Bernard A. Knapp
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199237371
- eISBN:
- 9780191717208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237371.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This chapter considers, first, various archaeological ‘constructions’ that have guided as well as constrained the study of Cypriot archaeology. Until the 1980s, for example, most archaeologists ...
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This chapter considers, first, various archaeological ‘constructions’ that have guided as well as constrained the study of Cypriot archaeology. Until the 1980s, for example, most archaeologists working on the island, including native Cypriotes, were trained as specialists in Aegean, Levantine, or Anatolian archaeology, only secondarily in the archaeology of Cyprus. In contrast, and from a decidedly internal perspective, this chapter focuses on the material record of Prehistoric Bronze Age (PreBA) Cyprus (ca. 2700–1700/1650 BC), a time marked by major shifts in traditional materials and lifeways. Crucial social changes are considered through detailed examination of spatial organization and cultural sequences at several archaeological sites (landscapes), production and trade (copper, imports, the ‘secondary products revolution’), material culture (architecture, pottery) and mortuary practices, representations (‘genre scenes’, figurines), individuals (figurines, burials, jewellery), migration, and hybridization (architecture, pottery, cooking and weaving items, metal goods, jewellery). By about 1700 BC, the intensification of metallurgical and agricultural production precipitated the emergence of new island identities and a new social order, structurally very different from that which had characterized earlier periods, but one still solidly Cypriot in origin, outlook and makeup.Less
This chapter considers, first, various archaeological ‘constructions’ that have guided as well as constrained the study of Cypriot archaeology. Until the 1980s, for example, most archaeologists working on the island, including native Cypriotes, were trained as specialists in Aegean, Levantine, or Anatolian archaeology, only secondarily in the archaeology of Cyprus. In contrast, and from a decidedly internal perspective, this chapter focuses on the material record of Prehistoric Bronze Age (PreBA) Cyprus (ca. 2700–1700/1650 BC), a time marked by major shifts in traditional materials and lifeways. Crucial social changes are considered through detailed examination of spatial organization and cultural sequences at several archaeological sites (landscapes), production and trade (copper, imports, the ‘secondary products revolution’), material culture (architecture, pottery) and mortuary practices, representations (‘genre scenes’, figurines), individuals (figurines, burials, jewellery), migration, and hybridization (architecture, pottery, cooking and weaving items, metal goods, jewellery). By about 1700 BC, the intensification of metallurgical and agricultural production precipitated the emergence of new island identities and a new social order, structurally very different from that which had characterized earlier periods, but one still solidly Cypriot in origin, outlook and makeup.
Yonas Beyene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264522
- eISBN:
- 9780191734724
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264522.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
The discovery of three late Middle Pleistocene hominid crania, Homo sapiens idaltu, at Herto in the Middle Awash research area in Ethiopia in 1997 shed considerable light on this little-known period ...
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The discovery of three late Middle Pleistocene hominid crania, Homo sapiens idaltu, at Herto in the Middle Awash research area in Ethiopia in 1997 shed considerable light on this little-known period in Africa. These fossils consist of two adults' and a child's crania. All are morphologically intermediate between geologically earlier African fossils and anatomically modern later Pleistocene humans. The three Herto Homo sapiens idaltu crania show cutmarks indicating defleshing using sharp-edged stone tools. The post-mortem modifications and manipulation of the crania, demonstrated best on the child and broken adult crania, suggest that Homo sapiens idaltu performed ritual mortuary practices of which the dimension, context and meaning might only be revealed by further discoveries.Less
The discovery of three late Middle Pleistocene hominid crania, Homo sapiens idaltu, at Herto in the Middle Awash research area in Ethiopia in 1997 shed considerable light on this little-known period in Africa. These fossils consist of two adults' and a child's crania. All are morphologically intermediate between geologically earlier African fossils and anatomically modern later Pleistocene humans. The three Herto Homo sapiens idaltu crania show cutmarks indicating defleshing using sharp-edged stone tools. The post-mortem modifications and manipulation of the crania, demonstrated best on the child and broken adult crania, suggest that Homo sapiens idaltu performed ritual mortuary practices of which the dimension, context and meaning might only be revealed by further discoveries.
Roland Enmarch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265420
- eISBN:
- 9780191760471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265420.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
‘Laments’ have long been recognised as an important and long-lived part of Egyptian written culture, appearing in widely differing contexts, including as captions to mourning scenes in tombs from the ...
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‘Laments’ have long been recognised as an important and long-lived part of Egyptian written culture, appearing in widely differing contexts, including as captions to mourning scenes in tombs from the Old Kingdom onwards, as liturgical laments uttered by Isis and Nephthys in mortuary texts, and as an important component of the literary style of Middle Egyptian pessimistic literature. The heterogeneous nature of these sources presents problems in arriving at a satisfactory definition for a ‘lament’ genre as a whole, and raises questions as to just how closely related these different written traditions are. While the style of literary laments in particular has often been described as originating from funerary dirges, the evidence for this is chronologically problematic and other generic influences have alternatively been posited. This chapter establishes stylistic and structural criteria to enable a more detailed analysis of the different kinds of lament, and their possible interrelationship.Less
‘Laments’ have long been recognised as an important and long-lived part of Egyptian written culture, appearing in widely differing contexts, including as captions to mourning scenes in tombs from the Old Kingdom onwards, as liturgical laments uttered by Isis and Nephthys in mortuary texts, and as an important component of the literary style of Middle Egyptian pessimistic literature. The heterogeneous nature of these sources presents problems in arriving at a satisfactory definition for a ‘lament’ genre as a whole, and raises questions as to just how closely related these different written traditions are. While the style of literary laments in particular has often been described as originating from funerary dirges, the evidence for this is chronologically problematic and other generic influences have alternatively been posited. This chapter establishes stylistic and structural criteria to enable a more detailed analysis of the different kinds of lament, and their possible interrelationship.
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.
Tracy K. Betsinger, Amy B. Scott, and Anastasia Tsaliki (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683401032
- eISBN:
- 9781683401216
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683401032.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
While death and dying are universal, the treatment of the dead is culturally and temporally specific, highlighting the influence of both the deceased individual and the living community within the ...
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While death and dying are universal, the treatment of the dead is culturally and temporally specific, highlighting the influence of both the deceased individual and the living community within the mortuary process. This volume focuses specifically on non-normative or atypical mortuary practices situated within a contextually driven understanding of social and cultural norms surrounding the process of interment. Each chapter compares and contrasts the various elements of these mortuary treatments (e.g., body position, body orientation, artifact inclusion) and how they may represent specific ideological and/or cultural notions of identity and personhood after death (e.g., age, sex, gender, status, health). Care is taken to avoid simple binary classifications of “typical” and “atypical” by considering the range of mortuary treatments that characterize each society. Drawing on examples from North and South America, Europe, and Asia, this comprehensive volume stresses the commonality between non-normative or atypical treatments spanning millennia. Additionally, this volume strives to employ a holistic understanding of non-normative burials both in terms of assessing the significance and interpretation of individual cases of atypical interments, as well as to better understand the overall phenomenon of these mortuary practices, which continue to be the source of fascination and debate within mortuary archaeology.Less
While death and dying are universal, the treatment of the dead is culturally and temporally specific, highlighting the influence of both the deceased individual and the living community within the mortuary process. This volume focuses specifically on non-normative or atypical mortuary practices situated within a contextually driven understanding of social and cultural norms surrounding the process of interment. Each chapter compares and contrasts the various elements of these mortuary treatments (e.g., body position, body orientation, artifact inclusion) and how they may represent specific ideological and/or cultural notions of identity and personhood after death (e.g., age, sex, gender, status, health). Care is taken to avoid simple binary classifications of “typical” and “atypical” by considering the range of mortuary treatments that characterize each society. Drawing on examples from North and South America, Europe, and Asia, this comprehensive volume stresses the commonality between non-normative or atypical treatments spanning millennia. Additionally, this volume strives to employ a holistic understanding of non-normative burials both in terms of assessing the significance and interpretation of individual cases of atypical interments, as well as to better understand the overall phenomenon of these mortuary practices, which continue to be the source of fascination and debate within mortuary archaeology.
Barbara R. Ambros
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836269
- eISBN:
- 9780824871512
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836269.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Since the 1990s the Japanese pet industry has grown to a trillion-yen business and estimates place the number of pets above the number of children under the age of fifteen. There are between 6,000 to ...
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Since the 1990s the Japanese pet industry has grown to a trillion-yen business and estimates place the number of pets above the number of children under the age of fifteen. There are between 6,000 to 8,000 businesses in the Japanese pet funeral industry, including more than 900 pet cemeteries. Of these about 120 are operated by Buddhist temples, and Buddhist mortuary rites for pets have become an institutionalized practice. This book investigates what religious and intellectual traditions constructed animals as subjects of religious rituals and how pets have been included or excluded in the necral landscapes of contemporary Japan. Pet mortuary rites are emblems of the ongoing changes in contemporary Japanese religions. The book sheds light on important questions such as: Who (or what) counts as a family member? What kinds of practices should the state recognize as religious and thus protect financially and legally? Is it frivolous or selfish to keep, pamper, or love an animal? Should humans and pets be buried together? How do people reconcile the deeply personal grief that follows the loss of a pet and how do they imagine the afterlife of pets? And ultimately, what is the status of animals in Japan?Less
Since the 1990s the Japanese pet industry has grown to a trillion-yen business and estimates place the number of pets above the number of children under the age of fifteen. There are between 6,000 to 8,000 businesses in the Japanese pet funeral industry, including more than 900 pet cemeteries. Of these about 120 are operated by Buddhist temples, and Buddhist mortuary rites for pets have become an institutionalized practice. This book investigates what religious and intellectual traditions constructed animals as subjects of religious rituals and how pets have been included or excluded in the necral landscapes of contemporary Japan. Pet mortuary rites are emblems of the ongoing changes in contemporary Japanese religions. The book sheds light on important questions such as: Who (or what) counts as a family member? What kinds of practices should the state recognize as religious and thus protect financially and legally? Is it frivolous or selfish to keep, pamper, or love an animal? Should humans and pets be buried together? How do people reconcile the deeply personal grief that follows the loss of a pet and how do they imagine the afterlife of pets? And ultimately, what is the status of animals in Japan?
Adam T. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163239
- eISBN:
- 9781400866502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163239.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the breakdown and redevelopment of the civilization machine during the Middle Bronze Age alongside a fearsome new assemblage that is best described as a “war machine.” The ...
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This chapter examines the breakdown and redevelopment of the civilization machine during the Middle Bronze Age alongside a fearsome new assemblage that is best described as a “war machine.” The operation of the war machine entailed not only the reproduction of political violence but also the dissection of social orders, severing a sovereign body from the bodies of subjects—those who command from those who obey. Through the conspicuous consumption of Middle Bonze Age mortuary ritual, the war machine reproduced the terms on which social order was predicated—charisma, violence, and distinction. However, built into the conjoined operations of the civilization and war machines was a contradiction. As the one (the erstwhile sovereign) pulled away from the many (the constituted public), demands upon material resources exceeded capacities. Territorial fragmentation and military stalemate—consequences of the war machine's proliferation—threatened to undermine the workings of the civilization machine, dissecting a previously expansive public into smaller and smaller segments. As a result, the central principle of charismatic authority was put at risk insofar as political power flowed from the provision of needs through conflicts successfully waged.Less
This chapter examines the breakdown and redevelopment of the civilization machine during the Middle Bronze Age alongside a fearsome new assemblage that is best described as a “war machine.” The operation of the war machine entailed not only the reproduction of political violence but also the dissection of social orders, severing a sovereign body from the bodies of subjects—those who command from those who obey. Through the conspicuous consumption of Middle Bonze Age mortuary ritual, the war machine reproduced the terms on which social order was predicated—charisma, violence, and distinction. However, built into the conjoined operations of the civilization and war machines was a contradiction. As the one (the erstwhile sovereign) pulled away from the many (the constituted public), demands upon material resources exceeded capacities. Territorial fragmentation and military stalemate—consequences of the war machine's proliferation—threatened to undermine the workings of the civilization machine, dissecting a previously expansive public into smaller and smaller segments. As a result, the central principle of charismatic authority was put at risk insofar as political power flowed from the provision of needs through conflicts successfully waged.
Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813061122
- eISBN:
- 9780813051406
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813061122.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Using the concept of materiality as an interpretive framework, Carrie Sulosky Weaver presents an interdisciplinary examination of the Passo Marinaro necropolis (ca. 5th to 3rd c. BCE) for the purpose ...
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Using the concept of materiality as an interpretive framework, Carrie Sulosky Weaver presents an interdisciplinary examination of the Passo Marinaro necropolis (ca. 5th to 3rd c. BCE) for the purpose of reconstructing the synchronic dynamics, state of health and mortuary practices of Kamarina, an ancient Greek city-state in southeastern Sicily. By considering material evidence from the necropolis together with findings from the biological study of the human remains, a more complete portrait of the Kamarinean people emerges. The majority of people did not live past young adulthood, and throughout their lives, most experienced dental diseases, some developed degenerative joint disease, anemia and bone infections, others possessed physical deformities, and a few were the victims of interpersonal violence and possibly cancer. Kamarina was a place where magic and surgery were practiced, and individuals of diverse ethnicities and ancestries were united in life and death by shared culture and funerary practices. Through the combination of methods drawn from classical archaeology and physical anthropology, this study, the first of its kind for Greek Sicily, sheds new light on the life- and deathways of Kamarina in the 5th through 3rd c. BCE.Less
Using the concept of materiality as an interpretive framework, Carrie Sulosky Weaver presents an interdisciplinary examination of the Passo Marinaro necropolis (ca. 5th to 3rd c. BCE) for the purpose of reconstructing the synchronic dynamics, state of health and mortuary practices of Kamarina, an ancient Greek city-state in southeastern Sicily. By considering material evidence from the necropolis together with findings from the biological study of the human remains, a more complete portrait of the Kamarinean people emerges. The majority of people did not live past young adulthood, and throughout their lives, most experienced dental diseases, some developed degenerative joint disease, anemia and bone infections, others possessed physical deformities, and a few were the victims of interpersonal violence and possibly cancer. Kamarina was a place where magic and surgery were practiced, and individuals of diverse ethnicities and ancestries were united in life and death by shared culture and funerary practices. Through the combination of methods drawn from classical archaeology and physical anthropology, this study, the first of its kind for Greek Sicily, sheds new light on the life- and deathways of Kamarina in the 5th through 3rd c. BCE.
Florin Curta
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638093
- eISBN:
- 9780748670741
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638093.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead ...
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The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead of a polar opposition between the Byzantine Empire and “barbarians” (Slavs or Bulgars), the history of early medieval Greece must be understood within a larger Balkan context shaped fundamentally by complex economic and social phenomena. An older tradition has seen the changes taking place in Greece between ca. 500 and ca. 1050 as the result of exclusively political factors, mainly related to the revival of Byzantine military power under the Macedonian dynasty and the desire to convert the Slavs to Christianity. Nevertheless, recent studies in the economic history of early medieval Europe suggest a different view. Moreover, archaeologists interested in long-term changes have long recognized that the explosion of settlement assemblages is not unique to Greece and that similar developments are archaeologically documented for other areas of the Balkans that were not under Byzantine rule at that time. More economically minded accounts of the so-called Middle Byzantine period have revealed the complex relation between trade and agriculture in the economic take-off of the Macedonian period. The book offers for the first time a synthetic view of the economic and social processes at work in early medieval Greece, but pays attention also to political and religious phenomena.Less
The book is an attempt to synthesize the results of several studies in archaeology, numismatics, history, and sigillography that have recently advanced our knowledge of early medieval Greece. Instead of a polar opposition between the Byzantine Empire and “barbarians” (Slavs or Bulgars), the history of early medieval Greece must be understood within a larger Balkan context shaped fundamentally by complex economic and social phenomena. An older tradition has seen the changes taking place in Greece between ca. 500 and ca. 1050 as the result of exclusively political factors, mainly related to the revival of Byzantine military power under the Macedonian dynasty and the desire to convert the Slavs to Christianity. Nevertheless, recent studies in the economic history of early medieval Europe suggest a different view. Moreover, archaeologists interested in long-term changes have long recognized that the explosion of settlement assemblages is not unique to Greece and that similar developments are archaeologically documented for other areas of the Balkans that were not under Byzantine rule at that time. More economically minded accounts of the so-called Middle Byzantine period have revealed the complex relation between trade and agriculture in the economic take-off of the Macedonian period. The book offers for the first time a synthetic view of the economic and social processes at work in early medieval Greece, but pays attention also to political and religious phenomena.
Mikael Aktor
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812295
- eISBN:
- 9780199919390
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812295.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The Garo people of upland Northeast India attribute great significance to rituals of death. The scale of these rituals varies with the status of the deceased person in society. This manifests itself ...
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The Garo people of upland Northeast India attribute great significance to rituals of death. The scale of these rituals varies with the status of the deceased person in society. This manifests itself in the number and value of the gifts that are exchanged between representatives of the deceased person and the other people attending his or her funeral. Gifts draw counter-gifts at the same funeral, or at later ones. Among the more important gifts are cows, heirloom objects (gongs, swords, jewelry) as well as large sums of money. Such gifts, once offered, are not necessarily accepted. They can be refused as well. Decisions regarding the offering, acceptance and rejection of gifts have a bearing on relationships that are maintained among matrilineal kin, as well as with affines. All gifts that are offered at a funeral are believed to influence the status of the deceased person in the afterworld and also play an important role in defining his or her social memory. The essay shows that Garo mortuary rituals construct the dead as a source of authority and prestige, allowing for ties among the living to be defined in relation to the dead.Less
The Garo people of upland Northeast India attribute great significance to rituals of death. The scale of these rituals varies with the status of the deceased person in society. This manifests itself in the number and value of the gifts that are exchanged between representatives of the deceased person and the other people attending his or her funeral. Gifts draw counter-gifts at the same funeral, or at later ones. Among the more important gifts are cows, heirloom objects (gongs, swords, jewelry) as well as large sums of money. Such gifts, once offered, are not necessarily accepted. They can be refused as well. Decisions regarding the offering, acceptance and rejection of gifts have a bearing on relationships that are maintained among matrilineal kin, as well as with affines. All gifts that are offered at a funeral are believed to influence the status of the deceased person in the afterworld and also play an important role in defining his or her social memory. The essay shows that Garo mortuary rituals construct the dead as a source of authority and prestige, allowing for ties among the living to be defined in relation to the dead.
Timothy R. Paüketat
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034263
- eISBN:
- 9780813039619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034263.003.0002
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Mortuary studies in archaeology frequently focus on inferring the function or meaning of some burial program in society. This essay poses a simple question concerning how we understand those mortuary ...
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Mortuary studies in archaeology frequently focus on inferring the function or meaning of some burial program in society. This essay poses a simple question concerning how we understand those mortuary practices: Who is missing? It argues that around Cahokia, the precocious granddaddy of Mississippian political capitals and religious centers, the lasting effects of key mortuary practices involved a transformation of personal and corporate identities. A series of unusual mortuaries are associated with this early Cahokian era (ca. A.D. 1050–1200). To explain the Cahokia and Cahokia-related mortuary phenomena relative to the dramatic founding events of the early eleventh century, this essay draws on notions of performance and theatricality as well as two other theoretical concepts: a contemporary sense of personhood and the notion of citation. It contends that the specificities of audience participation in any mortuary spectacle transformed local senses of personhood as well as the consciousness of audiences. Agency and self were redefined by and for everybody involved in the gatherings, not just once-influential and now-dead persons. Such an argument helps explain the Mississippianization of ancient eastern North America.Less
Mortuary studies in archaeology frequently focus on inferring the function or meaning of some burial program in society. This essay poses a simple question concerning how we understand those mortuary practices: Who is missing? It argues that around Cahokia, the precocious granddaddy of Mississippian political capitals and religious centers, the lasting effects of key mortuary practices involved a transformation of personal and corporate identities. A series of unusual mortuaries are associated with this early Cahokian era (ca. A.D. 1050–1200). To explain the Cahokia and Cahokia-related mortuary phenomena relative to the dramatic founding events of the early eleventh century, this essay draws on notions of performance and theatricality as well as two other theoretical concepts: a contemporary sense of personhood and the notion of citation. It contends that the specificities of audience participation in any mortuary spectacle transformed local senses of personhood as well as the consciousness of audiences. Agency and self were redefined by and for everybody involved in the gatherings, not just once-influential and now-dead persons. Such an argument helps explain the Mississippianization of ancient eastern North America.
Gregory D. Wilson, Vincas P. Steponaitis, and Keith P. Jacobi
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034263
- eISBN:
- 9780813039619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034263.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Scholars have only recently begun to investigate Mississippian mortuaries as important sites for the living as well as the dead. The archaeological signatures of mortuary practices not only reflect ...
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Scholars have only recently begun to investigate Mississippian mortuaries as important sites for the living as well as the dead. The archaeological signatures of mortuary practices not only reflect the status of the deceased but were also shaped by the social aspirations of the living. Archaeological investigations have revealed that Mississippian mortuary practices were not uniform across the southeastern and midwestern United States. The Moundville site, located in the Black Warrior River valley of west-central Alabama, was the political and ceremonial capital of one of the largest and most complex Mississippian polities in the southeastern United States. This essay examines the social and spatial dimensions of Moundville mortuary practice by documenting and interpreting the size, arrangement, and composition of selected Mississippian cemeteries at the site. These cemeteries, uncovered during the 1939 and 1940 excavations of the Moundville Roadway, exhibit considerable internal variation in terms of age, sex, and mortuary treatment. Based on their composition, small size, strategic location, and duration, small corporate kin groups probably used these cemeteries to assert social and spatial claims within the Moundville polity.Less
Scholars have only recently begun to investigate Mississippian mortuaries as important sites for the living as well as the dead. The archaeological signatures of mortuary practices not only reflect the status of the deceased but were also shaped by the social aspirations of the living. Archaeological investigations have revealed that Mississippian mortuary practices were not uniform across the southeastern and midwestern United States. The Moundville site, located in the Black Warrior River valley of west-central Alabama, was the political and ceremonial capital of one of the largest and most complex Mississippian polities in the southeastern United States. This essay examines the social and spatial dimensions of Moundville mortuary practice by documenting and interpreting the size, arrangement, and composition of selected Mississippian cemeteries at the site. These cemeteries, uncovered during the 1939 and 1940 excavations of the Moundville Roadway, exhibit considerable internal variation in terms of age, sex, and mortuary treatment. Based on their composition, small size, strategic location, and duration, small corporate kin groups probably used these cemeteries to assert social and spatial claims within the Moundville polity.
John Parker
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780691193151
- eISBN:
- 9780691214900
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691193151.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African History
This book is the first detailed history of death and the dead in Africa south of the Sahara. Focusing on a region that is now present-day Ghana, the book explores mortuary cultures and the ...
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This book is the first detailed history of death and the dead in Africa south of the Sahara. Focusing on a region that is now present-day Ghana, the book explores mortuary cultures and the relationship between the living and the dead over a 400-year period spanning the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. The book considers many questions from the African historical perspective, including why people die and where they go after death, how the dead are buried and mourned to ensure they continue to work for the benefit of the living, and how perceptions and experiences of death and the ends of life have changed over time. From exuberant funeral celebrations encountered by seventeenth-century observers to the brilliantly conceived designer coffins of the late twentieth century, the book shows that the peoples of Ghana have developed one of the world's most vibrant cultures of death. The book explores the unfolding background of that culture through a diverse range of issues, such as the symbolic power of mortal remains and the dominion of hallowed ancestors, as well as the problem of bad deaths, vile bodies, and vengeful ghosts. The book reconstructs a vast timeline of death and the dead, from the era of the slave trade to the coming of Christianity and colonial rule to the rise of the modern postcolonial nation. With an array of written and oral sources, the book richly adds to an understanding of how the dead continue to weigh on the shoulders of the living.Less
This book is the first detailed history of death and the dead in Africa south of the Sahara. Focusing on a region that is now present-day Ghana, the book explores mortuary cultures and the relationship between the living and the dead over a 400-year period spanning the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. The book considers many questions from the African historical perspective, including why people die and where they go after death, how the dead are buried and mourned to ensure they continue to work for the benefit of the living, and how perceptions and experiences of death and the ends of life have changed over time. From exuberant funeral celebrations encountered by seventeenth-century observers to the brilliantly conceived designer coffins of the late twentieth century, the book shows that the peoples of Ghana have developed one of the world's most vibrant cultures of death. The book explores the unfolding background of that culture through a diverse range of issues, such as the symbolic power of mortal remains and the dominion of hallowed ancestors, as well as the problem of bad deaths, vile bodies, and vengeful ghosts. The book reconstructs a vast timeline of death and the dead, from the era of the slave trade to the coming of Christianity and colonial rule to the rise of the modern postcolonial nation. With an array of written and oral sources, the book richly adds to an understanding of how the dead continue to weigh on the shoulders of the living.
Ryan Wheeler and Joanna Ostapkowicz (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683400783
- eISBN:
- 9781683401056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400783.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Frank Hamilton Cushing’s 1896 excavations at Key Marco revealed astonishing carved and painted wooden artifacts rarely seen by archaeologists. Those following in Cushing’s footsteps have assembled a ...
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Frank Hamilton Cushing’s 1896 excavations at Key Marco revealed astonishing carved and painted wooden artifacts rarely seen by archaeologists. Those following in Cushing’s footsteps have assembled a corpus of aesthetic objects from Florida, often in perishable materials. These range from an embarrassing number of dugout canoes, to the wooden animal carvings of Fort Center’s mortuary pond and the owl totem of Hontoon Island. Connections to neighboring areas have been sought with some success; in general, however, the diversity of imagery often makes comparison a challenge. The chapters in this book explore new discoveries and revisit existing museum collections, asking new questions or employing innovative analytical techniques. Cushing concluded his slim Key Marco report with the surmise that the boundless life of the sea provided the energetic impulse behind the artworks that he uncovered. While we might reach a different conclusion today, it is clear that ancient Florida is difficult to comfortably place within the Southeast or Caribbean and that much of that difficulty arises from the iconography born of Florida’s watery landscapes.Less
Frank Hamilton Cushing’s 1896 excavations at Key Marco revealed astonishing carved and painted wooden artifacts rarely seen by archaeologists. Those following in Cushing’s footsteps have assembled a corpus of aesthetic objects from Florida, often in perishable materials. These range from an embarrassing number of dugout canoes, to the wooden animal carvings of Fort Center’s mortuary pond and the owl totem of Hontoon Island. Connections to neighboring areas have been sought with some success; in general, however, the diversity of imagery often makes comparison a challenge. The chapters in this book explore new discoveries and revisit existing museum collections, asking new questions or employing innovative analytical techniques. Cushing concluded his slim Key Marco report with the surmise that the boundless life of the sea provided the energetic impulse behind the artworks that he uncovered. While we might reach a different conclusion today, it is clear that ancient Florida is difficult to comfortably place within the Southeast or Caribbean and that much of that difficulty arises from the iconography born of Florida’s watery landscapes.
Roberto Valcárcel Rojas
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813061566
- eISBN:
- 9780813051499
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813061566.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, examines the interactions between indigenous peoples and European invaders in the Caribbean and the way in which domination ...
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Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, examines the interactions between indigenous peoples and European invaders in the Caribbean and the way in which domination imposed by a foreign model ultimately transformed this relationship into a system of colonial subordination. Investigations of the domestic and funerary contexts at the El Chorro de Maíta, in the northeast of Cuba, permit the archaeological visualization of the cultural and ethnic diversity imposed by colonial domination. Presented, for the first time, is the identification and archaeological study of an indigenous village that was transformed during the 16th-century into a town of Indian encomendados, which is to say working for the Spanish as forced labor. The study distinguishes the Christianization of the indigenous inhabitants, principally among those of elite status, and the process of ethnogenesis which gave rise to the “Indian” as a colonial category. This occurred in a scenario where indigenous mortuary practices were maintained, and handled and restricted the Hispanic material culture. It treats the process that created the cemetery with syncretic characteristics, in which there is an adjustment to a process of transculturation where the cultures and the individuals are transformed, and in which the indigenous peoples demonstrated a capacity for resistance and adaptation that is generally underestimated. This book demonstrates the value of archaeology to observe unrecorded episodes of Caribbean and American history that are vital for constructing the link with the pre-Columbian world and the construction of an integrated and new history.Less
Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, examines the interactions between indigenous peoples and European invaders in the Caribbean and the way in which domination imposed by a foreign model ultimately transformed this relationship into a system of colonial subordination. Investigations of the domestic and funerary contexts at the El Chorro de Maíta, in the northeast of Cuba, permit the archaeological visualization of the cultural and ethnic diversity imposed by colonial domination. Presented, for the first time, is the identification and archaeological study of an indigenous village that was transformed during the 16th-century into a town of Indian encomendados, which is to say working for the Spanish as forced labor. The study distinguishes the Christianization of the indigenous inhabitants, principally among those of elite status, and the process of ethnogenesis which gave rise to the “Indian” as a colonial category. This occurred in a scenario where indigenous mortuary practices were maintained, and handled and restricted the Hispanic material culture. It treats the process that created the cemetery with syncretic characteristics, in which there is an adjustment to a process of transculturation where the cultures and the individuals are transformed, and in which the indigenous peoples demonstrated a capacity for resistance and adaptation that is generally underestimated. This book demonstrates the value of archaeology to observe unrecorded episodes of Caribbean and American history that are vital for constructing the link with the pre-Columbian world and the construction of an integrated and new history.
Megan A. Perry (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813042299
- eISBN:
- 9780813043449
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813042299.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
The volume presents a broad array of bioarchaeological techniques that can illuminate the lives of individuals in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East and the promise of bioarchaeological research ...
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The volume presents a broad array of bioarchaeological techniques that can illuminate the lives of individuals in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East and the promise of bioarchaeological research in this region. The authors present their results in a contextualized manner, considering a region's unique geographic, cultural, and historical situation throughout antiquity. The book's organization around specific research topics (mortuary practices and society, population movement and migration, health, disease, and diet), rather than specific methods, emphasizes the problem-oriented nature of these projects. This arrangement makes the book more accessible to archaeologists and historians wishing to familiarize themselves with bioarchaeology's potential, in addition to introducing bioarchaeologists working in other regions to the growing body of research in the Near East.Less
The volume presents a broad array of bioarchaeological techniques that can illuminate the lives of individuals in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East and the promise of bioarchaeological research in this region. The authors present their results in a contextualized manner, considering a region's unique geographic, cultural, and historical situation throughout antiquity. The book's organization around specific research topics (mortuary practices and society, population movement and migration, health, disease, and diet), rather than specific methods, emphasizes the problem-oriented nature of these projects. This arrangement makes the book more accessible to archaeologists and historians wishing to familiarize themselves with bioarchaeology's potential, in addition to introducing bioarchaeologists working in other regions to the growing body of research in the Near East.
Kimberly D. Williams and Lesley A. Gregoricka (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683400790
- eISBN:
- 9781683401063
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Across the Near East, major changes in the commemoration of death and the formation of identity amongst the living took place at the beginning of the Neolithic. However, these investigations have ...
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Across the Near East, major changes in the commemoration of death and the formation of identity amongst the living took place at the beginning of the Neolithic. However, these investigations have largely focused on a narrow geographic expanse, including the Levant and Egypt, where processes of death and dying have been extensively documented. Much less is known about death and burial in the Near East, outside of the Levant. In recent years, however, interest in the mortuary landscapes of Arabia has steadily grown, and the potential for using death to reconstruct the lifestyles of once-living communities are becoming more fully realized. Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia brings together an international consortium of archaeologists and bioarchaeologists, who are at the forefront of mortuary archaeology work across Arabia, to examine continuity and change in death and remembrance. While mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology contribute important perspectives to the interpretation of life and death in ancient Arabia, these subdisciplines are rarely brought together in this region. Indeed, only recently have skeletal remains been recognized as a rich source of scientific data complementing burial context. Such joint collaboration highlights the novel, interdisciplinary perspective proposed in this volume, resulting in a synthesis of new ideas and interpretations that will undoubtedly guide future archaeological endeavors in Arabia and beyond.Less
Across the Near East, major changes in the commemoration of death and the formation of identity amongst the living took place at the beginning of the Neolithic. However, these investigations have largely focused on a narrow geographic expanse, including the Levant and Egypt, where processes of death and dying have been extensively documented. Much less is known about death and burial in the Near East, outside of the Levant. In recent years, however, interest in the mortuary landscapes of Arabia has steadily grown, and the potential for using death to reconstruct the lifestyles of once-living communities are becoming more fully realized. Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia brings together an international consortium of archaeologists and bioarchaeologists, who are at the forefront of mortuary archaeology work across Arabia, to examine continuity and change in death and remembrance. While mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology contribute important perspectives to the interpretation of life and death in ancient Arabia, these subdisciplines are rarely brought together in this region. Indeed, only recently have skeletal remains been recognized as a rich source of scientific data complementing burial context. Such joint collaboration highlights the novel, interdisciplinary perspective proposed in this volume, resulting in a synthesis of new ideas and interpretations that will undoubtedly guide future archaeological endeavors in Arabia and beyond.
Satsuki Kawano
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833725
- eISBN:
- 9780824870850
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833725.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Based on extensive fieldwork, this book reveals the emerging pluralization of death rites in postindustrial Japan. Low birth rates and high numbers of people remaining permanently single have led to ...
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Based on extensive fieldwork, this book reveals the emerging pluralization of death rites in postindustrial Japan. Low birth rates and high numbers of people remaining permanently single have led to a shortage of ceremonial caregivers (most commonly married sons and their wives) to ensure the transformation of the dead into ancestors resting in peace. Consequently, older adults are increasingly uncertain about who will perform memorial rites for them and maintain their graves. This book examines Japan's changing death rites from the perspective of those who elect to have their cremated remains scattered and celebrate their return to nature. For those without children, ash scattering is an effective strategy, as it demands neither a grave nor a caretaker. However, the adoption of ash scattering is not limited to the childless. By forgoing graves and lightening the burden on younger generations to care for them, this new mortuary practice has given its proponents an increased sense of control over their posthumous existence. By choosing ash scattering, older adults contest their dependent status in Japanese society, which increasingly views the aged as passive care recipients. As such, this book explores not only new developments in mortuary practices, but also voices for increased self-sufficiency in late adulthood and the elderly's reshaping of ties with younger generations. The book offers insightful discussion on the rise of new death rites and ideologies, older adults' views of their death rites, and Japan's changing society through the eyes of aging urbanites.Less
Based on extensive fieldwork, this book reveals the emerging pluralization of death rites in postindustrial Japan. Low birth rates and high numbers of people remaining permanently single have led to a shortage of ceremonial caregivers (most commonly married sons and their wives) to ensure the transformation of the dead into ancestors resting in peace. Consequently, older adults are increasingly uncertain about who will perform memorial rites for them and maintain their graves. This book examines Japan's changing death rites from the perspective of those who elect to have their cremated remains scattered and celebrate their return to nature. For those without children, ash scattering is an effective strategy, as it demands neither a grave nor a caretaker. However, the adoption of ash scattering is not limited to the childless. By forgoing graves and lightening the burden on younger generations to care for them, this new mortuary practice has given its proponents an increased sense of control over their posthumous existence. By choosing ash scattering, older adults contest their dependent status in Japanese society, which increasingly views the aged as passive care recipients. As such, this book explores not only new developments in mortuary practices, but also voices for increased self-sufficiency in late adulthood and the elderly's reshaping of ties with younger generations. The book offers insightful discussion on the rise of new death rites and ideologies, older adults' views of their death rites, and Japan's changing society through the eyes of aging urbanites.
Jacqueline I. Stone and Mariko Namba Walter (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832049
- eISBN:
- 9780824869250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832049.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light ...
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For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. It also explores the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two chapters. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four chapters. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. The book constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date.Less
For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. This book, running chronologically from the tenth century to the present, brings to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. It also explores the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice. The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two chapters. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four chapters. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. The book constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date.
Ann L. W. Stodder and Ann M. Palkovich
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813038070
- eISBN:
- 9780813043135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813038070.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter presents the osteobiography of a young man who lived in what is now Belize during the time of Spanish colonial occupation, ca. A.D. 1520 to 1660). Along with another man, he was buried ...
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This chapter presents the osteobiography of a young man who lived in what is now Belize during the time of Spanish colonial occupation, ca. A.D. 1520 to 1660). Along with another man, he was buried in the ruins of a Mayan palace that had been abandoned for four centuries. The burials combine Christian and Mayan traditions and tell part of the story of indigenous political resistance on the colonial frontierLess
This chapter presents the osteobiography of a young man who lived in what is now Belize during the time of Spanish colonial occupation, ca. A.D. 1520 to 1660). Along with another man, he was buried in the ruins of a Mayan palace that had been abandoned for four centuries. The burials combine Christian and Mayan traditions and tell part of the story of indigenous political resistance on the colonial frontier