Pronkjewails in verre oorden: Gronings onderzoek naar de dood in het oostelijk Middellandse Zeegebied

Pronkjewails in distant places: Mortuary studies in the eastern Mediterranean by the GIA. The Greek Archaeology research group of the GIA specializes in mortuary archaeology, studying sites in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East that date from the Bronze Age through to the Late Roman period. Our methodology includes theoretical approaches; cemetery excavations; the analysis of legacy data; studies of grave architecture, tombstones and grave goods; osteological analyses; digitization of datasets and digital applications; and DNA analysis, as well as isotopic and biomolecular studies, and we are focused on performing integrated studies with thorough contextual analyses. Our central question is how people dealt with death and what their funerary remains tell us about their lives and their world. Together with our local and international network of researchers and laboratories, our staff and students aim to perform innovative research, reach out to the public, and provide diverse perspectives on life and death in the ancient eastern Mediterranean.

Death in Late Bronze Age Greece

Late Bronze Age tombs in Greece and their attendant mortuary practices have been a topic of scholarly debate for over a century, dominated by the idea of a monolithic culture with the same developmental trajectories throughout the region. This book contributes to that body of scholarship by exploring both the level of variety and of similarity in the practices at each site and thereby highlights the differences between communities that otherwise look very similar. Bringing together an international group of scholars working on tombs and cemeteries on mainland Greece, Crete, and in the Dodecanese, the volume affords a unique view of the development and diversity of these communities. The chapters provide a penetrative analysis of the related issues by discussing tombs connected with sites ranging in size from palaces to towns to villages and in date from the start to the end of the Late Bronze Age. This book contextualizes the mortuary studies in recent debates on diversity at the main palatial and secondary sites and between the economic and political strategies and practices throughout Greece. The chapters in the volume illustrate the pervasive connection between the mortuary sphere and society through the creation and expression of cultural narratives, and draw attention to the social tensions played out in the mortuary arena.

PRÁTICAS FUNERÁRIAS NA ARQUEOLOGIA: Pluralidades e Patrimônio

Este artigo apresenta algumas considerações sobre a importância do estudo das práticas funerárias na arqueologia, com ênfase, ao final, na questão do cemitério como patrimônio. Os problemas de pesquisa relacionados com a arqueologia das práticas funerárias se esbarram com a arqueologia social dos remanescentes funerários, a bioarqueologia social, os estudos mortuários e a arqueologia da morte. Muito aquém dessas pesquisas, no Brasil, os sítios de interesse para esta área de pesquisa foram identificados na legislação federal como existentes, carecendo de demandas significativas de atividades científicas relacionadas às áreas e temas dos estudos mortuários. FUNERARY PRACTICES IN ARCHAEOLOGY: Pluralities and Heritage ABSTRACTThis paper presents some considerations on the importance of the study of burial practices in archaeology, with emphasis, in the end, the question of the cemetery as equity. The research problems related to the archaeology of the funerary practices to collide with the social archaeology of funerary remains, social bioarchaeology, the mortuary studies and archaeology of death. Far short of these surveys in Brazil, sites of interest to this area of research were identified in federal law as existing, lacking significant demands of scientific activities related to the areas and issues of mortuary studies.Keywords: Funerary practices; burial terminology; mortuary studies; archaeological heritage

Interactions with the Dead: A Taphonomic Analysis of Burial Practices in Three Megalithic Tombs in County Clare, Ireland

Burial is a highly symbolic activity through which concepts of the world are reflected in the representation and treatment of human remains. While mortuary studies in archaeology and anthropology have had a long history, our understanding of Neolithic societies through such analyses is lacking. This article has attempted to broaden our understandings of one such society, focusing upon the megalithic tomb tradition in Ireland, through an integrated study of the burial practices taking place at several sites located on the Burren, County Clare. The Parknabinnia chambered tomb, Poulnabrone portal tomb, and Poulawack Linkardstown-type cairn are located within three kilometres of each other and date to contemporary periods. Several questions are explored through the use of archaeological evidence, osteological analysis, and taphonomy to allow for a broader appreciation of social practices in the past – most notably burial practices. What types of burial practices were taking place; how do the sites compare to each other; and how do they fit within the overall scheme of Neolithic practices we have come to understand?

A Critique of Some Recent North American Mortuary Studies

Interpretations of prehistoric social organization based on multivariate statistical analyses of burial practices are becoming increasingly common in the North American archaeological literature. Unfortunately, these analyses and interpretations can incorporate weaknesses ranging from faulty data coding and the mis-application of statistical procedures to biases in the statistical and logical procedures employed. These problems are discussed in light of recent analyses (Tainter 1975a, 1975b, 1977a, 1977b, 1978) which use burial data from six Woodland sites in the riverine midwestern United States to develop a model of social change for the period A.D. 200-800. The results of these particular analyses are shown to be, at best, highly ambiguous and, at worst, contradictory to the proposed interpretations. This paper summarizes the weaknesses in these analyses, both to show the absence of support for the particular proposed interpretations and to illustrate how inappropriate methods can negate potentially useful mortuary research.