The Archaeology of Death and Burial

Texas A&M University Anthropology Series

by Mike Parker Pearson

The archaeology of death and burial is central to our attempts to understand vanished societies. Through the remains of funerary rituals we learn not only about prehistoric people's attitudes toward death and the afterlife but also about their culture, social system, and world view. This ambitious book reviews the latest research in this huge and important field and describes the sometimes controversial interpretations that have led to our understanding of life and death in the distant past.

Mike Parker Pearson draws on case studies from different periods and locations throughout the world—the Paleolithic in Europe and the Near East, the Mesolithic in northern Europe, and the Iron Age in Asia and Europe. He also uses evidence from precontact North America, ancient Egypt, and Madagascar, as well as from the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Britain and Europe, to reconstruct vivid pictures of both ancient and not so ancient funerary rituals. He describes the political and ethical controversies surrounding human remains and the problems of reburial, looting, and war crimes.

The Archaeology of Death and Burial provides a unique overview and synthesis of one of the most revealing fields of research into the past, which creates a context for several of archaeology's most breathtaking discoveries—from Tutankhamen to the Ice Man. This volume will find an avid audience among archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and others who have a professional interest in, or general curiosity about, death and burial.

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction, Anthropology, History, Death, Academic, Science

250 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voltaire said: "The human race is the only that knows it must die, and it knows this only through its experience. A child brought up alone and transported to a desert island would have no more idea of death than a cat or plant."

This is absolutely a textbook but it's still a fun read. It's real studies and research on how differing societies and times interned their dead, why(religiously, in judgement, etc), and what factors archaeologists believe play a part such as wealth and social status.The book is rife with clinical drawings of sites where objects were found.

Some fun facts:
Grave Orientation: "Christian burials are laid west-east with their heads to the west so that they may arise on the Day of Judgement to face God in the east."

Cemetary Organization: "Cemeteries reveal much more than grave good variation and chronology, and may provide evidence about kinship, gender and other indicators of social status." Cases in point: gender segregation and marital status.

Etc:
Tandroy tombs are modeled after cattle pens since it plays such a large social fator.
Canabalism: I'll stop there...but it happens.

[Siri Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, well-written and very insightful, this is a book that I would recommend to anyone interested in the customs and beliefs surrounding death and burial, especially archaeologists and anthropologists. The sheer scope and magnitude is simply stunning. It covers everything from kinship, graveyard organisation and burial forms to cosmology and beliefs in the afterlife and there are examples from a very broad variety of archaeological cultures, some very famous and others much less so. I can see myself returning to this book over and over to look things up and find references in my future work. Highly recommended.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good overview of the topic, and is essentially a textbook covering funerals and monuments related to death, with a chapter on what can be learned from anthropology/cultural comparisons and what we can learn from grave goods, burial position, cemetery orientation, etc. The chapter on political considerations is absolutely excellent, and stands out as the most interesting and thought provoking part of the book. I expected a bit more information on how to actually conduct excavations or what types of knowledge can be obtained from physical human remains, though the last chapter gives a decent overview.

[Xander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and gripping.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

so so interesting

[hh · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would like to give this one a 2.5 rating. it's good, but it's also quite stuffy and i found my attention wandering in places. that said, it covers a lot of ground, with examples from many different cultures and eras. i may recommend this book to someone who is extremely interested in the subject matter, but even then i would advise the reader to proceed with caution - this is dense, dry, and potentially quite dull.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pearson's book, while a comprehensively broad introduction to the dialectical evolution of modern archaeology's theoretical positions on the major interpretive questions which arise from material traces of mortuary activity, lacks the depth and systematic organization that could have made it a useful resource to which more experienced readers may wish to return.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be quite the enjoyable read. Yes, it is an academic monograph, but well written and well put together. It holds a lot of really insightful of ideas back up by a wide assortment of example from all over the place.

[Snicketts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wide ranging and in depth. Not a light read! The style is engaging and the cases studdied are good examples of each style of burial. Nice images too.