Meaning and mnemonic in archaeological studies of death

• This paper highlights key characteristics of memorialisation processeslinked to dying and death. The study demonstrates that, inall periods, the mnemonic triggers engendered by multi-sensoryexperiences surrounding the treatment of the dead serve as fundamentalelements of the memorialisation processes which generatelasting impacts on the living through people’s engagement‘in a collective social act’. Roles attributed to the dead are ‘activeand powerful’, and the links between the living and the dead areimbued with myriad meanings, articulated through a variety ofactivities. These resonate across time and exist in many aspects ofcontemporary practice. We could argue that dying itself is notsimply a social process, and in reality, it is an inherently, and onoccasion an aggressively, anti-social act that is negotiated and‘normalised’ by the social conventions that society has developedto cope with dying and death. With a focus on the British context,this study explores the ways in which society has dealt with thetroublesome and anti-social aspect of death, and dying, througha consideration of past social praxis. It considers the ways in whicha broadening of contemporary societies understanding of thevariety of approaches to death, burial, bereavement and mourningin a deep time perspective can offer legitimate and authorisedoptions for future practice at a time when there a crisis in availableburial space is occurring in England (e.g).

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Death and burial; archaeology; memorialisation; meaning and mnemonic; longue durée

Archaeology

arkeologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)