Magister Artium - MA / This mini-thesis, ‘Exhumation, Reburial and History Making in South Africa’, is concerned with an analysis of the practices of exhumation and reburial through discussing the case studies of the Iron-Age archaeological site of Mapungubwe, the Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West and the reburials carried out by the Missing Persons Task Team (MPPT) from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), particularly its unsuccessful attempt at exhumations at the Stikland Cemetery, in an attempt to understand how they form part of the production of history. These case studies conceive of the times of the precolonial, slavery and apartheid, and are all linked temporally to an envisaged future through ideas of nation building and nationalism. As narratives produced through these exhumations and reburials, they contribute to the notion of making the post-apartheid by remaking history and reconstituting nation. Each of these case studies are significant as they in some way have been utilized in a manner that is relevant to us in the new democratic South Africa. This mini-thesis aims at rethinking the role of archaeologists, the exhumation and reburial processes, the construction of ethnicity, how the dead are used to construct narratives of struggle against apartheid and in general the implications each of these have on the re-making of history. It also thinks about what the practices of exhumation and reburial mean conceptually and how they relate to the concept of missingness, which I refer to as the process of making absence or invisibility. Thinking about exhumations and reburial in this way has allowed reflection on the purpose of the practices, in terms of who it’s for and how it’s perceived by the stakeholders involved in each case. Through dissecting each of these issues one may be able to trace how the remains to be reburied become missing. Therefore, the question of exhumation and reburial is essential in thinking about what it does for the human remains and how their identity is either shaped or lost. This thesis mainly argues that the remains in each of the case studies go through various phases of missingness and that their reburials and memorialization, or in the case of Stikland the spiritual repatriation, inscribes them further into narratives of the times that they emerged from.

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Butehamun was one of the most famous scribes involved in the building of the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, and a member of the most illustrious family of scribes there. Butehamun presided over the closure of the Valley and the workers’ village of Deir elMedina, and the move from building new tombs to the preserving and moving (some would say plundering) of the mummies left behind, marking the transition from the New Kingdom to the Third Intermediate Period, as Egypt splintered into what were essentially two realms. By studying the primary sources associated with Butehamun, including letters, reburial ‘dockets’, graffiti, the apparently unique decorations on Butehamun’s coffin, and the finds at his excavated house in Medinet Habu, this paper investigates what can be learned about Butehamun and the reburial project. Some of the sources seem to indicate he experienced some kind of religious crisis, which may have been brought on by feelings of guilt over his treatment of the royal mummies, two of whom were worshipped as gods in Deir el-Medina. / Butehamon var en av de mest kända av de skrivare som deltog i byggandet av de kungliga gravarna i Konungarnas dal. Han tillhörde en av de mest framstående skrivaresläkterna där. Butehamon övervakade stängningen av dalen och arbetarnas by Deir el-Medinah. Det var han som ansvarade för arbetet när man övergick från att bygga nya gravar till att flytta (vissa skulle säga plundra) de mumier som lämnades kvar till nya förvaringsplatser. Detta skede markerar övergången från det Nya Riket till den Tredje Mellanperioden, då Egypten sönderföll i två separata stater. Genom att studera de primära källor som rör Butehamon, bland annat brev, etiketter på mumier, graffiti, bilder och de högst ovanliga dekorationerna på Butehamons kista samt fynd från utgrävningarna av hans hus i Medinet Habu, undersöker denna uppsats vad man kan lära sig om Butehamon och projektet att flytta mumierna. Några av dessa källor tycks tyda på att han upplevde någon form av religiös kris, som kan ha utlösts av på skuldkänslor över hur han lät behandla de kungliga mumierna. Två av dessa kungligheter dyrkades som gudar i Deir el-Medinah och bilder på dem och delar av deras familj återfinns på Butehamons egen kista.

<p><em> </em></p><p>Excavations of human skeletal remains are sometimes followed by claims for reburial from the local community. This has led to debates between researchers and other elements of society, churches or minorities. This scientific paper sat out to examine the discussions and debates found in Sweden (Scandinavia), with the situation in Vanuatu, (Melanesia). The objective was to elucidate similarities and differences in people’s attitude when it comes to reburial. Religious beliefs, legislations and policies were compared to provide explanations for the different attitudes in the two countries. The study showed that the debates found in the Swedish material such as conflicts between researchers and the church or between the Saami population and Swedish researchers, haven’t got a counterpart in Vanuatu. This was much due to the research policies in Vanuatu and the strong Christian faith.</p> / <p><em> </em></p><p>Fynd av mänskliga kvarlevor i samband med utgrävningar följs ibland av krav på återbegravning från det lokala samhället. Detta har lett till debatter mellan forskare och andra delar av samhället, kyrkan eller minoriteter. Denna C-uppsats har försökt undersöka diskussionerna och debatterna som framkommit i Sverige (Skandinavien) och Vanuatu (Melanesien). Målet var att belysa likheter och skillnader hos människors inställning när det kommer till återbegravning. Religion, lagstiftning och policys jämfördes för att förklara de olika inställningarna i de två länderna. Studien visade att debatterna mellan kyrkan och forskarna eller den Samiska befolkningen och forskarna inte hade en motsvarighet i Vanuatu. Detta var mycket tack vare Vanuatus forskningspolicy och den starka kristna tron i landet.</p>

Excavations of human skeletal remains are sometimes followed by claims for reburial from the local community. This has led to debates between researchers and other elements of society, churches or minorities. This scientific paper sat out to examine the discussions and debates found in Sweden (Scandinavia), with the situation in Vanuatu, (Melanesia). The objective was to elucidate similarities and differences in people’s attitude when it comes to reburial. Religious beliefs, legislations and policies were compared to provide explanations for the different attitudes in the two countries. The study showed that the debates found in the Swedish material such as conflicts between researchers and the church or between the Saami population and Swedish researchers, haven’t got a counterpart in Vanuatu. This was much due to the research policies in Vanuatu and the strong Christian faith. / Fynd av mänskliga kvarlevor i samband med utgrävningar följs ibland av krav på återbegravning från det lokala samhället. Detta har lett till debatter mellan forskare och andra delar av samhället, kyrkan eller minoriteter. Denna C-uppsats har försökt undersöka diskussionerna och debatterna som framkommit i Sverige (Skandinavien) och Vanuatu (Melanesien). Målet var att belysa likheter och skillnader hos människors inställning när det kommer till återbegravning. Religion, lagstiftning och policys jämfördes för att förklara de olika inställningarna i de två länderna. Studien visade att debatterna mellan kyrkan och forskarna eller den Samiska befolkningen och forskarna inte hade en motsvarighet i Vanuatu. Detta var mycket tack vare Vanuatus forskningspolicy och den starka kristna tron i landet.

This is a biography of the scribe Butehamun. A member of a well-known family who had long lived in the village of Deir el-Medina working on the tombs in the Valley of Kings, Butehamun’s coming of age saw invasion and civil war in Thebes, and the end to the making of new tombs in the Valley, as the New Kingdom came to an end. Instead he was given the task by the High Priests of Amun to remove and rewrap royal mummies and rebury them in secret caches, while plundering them of their gold and other valuables for the coffers of the priestly rulers of Thebes. In many respects Butehamun was a tomb raider in the service of the High Priests of Amun. That project seems to have been successful: The mummy of every single king from the 18th through 21st Dynasties that has been identified and was found in a tomb was found in the two caches KV 35 or TT 320 (with the sole exception of Tutankhamun). Butehamun is unusually well-documented, leaving behind many letters, labels on coffins he worked with, graffiti, and highly unusual imagery on his own coffins. Two houses he lived in have been excavated, one with inscriptions about his family. This paper seeks to create a biography of Butehamun through the study of these things he left behind. One seems to reflect he may have suffered a crisis of faith, others may display instead a deep piety for Amun and pride in the royal mummy reburial project he carried out in the service of the god. / Detta är en biografi över skrivaren Butehamon. Han kom från en mycket känd familj som i många generationer verkat i byn Deir e-Medinah och arbetat med gravarna i Konungarnas dal. Han växte upp under en tid av invasion och inbördeskrig i Thebe, vilket ledde till slutet på det Nya riket och på byggandet av nya gravar i Dalen. Butehamons uppdrag från guden Amuns överstepräster blev istället att svepa om mumierna med nytt linne och avlägsna allt guld och andra värdesaker. Mumierna begravdes i nya hemliga förvaringsplatser, medan värdesakerna gick till Thebes religiösa härskare. Man kan beskriva Butehamon som en gravplundrare i tjänst hos översteprästerna. Projektet tycks ha varit en succé: Varenda kung från 18:e till och med 21:a dynastierna vars mumie har identifierats och som hittades i en grav fanns i ett av de två gömställena, KV 35 eller TT 320 (med Tutankhamon som enda undantag). Butehamon är ovanligt väldokumenterad, med många brev, etiketter på likkistor han arbetat med, graffiti samt de mycket ovanliga bilderna på hans egna likkistor. Två hus där han bodde har grävts ut, ett med inskriptioner om hans familj. Denna avhandling är en biografi över Butehamon baserad på studier av de saker han lämnade efter sig. En av dem tyder på en andlig kris, medan andra tycks avspegla en djup fromhet och tro på Amun och stolthet över det mumieprojekt han ledde i gudens tjänst.

Throughout the history of archaeology, the Sámi (the indigenous people in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in the Russian Federation) have been conceptualized as the “Others” in relation to the national identity and (pre)history of the modern states. It is only in the last decades that a field of Sámi archaeology that studies Sámi (pre)history in its own right has emerged, parallel with an ethnic and cultural revival among Sámi groups. This dissertation investigates the notions of Sámi prehistory and archaeology, partly from a research historical perspective and partly from a more contemporary political perspective. It explores how the Sámi and ideas about the Sámi past have been represented in archaeological narratives from the early 19th century until today, as well as the development of an academic field of Sámi archaeology. The study consists of four main parts: 1) A critical examination of the conceptualization of ethnicity, nationalism and indigeneity in archaeological research. 2) A historical analysis of the representations and debates on Sámi prehistory, primarily in Sweden but also to some extent in Norway and Finland, focusing on four main themes: the origin of the Sámi people, South Sámi prehistory as a contested field of study, the development of reindeer herding, and Sámi pre-Christian religion. 3) An analysis of the study of the Sámi past in Russia, and a discussion on archaeological research and constructions of ethnicity and indigeneity in the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union. 4) An examination of the claims for greater Sámi self-determination concerning cultural heritage management and the debates on repatriation and reburial in the Nordic countries. In the dissertation, it is argued that there is a great need for discussions on the ethics and politics of archaeological research. A relational network approach is suggested as a way of opening up some of the black boxes and bounded, static entities in the representations of people in the past in the North.

Text in English / In a diachronic and multi-sited study that extended from 2004 through 2012/2013 I deconstructed the sociocultural dynamics of relocating farm graves from the farm Zevenfontein in northern peri-urban Johannesburg. The graves at the focus of the study were some seventy-six graves removed from a northern portion of the farm in 2004 for a huge development project that commenced construction in 2010, and other graves removed in the 1980s from portions of the farm developed for residential estates in the 1990s. The study explored the people who dwelt on the farm and created the graveyards, the religious processes entailed in relocating the mortal remains of ancestors, the mortuary processes of exhuming and reburying ancestors, the disputations between and negotiating processes of landowners and grave owners, and the demands and demonstrations by farm workers and dwellers seeking redress for past human and cultural rights infringements. Although the topic of farm graves is well-referenced in land claims and sense of place discourses and is not in itself a new topic, this study provides original and in-depth information and insight on the broader picture of ancestral graves and their relocation, including the structuring of a community and its leaders and followers, it suggests answers to the question as to whether ancestral graves/graveyards can successfully and functionally be relocated. Not only are religious aspects examined in the study, but also the sociopolitical and economic dimensions of relocating graves are fully scrutinised in the context of farm workers and dwellers’ political awareness of and astuteness to the social and economic potential of farm graves and their relocation. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)