The purpose of this thesis is to assess the mortuary program at Morton Shell Mound (16IB3) using osteological and spatial analyses. Because of the fragmented and commingled nature of the remains, the analysis of mortuary practices includes quantitative assessment of the elements, examination of bone fracture patterns, and distributional analyses of the fragments. The collection includes 15,714 fragments with a total of 93 individuals represented. The elements exhibit primarily late-stage postmortem fractures, and are randomly distributed throughout the mound. These data indicate a complex mortuary program that that may have been used for longer than 900 years. Morton has the variability of burial styles, few grave offerings, and communal burials characteristic of Middle and Late Woodland mortuary practices. The compatibility of the methods used, and their applicability to fragmented remains, makes them advantageous tools in the quantification of commingled collections both in bioarchaeological and modern forensic investigations.

It is generally considered that cairns and stone constructions of different shapes and sizes make up the grave monuments of the Late Bronze Age (1000–300 BC) in the province of Södermanland in Sweden. However, these “monuments” often contain only small amounts of burnt bone, and often no human remains at all. At the same time, human bones are found in settlement sites and other "non-grave" contexts. The materiality of human remains thus appears to be far more complex than a modern definition of "burial" or "grave" would allow.  This thesis investigates practices beyond the common terminology of burial archaeology, and focuses on the practices of collecting, enclosing and scattering stones, human remains, pottery and metal objects in stone constructions traditionally labeled "graves".  The study is conducted through a detailed micro-level analysis combining constructions, depositions of artefacts and human remains in a perspective of perception, formation processes and temporality. Based on the results from studies of two Late Bronze Age burial grounds in Eastern Sweden, it is argued that there is a need to differentiate the meaning content of cremated bone within in what we refer to as burial grounds. Results indicate that the passage rituals in connection with death and disposal of remains do not end when the cremated bone is deposited in the stone constructions. The constructions and deposits are subject to further attention and actions, altering the meaning of the cremated bones while the individual undergoes transformation to a fully transformed substance. The stone constructions themselves do not appear to have been built for eternity, but rather as functional nodes of transformation, constructed to facilitate the passage rituals.

The objective of this thesis is to enhance the archaeological visibility of mobile pastoralists in the southern Levant, accomplished through an ethnoarchaeological study of Bedouin mortuary practices in Jordan. Qualitative data, collected via 136 ethnographic interviews, and quantitative data, collected from 20 Bedouin cemeteries, are analyzed to distinguish the material residues of Bedouin funerary practices. Patterns in these data are investigated using a multi-scalar spatial model, to improve archaeological interpretations and produce a predictive model for locating the material signatures of mobile pastoralist mortuary practices in the southern Levant. This research yields results of high archaeological visibility, demonstrating that Bedouin mortuary practices leave behind a detectable material signature on the landscape. / February 2017

This thesis provides the beginnings of further research on the correlation between Nabataean mortuary practices and specific biological age ranges. It seeks to answer the question of whether Nabataean infants were absent from, or under-represented, in Nabataean cemeteries. Several quantitative analyses and descriptive statistics were performed, comparing Nabataean adult and subadult burials from fourteen sites. Nabataean cemetery populations were also compared with Walter Scheidel's model life table. These analyses demonstrate that Nabataean burials typically consisted of either a single adult or multiple individuals of various age ranges. Subadults, individuals under the age of 20 years, were rarely found buried by themselves, and seldom with other subadults. The comparison of Nabataean cemetery populations with Scheidel's model life table reported lower than expected percentages of individuals between the age ranges of zero to 12 years. However, this discrepancy is likely due to decay, the destruction of skeletal remains, and poor excavation techniques.

Atkins performed an archaeological relocation of a nineteenth century cemetery on behalf of Luminant Mining Company, within the Kosse Mine in Robertson County, Texas between the years of 2011 and 2012. The Head Cemetery offers unique opportunities to examine views of death and burial in rural, central Texas during the period of the early statehood until around 1900. The Head family and other members of the settlement were part of a pioneer community exhibiting clear expressions of family and community affiliations through spatiality and the material culture of burials. An analysis of coffin hardware and burial practices provides suggestions for dating and identifying unknown interments and exploring changing sentiments towards death by Anglo American settlers within the broader sociohistorical context of the nineteenth century. / text

Cette étude retrace l’évolution de certains traitements réservés aux cadavres et aux restes humains en Égypte en se concentrant sur l’époque prédynastique et les six premières dynasties. Les cimetières contemporains de cette période de formation et d’affirmation des principaux éléments constitutifs de la civilisation pharaonique témoignent de la coexistence de pratiques funéraires associées à l’émergence de la momification artificielle et de pratiques mortuaires intervenant sur des corps partiellement ou totalement décomposés. L’objectif est de réévaluer par une approche archéothanatologique la documentation relative à ces deux catégories de traitements du corps, afin d’appréhender la diversité des pratiques de cette période. Cette étude vise donc à replacer le corps du défunt au centre de la discussion sur les pratiques mortuaires égyptiennes en prenant en compte deux ères chronologiques souvent considérées séparément. La relecture des publications archéologiques et de certaines archives de fouilles dans cette perspective a permis de proposer une sélection hétérogène de sépultures et de dépôts de restes humains provenant de 27 cimetières de la vallée égyptienne du Nil. Cette sélection d’inhumations offre une vision d’ensemble de la manière dont pouvaient être traités les défunts, ce qui permet de discuter de la continuité entre les pratiques prédynastiques et dynastiques et de confronter les données recueillies aux différentes interprétations possibles des gestes identifiés. / This study examines the evolution of practices pertaining to the treatment of human bodies and remains in Egypt from the Predynastic era through the first six dynasties. Burial grounds contemporaneous with the formation and affirmation of the principal constituents of the pharaonic civilization indicate the coexistence of funerary practices related to the emergence of artificial mummification, and mortuary practices involving partially or fully decomposed bodies. The purpose is to reevaluate, through the lens of archaeothanatology, the existing documentation regarding these two body treatment categories to better understand the diversity of practices over this period. The study aims to see the body of the deceased as the focal point of the discussion on Egyptian mortuary practices by taking into consideration two chronological eras often examined separately. Studying archaeological publications and archival documents of past excavations from this perspective provides a heterogeneous set of human sepultures and deposits found in 27 cemeteries throughout the Egyptian Nile valley. The cases chosen for the purpose of this study offer a comprehensive outlook into how the deceased were treated, which gives the grounds for discussing the continuity between predynastic and dynastic practices and for confronting the collected materials with diverse possible interpretations of these treatments.

Yes

No / There is increasing evidence for complexity in mortuary practices in Britain during the Roman period. One class of burials demonstrates an association between inhumation in stone sarcophagi or lead-lined coffins, 'plaster' coatings, textile shrouds and natural resins. It has been suggested that this 'package' represents a deliberate attempt at body preservation. Fragments with a resinous appearance found in one such burial from Arrington, Cambridgeshire, UK were analysed using gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry. The triterpenic compounds identified are biomarkers for the genus Pistacia and provide the first chemical evidence for an exotic resin in a mortuary context in Roman Britain. / AHRC

O registro arqueológico associado aos sítios conchíferos do litoral catarinense aponta para uma intensificação nos processos de mudança a partir de 2000 anos AP, marcada por acontecimentos diversos como a diminuição no número de sítios, a diminuição no uso de conchas em sua formação, o aparecimento da cerâmica, o aumento da violência e a alteração do padrão de residência pós-marital. Com o objetivo de compreender melhor esses processos de mudança e entendendo o sítio Armação do Sul (Florianópolis/SC) como elemento chave para essa compreensão, foram realizadas análises isotópicas de estrôncio (87Sr/86Sr) carbono (δ13C) e nitrogênio (δ15N) nos indivíduos que nele se encontram sepultados, juntamente com a análise das práticas mortuárias associadas a esses sepultamentos e o estabelecimento de uma cronologia que associa informação estratigráfica com datações radiocarbônicas obtidas para diversos esqueletos. A partir de uma perspectiva de longa duração centrada na prática e do reconhecimento da multidimensionalidade inerente aos processos de mudança, os dados gerados foram entendidos contextualmente na curta, média e longa duração, e em escala de sítio (Armação do Sul), local (litoral central) e regional (litoral catarinense), em busca de uma tensão positiva entre indivíduo e estrutura, mudança e estabilidade, sincronia e diacronia. Ao fim, concluiu-se que os processos de mudança se desenrolaram diferentemente em porções litorâneas distintas do litoral catarinense e que, no caso do sítio Armação do Sul, as mudanças observadas estão relacionadas a um quadro de acontecimentos inter-relacionados que envolveu: maior circulação e incorporação de indivíduos de diferentes partes do litoral central; mudança na dieta dos indivíduos do sexo masculino em direção ao consumo de recursos C4 ou à diminuição no consumo de recursos marinhos de alto nível trófico; desenvolvimento de uma hierarquia social mais claramente observável no registro arqueológico e, possivelmente, hereditária; aumento da violência; inovações em alguns elementos que compõem as práticas mortuárias; mudança no sedimento que compõe o sítio; adensamento populacional ou maior quantidade de indivíduos sendo sepultados no mesmo local; transição para um padrão de residência virilocal; e alterações paleoclimáticas e paleogeográficas. Foram ainda feitas algumas breves contribuições para um melhor entendimento das peculiaridades do panorama arqueológico do litoral central, com o auxílio de conceitos oriundos da teoria de sistemas adaptativos complexos e sob a perspectiva dos regimes de historicidade. / The archaeological record associated with shell mounds in the Santa Catarina coast points to an intensification in the processes of change starting at 2000 years BP, marked by various events such as the decrease in the number of sites, the reduction in the use of shells in their formation, the appearance of ceramics, increased violence and alterations of the pattern of post-marital residence. In order to better comprehend these processes of change and understanding the Armação do Sul site (Florianópolis/SC) as a key element to said comprehension, we have performed isotopic analyses based on strontium (87Sr/86Sr), carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the individuals that are buried there, along with the analysis of the mortuary practices associated with those burials, and the establishment of a chronology that associates stratigraphic information with radiocarbon dating obtained for several skeletons. From a long-term perspective focused on practice and recognition of the multidimensionality inherent to change processes, the resulting data were observed contextually in short, medium and long terms, and in site (Armação do Sul), local (central coast) and regional (Santa Catarina coast) scales, in search for a positive tension between individual and structure, change and stability, synchrony and diachrony. Finally, we have concluded that the change processes unfolded differently in distinct coastal portions in the Santa Catarina coast and that, in the case of the Armação do Sul site, observed changes are related to a setting of interrelated events which involved: increased circulation and incorporation of individuals from different parts of the central coast; change in the diet of male individuals towards consumption of C4 resources or the decrease in the consumption of marine resources of high trophic level; development of a social hierarchy more clearly observable in the archaeological records and, possibly, hereditary; increased violence; innovations in some elements which compose the mortuary practices; change in the depositional pattern; increase in the population density or in the number of individuals buried in the same place; transition to a pattern of virilocal residence; and climate and geographic alterations. We have also made some briefs contributions towards a better understanding of the peculiarities of the archaeological panorama in the central coast, with the aid of concepts from the theory of complex adaptive systems and within a perspective of the regimes of historicity.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-10-27T13:26:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Maria Rizzardo_.pdf: 5310085 bytes, checksum: 9bc657b71e9637f7a45b9087e0c6d75d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-27T13:26:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiane Maria Rizzardo_.pdf: 5310085 bytes, checksum: 9bc657b71e9637f7a45b9087e0c6d75d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-28 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos / A presente pesquisa é referente aos sepultamentos e demais práticas mortuárias das antigas populações do tronco Tupi, que se desenvolveram no território que hoje compreende o Brasil. O recorte temporal contempla do século I da Era Cristã ao início da colonização pelos europeus. O trabalho foi dividido em duas partes, sendo que a primeira é composta por dois capítulos, ambos inteiramente dedicados às fontes bibliográficas arqueológicas e os seus respectivos dados mortuários; a segunda parte, por sua vez, é composta por outros dois capítulos, um exclusivamente interessado nas fontes quinhentistas, produzidas por viajantes e cronistas em contato com o Tupinambá, e outro no cruzamento entre os dados etno-históricos e os arqueológicos; este último capítulo também contém outras problematizações do universo mortuário Tupi. Cada parte do trabalho conta com um referencial teórico específico: a primeira se vale de conceitos-chave da Arqueologia das práticas mortuárias, e a segunda, dos conceitos próprios da História, capazes de provocar a reflexão acerca das retóricas da alteridade. Como resultado, a pesquisa aponta a validade do diálogo entre a Arqueologia e a História, capaz de matizar a compreensão das práticas ameríndias antigas. / The present research is related to the burials and other mortuary practices of the ancient populations of the Tupi trunk, that were developed in the territory that today comprises Brazil. The temporal clash contemplates from the 1st century of the Christian Era to the beginning of the colonization by Europeans. The work was divided in two parts, the first one is composed of two chapters, both entirely dedicated to archaeological bibliographical sources and their respective mortuary data; The second part, in turn, is composed of two other chapters, one exclusively interested in the 16th-century sources, produced by travelers and chroniclers in contact with Tupinambá, and the other at the junction between ethno-historical and archaeological data; This last chapter also contains other problematizations of the Tupi mortuary universe. Each part of the work has a specific theoretical reference: the first uses key concepts of Archeology of mortuary practices, and the second part of the concepts of History, capable of provoking reflection on the rhetoric of otherness. As a result, the research points to the validity of the dialogue between Archaeology and History, capable of clarifying the understanding of ancient Amerindian practices.