Henri Duday is Director of Research for CNRS at the University of Bordeaux. The Archaeology of the Dead is based on an intensive specialist course in burial archaeology given by Duday in Rome in November 2004. The primary aim of the project was to contribute to the development of common procedures for excavation, data collection and study of Roman cemeteries of the imperial period. Translated into English by Anna Maria Cipriani and John Pearce, this book looks at the way in which the analysis of skeletons can allow us to re-discover the lives of people who came before us and inform us of their view of death. Duday throughly examines the means at our disposal to allow the dead to speak, as well as identifying the pitfalls that may deceive us.

The archaeology of death and burial is central to our attempts to understand vanished societies. Through the remains of funerary rituals we can learn not only about the attitudes of prehistoric people to death and the afterlife, but also about their way of life, their social organisation and their view of the world. This ambitious book reviews the latest research in this huge and important field, and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to rapid advances in our understanding of life and death in the distant past. A unique overview and synthesis of one of the most revealing fields of research into the past, it covers archaeology's most breathtaking discoveries, from Tutankhamen to the Ice Man, and will find a keen market among archaeologists, historians and others who have a professional interest in, or general curiosity about, death and burial.

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 organizational approaches, others are more personal in their view: creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues that have hitherto often remained "unspoken" among 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 that highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which this work takes place.

Magness (early Judaism, U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), who has extensive archaeological experience in the area, has written a popular account of the archaeology, meaning, and controversies surrounding the Dead Seas Scrolls and the archaeological site of Qumran where they were found. Without sacrificing content, Magness turns this story into a fascinating page-turner. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial reviews the current state of mortuary archaeology and its practice, highlighting its often contentious place in the modern socio-politics of archaeology. It contains forty-four chapters which focus on the history of the discipline and its current scientific techniques and methods. Written by leading, international scholars in the field, it derives its examples and case studies from a wide range of time periods, such as the middle palaeolithic to the twentieth century, and geographical areas which include Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. Combining up-to-date knowledge of relevant archaeological research with critical assessments of the theme and an evaluation of future research trajectories, it draws attention to the social, symbolic, and theoretical aspects of interpreting mortuary archaeology. The volume is well-illustrated with maps, plans, photographs, and illustrations and is ideally suited for students and researchers.

This volume brings together studies on the disposal of the dead and the archaeological research potential of found remains.

This book sheds new light on funerary customs in Roman Syria, offering a novel way of understanding its provincial culture.

Historical burial grounds are an enormous archaeological resource and have the potential to inform studies not only of demography or the history of disease and mortality, but also histories of the body, of religious and other beliefs about death, of changing social relationships, values and aspirations. In the last decades, the intensive urban development and a widespread legal requirement to undertake archaeological excavation of historical sites has led to a massive increase in the number of post-medieval graveyards and burial places that have been subjected to archaeological investigation. The archaeology of the more recent periods, which are comparatively well documented, is no less interesting and important an area of study than prehistoric periods. This volume offers a range of case studies and reflections on aspects of death and burial in post-medieval Europe. Looking at burial goods, the spatial aspects of cemetery organisation and the way that the living interact with the dead, contributors who have worked on sites from Central, North and West Europe present some of their evidence and ideas. The coherence of the volume is maintained by a substantial integrative introduction by the editor, Professor Sarah Tarlow. “This book is a ‘first’ and a necessary one. It is an exciting and far-ranging collection of studies on post-medieval burial practice across Europe that will most certainly be used extensively” Professor Howard Williams

Foreword / Jodie Lewis -- Dead relevant : introducing the public archaeology of death / Howard Williams -- The St Patrick's Chapel excavation project : public engagement with the rescue excavation of an early medieval cemetery in south west Wales / Marion Shiner, Katie A. Hemer and Rhiannon Comeau -- Death's diversity : the case of Llangollen Museum / Suzanne Evans and Howard Williams -- Displaying the deviant : Sutton Hoo's Sand people / Madeline Walsh and Howard Williams -- Grave expectations : burial posture in popular and museum representations / Sian Mui -- Photographing the dead : images in public mortuary archaeology / Chiara Bolchini -- Death on canvas : artistic reconstructions in Viking age mortuary archaeology / Leszek Gardeła -- Envisioning cremation : art and archaeology / Aaron Watson and Howard Williams -- Controversy surrounding human remains from the First World War / Sam Munsch -- Here lies "ZOMBIESLAYER2000", may he rest in pieces : mortuary archaeology in MMOS, MMORPGS, and MOBAS / Rachael Nicholson -- Death's drama : mortuary practice in Vikings season 1-4 / Howard Williams -- Afterword / Karina Croucher

Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more than claiming property rights: the spirits of the dead were central to domestic disputes, displays of wealth, and power and status relationships. Case studies from China, Africa, Europe, and Mesoamerica use the evidence of art, architecture, ritual, and burial practices to explore the complex roles of ancestors in the past. Including a comprehensive overview of nearly two hundred years of anthropological research, The Archaeology of Ancestors reveals how and why societies remember and revere the dead. Through analyses of human remains, ritual deposits, and historical documents, contributors explain how ancestors were woven into the social fabric of the living.