Title: Archaeologists and the dead :
Authors: Williams, Howard,; Giles, Melanie,; Institute for Archaeologists.; Theoretical Archaeology Group (England).
Date: 2016
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Physical description: xx, 465 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Language: English
LC classification: C
Abstract: "This volume addresses the relationship between archaeologists and the dead, through the many dimensions of their relationships: in the field (through practical and legal issues); in the lab (through their analysis and interpretation); and in their written, visual and exhibitionary practice - disseminated to a variety of academic and public audiences. Written from a variety of perspectives, its authors address the experience, effect, ethical considerations, and cultural politics of working with mortuary archaeology. Whilst some papers reflect institutional or organisational approaches, others are more personal in their view, creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues which have hitherto often remained 'unspoken' amongst the discipline. Reframing funerary archaeologists as 'death-workers' of a kind, the contributors reflect on their own experience to provide both guidance and inspiration to future practitioners, arguing strongly that we have a central role to play in engaging the public with themes of mortality and commemoration, through the lens of the past. Spurred by the recent debates in the UK, papers from Scandinavia, Austria, Italy, the US, and the mid-Atlantic frame these issues within a much wider international context which highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which mortuary archaeology takes place"--Back cover.
Contents: Introduction: Mortuary archaeology in contemporary society / Melanie Giles and Howard Williams -- Questions raised in excavating the recent dead / Sian Anthony -- Personhood and re-embodiment in osteological practice / John McClelland and Jessica I. Cerezo-Román -- Separating the emotions : archaeological mentalities in central Italian funerary archaeology / Ulla Rajala -- Slave-trade archaeology and the public : the excavation of a "liberated African" graveyard on St. Helena / Andrew Pearson and Ben Jeffs -- Habeas corpus : contested ownership of casualties of the Great War / Martin Brown -- Bones without barriers : the social impact of digging the dead / Faye Sayer and Duncan Sayer -- Museum practice and the display of human remains / Hedley Swain -- Displaying the dead : the English Heritage experience / Sarah Tatham -- The immortals : prehistoric individuals as ideological and theraputic tools in our time / Nina Nordström. Covering the mummies at the Manchester Museum : a discussion of authority, authorship, and agendas in the human remains debate / Karen Exell -- Making an exhibition of ourselves : using the dead to fight the battles of the living / Tiffany Jenkins -- To gaze upon the dead : the exhibition of human remains as cultural practice and political process in Scandinavia and the USA / Liv Nilsson Stutz -- Firing the imagination : cremation in the museum / Howard Williams -- Contemporary pagans and the study of the ancestors / William Rathouse -- "Tomb to give away" : the significance of graves and dead bodies in present-day Austria / Estella Weiss-Krejci -- Digging the dead in a digital media age / Duncan Sayer and Tony Walter -- Writing about death, mourning, and emotion : archaeology, imagination, and creativity / Trevor Kirk -- Reconstructing death : the chariot burials of Iron Age East Yorkshire / Melanie Giles -- Reflections on intersections of mortuary archaeology and contemporary society / Lynne Goldstein.
Notes: Papers from two conference sessions: the first took place at Easter 2010 as part of the Southport IfA annual conference, the second in December 2010 at the Bristol TAG conference.
Subject headings (LCSH): Archaeologists--Congresses.; Archaeology--Social aspects--Congresses.; Burial.; Death--Social aspects--Congresses.; Death--Social aspects.; Excavations (Archaeology)--Congresses; Funeral rites and ceremonies, Ancient--Congresses.; Human remains (Archaeology)--Collection and preservation.; Human remains (Archaeology)--Congresses; Human remains (Archaeology)--Moral and ethical aspects.; Human remains (Archaeology)--Repatriation.; Memorials--Social aspects--Congresses.; Museum exhibits--Moral and ethical aspects.; Social archaeology--Congresses.