Social arrangements. Kinship, descent and affinity in the mortuary architecture of Early Neolithic Britain and Ireland

This article reassesses the social significance of Early Neolithic chambered tombs. It critically evaluates inferences about social organization drawn from tomb architecture and interpretations of kinship based on aDNA analyses of human remains from tombs. Adopting the perspective that kinship is a multifaceted and ongoing field of practice, it argues that the arrangement of tomb chambers was related to the negotiation of Early Neolithic kinship. Drawing together inferences about biological relatedness from aDNA analyses with interpretations of chamber arrangements, it suggests that variation in the architectural arrangements and sequential modification of chambered tombs relates to different ways of negotiating aspects of kinship, particularly descent and affinity. It presents interpretations of how kinship was negotiated at Early Neolithic tombs in different regions of Britain and Ireland and concludes that it is increasingly possible to gauge pattern and diversity in Neolithic negotiations of kinship, descent and affinity by combining different strands of evidence, including architectural arrangement.

Of Winged Women and Stone Tombs: Identity and Agency through Iron Age Lycian Mortuary Architecture

The people collectively named the Lycians in modern scholarship are the best represented of the western Anatolian first millennium BC cultures in terms of philological, historical, and archaeological data. This article seeks to better understand the meanings behind Iron Age Lycian mortuary monuments and religious images, and how they reflect Lycian identity and agency in a time of political turmoil. By studying the Lycian mortuary landscape, tombs and images, we can begin to comprehend Lycian perceptions of the afterlife, religion and cultural identity. In particular, we look to the images of the so-called “Harpies” and “Running Men” to better understand evidence of the afterlife, connections to the past and the creation of their own identity of what it means to be Lycian. The study of Lycian mortuary trends, monumental architecture, and religion gives us a small but tantalizing view into the Lycian understanding of religion and death, and how they wielded their own culture as a tool for survival in a politically fraught world.

The historical glazed tiles from Nossa Senhora da Soledade Cemetery, Northern Brazil: microstructural, physical and mineralogical characterization

During the nineteenth century, historical glazed tiles were used in the mortuary architecture of Nossa Senhora da Soledade Cemetery, in Belém. These ceramic pieces are an extraordinary part of Brazilian cultural heritage but are at a high deterioration stage due to conditions to which they are subjected. The aim of this research was the microstructural, physical and mineralogical characterization of glazed tiles from Nossa Senhora da Soledade Cemetery. The samples consisted of Portuguese fragments from the nineteenth century, decorated by stamping. The characterization was performed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy, water absorption test, and X-ray diffractometry. The results indicated that glazed and ceramic layers have manufacturing defects and a heterogeneous character due to the handmade production process. The porosities vary from 13.3% to 22.9%. The ceramics are composed of quartz, gehlenite, calcite, rutile, cristobalite, diopside, anorthite, hematite and wollastonite. According to the results, despite many similarities (country of origin, century of production, decorative technique), the samples have variations in their microstructure and mineralogy. Information regarding the compositions of the tiles and their variation is important to support future restorative interventions.

Feasting and Ancestor Veneration at Chinchawas, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru

The present article considers evidence for ancestor veneration and feasting in the North Highlands (Department of Ancash), Peru between A. D. 500-900. The study draws upon ethnohistorical, iconographic, and archaeological comparisons to better understand different lines of data from the ancient Recuay community of Chinchawas (3,850 masl), including public and mortuary architecture, ceramics, faunal remains, and stone sculpture. Two major programs of religious activity can be discerned: one situated within local Recuay traditions (Kayán and Chinchawasi phases, A. D. 500-800), followed by a suite of intrusive patterns associated with Wari expansion (Warmi phase, after A. D. 800). The study argues that, by A. D. 500, special public ceremonies combined ancestor worship and feasting as part of community politics at the site. Chinchawasi practices included subterranean tombs, special architectural enclosures with monolithic sculptures, and evidence for large-scale consumption. Warmi practices appear smaller in scale, focusing on aboveground mausolea, different stone sculptural forms and iconography, and increasing evidence for interregional interaction. The diachronic patterns reflect: 1) flexible sociopolitical arrangements at Chinchawas that accommodated group and entrepreneurial interests, and 2) local sociocultural transformations associated with Wari expansion (ca. A. D. 750).