Andean
Burial
Caribbean
Category=JHMC
Category=NK
Central Europe
Cremation
Death
Decapitation
Dismemberment
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Excavations
Folklore
History
Late Antiquity
Medieval
Mississippian
mortuary patterns
mortuary practices
Mortuary variation
rememberance
Social aspects
Social Bioarchaeology
Tucson Basin
Vampires
Product details
- ISBN 9781683401032
- Weight: 797g
- Dimensions: 155 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 07 Jan 2020
- Publisher: University Press of Florida
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Abnormal burial practices have long been a source of fascination and debate within the fields of mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology. The Odd, the Unusual, and the Strange investigates an unparalleled geographic and temporal range of burials that differ from the usual customs of their broader societies, emphasizing the importance of a holistic, context-driven approach to these intriguing cases.
From an Andean burial dating to 3500 BC to mummified bodies interred in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, during the twentieth century, the studies in this volume cross the globe and span millennia. The unusual cases explored here include Native American cemeteries in Illinois, “vampire” burials in medieval Poland, and a mass grave of decapitated soldiers in ancient China. Moving away from the simplistic assumption that these burials represent people who were considered deviant in society, contributors demonstrate the importance of an integrated biocultural approach in determining why an individual was buried in an unusual way.
Drawing on historical, sociocultural, archaeological, and biological data, this volume critically evaluates the binary of “typical” versus “atypical” burials. It expands our understanding of the continuum of variation within mortuary practices, helping researchers better interpret burial evidence to learn about the people and cultures of the past.
From an Andean burial dating to 3500 BC to mummified bodies interred in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, during the twentieth century, the studies in this volume cross the globe and span millennia. The unusual cases explored here include Native American cemeteries in Illinois, “vampire” burials in medieval Poland, and a mass grave of decapitated soldiers in ancient China. Moving away from the simplistic assumption that these burials represent people who were considered deviant in society, contributors demonstrate the importance of an integrated biocultural approach in determining why an individual was buried in an unusual way.
Drawing on historical, sociocultural, archaeological, and biological data, this volume critically evaluates the binary of “typical” versus “atypical” burials. It expands our understanding of the continuum of variation within mortuary practices, helping researchers better interpret burial evidence to learn about the people and cultures of the past.
Tracy K. Betsinger is associate professor of anthropology at SUNY Oneonta. Amy B. Scott is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of New Brunswick. Betsinger and Scott are coeditors of The Anthropology of the Fetus: Biology, Culture, and Society. Anastasia Tsaliki is a forensic and cultural consultant based in London with an expertise in unusual body disposals and social exclusion.
