Yes / While death is universal, reactions to death and ways of dealing with the dead body
are hugely diverse, and archaeological research reveals numerous ways of dealing
with the dead through time and across the world. In this paper, findings are presented
which not only demonstrate the power of archaeology to promote and aid discussion
around this difficult and challenging topic, but also how our approach resulted in
personal growth and professional development impacts for participants.
In this interdisciplinary pilot study, archaeological case studies were used in 31
structured workshops with 187 participants from health and social care backgrounds in
the UK, to explore their reactions to a diverse range of materials which documented
wide and varied approaches to death and the dead. Our study supports the hypothesis
that the past is a powerful instigator of conversation around challenging aspects of
death, and after death care and practices: 93% of participants agreed with this. That
exposure to archaeological case studies and artefacts stimulates multifaceted
discourse, some of it difficult, is a theme that also emerges in our data from pre, post
and follow-up questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The material prompted
participants to reflect on their biases, expectations and norms around both treatment of
the dead, and of bereavement, impacting on their values, attitudes and beliefs.
Moreover, 87% of participants believed the workshop would have a personal effect
through thinking differently about death and bereavement, and 57% thought it would
impact on how they approached death and bereavement in their professional practice.
This has huge implications today, where talk of death remains troublesome, and for
some, has a near-taboo status – ‘taboo’ being a theme evident in some participants’
own words. The findings have an important role to play in facilitating and normalising
discussions around dying and bereavement and in equipping professionals in their
work with people with advanced illness. / The project ‘Continuing Bonds: Exploring the meaning and legacy of death through past and contemporary practice’ was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Grant Number AH/M008266/1. / Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, Dec 2020.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18277 |
| Date | 12 February 2020 |
| Creators | Croucher, Karina, Büster, Lindsey S., Dayes, J., Green, L., Raynsford, J., Comerford Boyes, Louise, Faull, C. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Published version |
| Rights | (c) 2020 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), CC-BY |
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