A MULTI-METHOD APPROACH TO COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM LATE NEOLITHIC MALTA: THE CASE OF THE XAGĦRA
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 03/01/2021

Collective burials uniquely preserve direct evidence of long-term engagement with the remains of the dead, making them valuable records of past human activity. Over the past few decades, a significant amount of research has been undertaken on Neolithic collective burial sites, interpreting depositional processes and practices through the related methods of archaeothanatology and taphonomy. Combining taphonomic analysis of human remains with the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this paper investigates the parallel processes behind the re-distribution of human remains and structural remodelling within the Xagħra hypogeum, Gozo. The Xagħra hypogeum (2900-2350 BC) is a large mortuary complex containing the remains of at least 900 individuals. Located within a natural cave system, the hypogeum was elaborated with megalithic architecture and periodically restructured. In addition to these restructuring events, human remains were deliberately dispersed around the hypogeum as part of a complex set of secondary funerary rites. The results of the combined GIS analysis of burial deposits and artefacts has identified route-ways and structural remodelling events within the hypogeum, providing insights into how space was constructed, navigated and perceived in late Neolithic Malta. Taphonomic analysis of human remains from archaeological contexts implicated in these events has shown that there were multiple pathways for interacting with the dead, all traditionally defined as forms of secondary burial. Contextual detail, however, suggests that the meaning of various forms of secondary burial may have differed. Aligning these approaches therefore has broader implications for how we model funerary practices and understand past geographical and spatial knowledge. We argue that a multi-method approach to collective burials can facilitate a greater understanding of post-mortem pathways of the dead.


Author(s): Parkinson, Eóin - Thompson, Jess (University of Cambridge) - McLaughlin, Rowan (Queen’s University Belfast) - Stoddart, Simon (University of Cambridge) - Malone, Caroline (Queen’s University Belfast)