Can I read The Archaeology of Cremation : Burned Human Remains in Funerary Studies on EtoBox?

The Archaeology of Cremation : Burned Human Remains in Funerary Studies by Timothy James Upton Thompson is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Archaeology of Cremation : Burned Human Remains in Funerary Studies about?

Human societies have disposed of their dead in a variety of ways. However, while considerable attention has been paid to bodies that were buried, comparatively little work has been devoted to understanding the nature of cremated remains, despite their visibility through time. It has been argued that this is the result of decades of misunderstanding regarding the potential information that this material holds, combined with properties that make burned bone inherently difficult to analyse. As such, there is a considerable body of knowledge on the concepts and practices of inhumation yet our understanding of cremation ritual and practice is by comparison, woefully inadequate. This timely volume therefore draws together the inventive methodology that has been developed for this material and combines it with a fuller interpretation of the archaeological funerary context. It demonstrates how an innovative methodology, when applied to a challenging material, can produce new and exciting interpretations of archaeological sites and funerary contexts. The reader is introduced to the nature of burned human remains and the destructive effect that fire can have on the body. Subsequent chapters

Author

Timothy James Upton Thompson

Publisher

Oxbow Books, Limited

Published

2015

Language

EN

ISBN

9781782978503

Subjects

History, Sociology, Anthropology