Archaeologists and the dead : mortuary archaeology in contemporary society / edited by Howard Williams and Melanie Giles.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Williams, Howard, 1972- editor.

Giles, Melanie, editor.

Institute for Archaeologists.

Theoretical Archaeology Group (England). Conference 2010 : University of Bristol)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human remains (Archaeology)--Congresses.

Human remains (Archaeology).

Funeral rites and ceremonies, Ancient--Congresses.

Funeral rites and ceremonies, Ancient.

Death--Social aspects--Congresses.

Death.

Memorials--Social aspects--Congresses.

Memorials.

Social archaeology--Congresses.

Social archaeology.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Congresses.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Archaeologists--Congresses.

Archaeologists.

Archaeology--Social aspects--Congresses.

Archaeology.

Archaeology--Social aspects.

Memorials--Social aspects.

Death--Social aspects.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xx, 465 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Summary:

"This volume addresses the relationship between archaeologists and the dead, through the many dimensions of their relationships: in the field (through practical and legal issues), in the lab (through their analysis and interpretation), and in their written, visual and exhibitionary practice--disseminated to a variety of academic and public audiences. Written from a variety of perspectives, its authors address the experience, effect, ethical considerations, and cultural politics of working with mortuary archaeology. Whilst some papers reflect institutional or organizational approaches, others are more personal in their view: creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues that have hitherto often remained 'unspoken' among the discipline. Reframing funerary archaeologists as 'death-workers' of a kind, the contributors reflect on their own experience to provide both guidance and inspiration to future practitioners, arguing strongly that we have a central role to play in engaging the public with themes of mortality and commemoration, through the lens of the past. Spurred by the recent debates in the UK, papers from Scandinavia, Austria, Italy, the US, and the mid-Atlantic, frame these issues within a much wider international context that highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which this work takes place"--Publisher description.

Contents:

Introduction: Mortuary archaeology in contemporary society / Melanie Giles and Howard Williams

Questions raised in excavating the recent dead / Sian Anthony

Personhood and re-embodiment in osteological practice / John McClelland and Jessica I. Cerezo-Román

Separating the emotions : archaeological mentalities in central Italian funerary archaeology / Ulla Rajala

Slave-trade archaeology and the public : the excavation of a "liberated African" graveyard on St. Helena / Andrew Pearson and Ben Jeffs

Habeas corpus : contested ownership of casualties of the Great War / Martin Brown

Bones without barriers : the social impact of digging the dead / Faye Sayer and Duncan Sayer

Museum practice and the display of human remains / Hedley Swain

Displaying the dead : the English Heritage experience / Sarah Tatham

The immortals : prehistoric individuals as ideological and theraputic tools in our time / Nina Nordström.

Covering the mummies at the Manchester Museum : a discussion of authority, authorship, and agendas in the human remains debate / Karen Exell

Making an exhibition of ourselves : using the dead to fight the battles of the living / Tiffany Jenkins

To gaze upon the dead : the exhibition of human remains as cultural practice and political process in Scandinavia and the USA / Liv Nilsson Stutz

Firing the imagination : cremation in the museum / Howard Williams

Contemporary pagans and the study of the ancestors / William Rathouse

"Tomb to give away" : the significance of graves and dead bodies in present-day Austria / Estella Weiss-Krejci

Digging the dead in a digital media age / Duncan Sayer and Tony Walter

Writing about death, mourning, and emotion : archaeology, imagination, and creativity / Trevor Kirk

Reconstructing death : the chariot burials of Iron Age East Yorkshire / Melanie Giles

Reflections on intersections of mortuary archaeology and contemporary society / Lynne Goldstein.

Notes:

Papers from two conference sessions: the first took place at Easter 2010 as part of the Southport IfA annual conference, the second in December 2010 at the Bristol TAG conference.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198753537

0198753535

OCLC:

929590450