cultures. It argues that the attitude to individual commemoration adopted by the War Graves Commission in the First World War in Britain can be linked to the commemorative practices of ancient Greece, emphasising the importance of the part played by Sir Frederic Kenyon. The chapter draws on examples of commemoration from classical Athens, twentieth-century Britain and the Soviet Union in order to explore the different roles that the commemoration of the individual has played in ancient and modern forms of war commemoration.
Élisabeth Anstett and Jean-Marc Dreyfus
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097560
- eISBN:
- 9781526104441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097560.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
The introduction outlines the book’s interrogation of the treatment of corpses and human remains following mass violence and genocide, focusing specifically on their possible discovery and ...
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The introduction outlines the book’s interrogation of the treatment of corpses and human remains following mass violence and genocide, focusing specifically on their possible discovery and identification. The study of these two separate enterprises – the search for bodies and their identification – has traditionally remained in the hands of forensic science and has so far only marginally attracted the interest of history, social anthropology or law despite the magnitude of their respective fields of application. In this context, one of the primary contributions of this book is to connect the social and forensic sciences, for the first time, in a joint and comparative analysis of how societies engage in the process of searching for and identifying the corpses produced by mass violence, and thereby to initiate a truly interdisciplinary dialogue.Less
The introduction outlines the book’s interrogation of the treatment of corpses and human remains following mass violence and genocide, focusing specifically on their possible discovery and identification. The study of these two separate enterprises – the search for bodies and their identification – has traditionally remained in the hands of forensic science and has so far only marginally attracted the interest of history, social anthropology or law despite the magnitude of their respective fields of application. In this context, one of the primary contributions of this book is to connect the social and forensic sciences, for the first time, in a joint and comparative analysis of how societies engage in the process of searching for and identifying the corpses produced by mass violence, and thereby to initiate a truly interdisciplinary dialogue.
