The archaeology of death and burial / Mike Parker Pearson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parker Pearson, Michael, 1957-

Series:

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; no. 3.

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; no. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

Death--Social aspects.

Death.

Human remains (Archaeology).

Ethnoarchaeology.

funerals.

ethnoarchaeology.

Physical Description:

iv, 250 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

College Station, Texas : Texas A & M University Press, 2000.

Summary:

"The archaeology of death and burial is central to our attempts to understand vanished societies. Through the remains of funerary rituals we can learn not only about the attitudes of prehistoric people to death and the afterlife, but also about their way of life, their social organization and their view of the world. This book reviews the latest research in this field, and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to rapid advances in our understanding of life and death in the distant past. In search of a comprehensive and international survey, the author draws on case studies from different periods and locations all over the world--the Palaeolithic in Europe and the Near East, for instance, the Mesolithic in northern Europe and the Iron Age in Asia and Eruope. He also considers the evidence from precontact North America, ancient Egypt, Madagascar, and from the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Britain and Europe. Using the archaeology as a basis he reconstructs vivid pictures of ancient, and not so ancient, funerary rituals and practices, at the same time telling us much about the social structures and the beliefs of the people under investigation. He describes the political and ethical controversies surrounding human remains and the problems of reburial, looting and war crimes. The Archaeology of Death and Burial provides an overview and synthesis of one of the most revealing fields of research into the past. It creates a context for several discoveries--from Tutankhamen to the Ice Man--and will find a market among archaeologists, prehistorians, social anthropologists, historians and others who have a professional interest in, or general curiosity about, death and burial"--Jacket

Contents:

Learning from the dead

From now to then : ethnoarchaeology and analogy

Reading the body

Status, rank and power

Gender and kinship

Placing the dead

The human experience of death

The politics of the dead

Epilogue : death and memory

Appendix. Excavating human remains.

Notes:

Originally published in 1999 by Sutton Publishing Limited, Gloucestershire.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-243) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Parker Pearson, Michael, 1957- Archaeology of death and burial.

ISBN:

158544099X

9781585440993

9780890969267

0890969264

OCLC:

45281310