Mortuary Practices

SUMMARY: Chapter 10, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers approaches to assessing how humans began to think and adopt language, use symbols, view one's world, measure time, plan ahead, practice religion, care for the deceased, portray oneself, others, and aspects of one's world, and other concepts.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record.  UPDATED March, 2021, some new images, text edits, significant re-formatting, etc.

RESUMEN Se comparan las normativas vigentes sobre practicas sanitarias de conservacion cadaverica requeridas para el traslado de cadaveres, en las diferentes Comunidades autonomas y la legislacion estatal. Los criterios tenidos en cuenta han sido: que practicas sanitarias se incluyen en la normativa, cuales pueden llevarse a cabo en cadaveres de riesgo sanitario, cuando se requiere su realizacion, en que momento tras el fallecimiento pueden realizarse y que profesionales las pueden llevarlas a cabo y/o responsabilizarse de las mismas. En el momento de finalizar el articulo se esta tramitando la publicacion del nuevo decreto de sanidad mortuoria de Andalucia, asi mismo se esta elaborando, por parte del Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social, un Real Decreto sobre “Condiciones tecnico sanitarias basicas en materia de traslado internacional de cadaveres, restos humanos y restos cadavericos”.

Do dreams take place in history? Or are they phenomena that take place outside history, on the margins of historical sense and truth? This paper has to do with dreams that take place in the space of the uncanny, where the familiar becomes menacing (according to Freud’s definition) and  from out of which memories of death and violence haunt the present. These dreams constitute a singular history, a spectral history or hauntology, whose logic does not obey the chronological development of historical time but the present’s indebtedness to justice and the remembrance of the dead. I develop this idea from fieldwork in Bojayá, Chocó, in 2016 and 2017, with Grupo de Cantadoras de Pogue [Group of female singers of Pogue], and the testimonies of Cira Pino, an alabadora to whom the art of singing was taught by the spirits who visit her in dreams. Alabaos are funerary songs that guide the deceased to the land of their ancestors. After the massacre of Bojayá, perpetrated by the FARC guerrillas in the town of Bellavista in May 2, 2002, alabaos have become songs of condemnation and resistance. This opens an unprecedented memory-work in Afro Colombian communities in Chocó through which they return to the place of the ancestors to find it transformed into an ominous space, inhabited not only by tradition and their ancestors, but also by the broken souls and bodies of those that have died untimely. I conclude by exploring the ethical dimension of this spectral history and its relationship to justice.

RESUMEN Se comparan las normativas vigentes sobre prácticas sanitarias de conservación cadavérica requeridas para el traslado de cadáveres, en las diferentes Comunidades autónomas y la legis-lación estatal. Los criterios tenidos en cuenta han sido: qué prácticas sanitarias se incluyen en la normativa, cuáles pueden llevarse a cabo en cadáveres de riesgo sanitario, cuándo se requie-re su realización, en qué momento tras el falle-cimiento pueden realizarse y qué profesionales las pueden llevarlas a cabo y/o responsabilizar-se de las mismas. En el momento de finalizar el artículo se está tramitando la publicación del nuevo decreto de sanidad mortuoria de Anda-lucía, así mismo se está elaborando, por parte del Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienes-tar Social, un Real Decreto sobre "Condiciones técnico sanitarias básicas en materia de traslado internacional de cadáveres, restos humanos y restos cadavéricos". ABSTRACT Comparative normative on sanitary practices of cadaveric pr...

On the south coast of British Columbia in shíshálh traditional territory, an ancient burial ground (DjRw-14) contains the remains of richly decorated individuals dated to the Charles culture (4000-3500 B.P.). In addition to other grave offerings, the burials contain stone and shell beads ranging in numbers from hundreds to hundreds of thousands. Associated with these highly decorated burials is a faunal assemblage characterized by a low frequency of marine fauna and a high proportion of land mammal, particularly black-tailed deer. These proportions of animals are considered a-typical of Northwest Coast shell midden deposits and may represent specific mortuary or ritual activities associated with honoring the deceased. With an emphasis on deer remains, a zooarchaeological analysis assesses the possible role of animal remains in mortuary activities. In order to establish if the faunal assemblage from DjRw-14 is indeed unique, with its high frequency of deer remains and low numbers of marine fauna, the site assemblage is considered in comparison to other sites in the Gulf of Georgia with similar cultural components. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence of Coast Salish mortuary practices and beliefs are examined to better understand the ritual acts that took place at DjRw-14. The site ceases to be used as a burial ground with the termination of the Charles Culture, but patterns in fauna remain stable, attesting to the persistence of mortuary traditions. The social and political implications of continuing these traditions are considered in terms of creating and maintaining a social memory and an attachment to an ancestral landscape. The results of this study are critical to better understanding foodways and ritual expression in shíshálh funerary practice. The context in which we find animal remains offers the opportunity to explore expressions of mortuary customs and beliefs within the Salish landscape.

La intervención arqueológica realizada en el yacimiento romano de “La Mata I” (Aznalcázar, Sevilla) ha puesto al descubierto los restos de la pars rustica de una villa romana y una serie de enterramientos tardorromanos aislados.

The archaeological intervention carried out in the Roman site named “La Mata I” (Aznalcázar, Sevilla) exposes to view the remains of the pars rustica of a Roman villa and several isolated interments dating from late Roman period.

Human remains have been exhibited in non-medical contexts for as long as museums have been in existence - in fact, even before then, in the form of religious relics and other sacred objects. Yet ever since 2004, the way in which the general public has been permitted to view and interact with the remains of the deceased changed for the first time in many years in Britain. The modification resulted from the introduction of the Human Tissue Act, a set of regulations formulated by the Human Tissue Authority (hereafter HTA): a licensing body which emerged in 2005. The uses of human remains and tissues or, as they are defined by the HTA, ‘relevant materials’ were to be primarily regulated in a medical context; therefore public display is inconsistent with the rest of the governed usage. In this essay I will attempt to evaluate the complex reasons why medical usage or, as it is defined by the HTA, ‘scheduled purposes’ of human remains became intertwined with their display to the public and the effect it subsequently had on their exhibition. My intention is not to furnish the reader with an exhaustive history of the HTA’s formation, however it is important to outline much of it in order to contextualise this essay more broadly, and include a historiographical element to the analysis: interestingly the change in dynamics of display during the inauguration of the HTA echoed events which prompted the closure of Victorian public anatomy museums over 100 years earlier, which has been discussed by medical historians. The basis for this topic is essentially the result of my personal experience and career so it is somewhat subjective - therefore I will utilise both the Pathology Museum at Queen Mary University London and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery as my main case studies with regards to the HTA, and discuss the Victorian closures which preceded it.
What factors caused these small groups of people to dictate new legislation on the exhibition of the bodies of the deceased, or representations thereof? How has this affected attempts to display human remains in new exhibitions or regenerate old collections?
This paper seeks to answer the above questions and draw a conclusion about the effect of the Human Tissue Act (2004) on human remains in British museums.

Abstract

Traditionally cremations in Nepal are performed with open pyres. These cremations are fluid public events organised and managed by relatives, local communities and ritual specialists. Traditional cremation practices are full of cosmological, eschatological and soteriological significance. The main purpose of the cremation practice is to purify and free the soul from the body of the deceased in order to secure a rebirth in another realm, render the soul a safe journey to heaven, and to turn the soul into a benign ancestor instead of a haunting ghost. On the 24th of January 2016, Pashupati Area Development Trust inaugurated the first functioning modern electric crematorium in Nepal at the traditional cremation site near the Pashupatinath temple, at the holy river Bagmati, 5 km northeast of Kathmandu. The main incentive for Pashupati Area Development Trust to establish an electric crematorium was to diminish river pollution, carbon dioxide emission and to curb deforestation. How do Hindus in Nepal continue, compromise and adapt their traditional cremation practice in the modern indoor electric crematorium? The aim of this article is to explore the continuity, changes and challenges to traditional Hindu cremation practice in the electric crematorium at Pashupati area.

This paper highlights the elaborate mortuary projectile points from Hohokam sites collected near Gila Bend, Arizona, by Norton Allen. Allen was a well-regarded and meticulous avocationalist who preserved thousands of artifacts that would have been lost to construction work prior to the era of CRM archaeology. His collections now reside in the Arizona State Museum, where they are available for study.

Over the preceding decade, the story of Xie Ziran's " ascent " has drawn much scholarly attention. Scholars have, for the most part, employed historical methods to study the tale, intending to elucidate the origins, psychologies, and socio-cultural backgrounds of Xie Ziran and her fellow practitioners. Basing myself on a thorough recognition of the fictionality of the Xie Ziran story, I attempt here a literary analysis that I hope will show the main features of the image of Daoist priestesses created in this myth.

Archaeologists studying multi-component cemeteries have argued that the societies who reused cemeteries were motivated by connecting to the past. However, often overlooked are the potential roles of mortuary events and sites as key social and political venues for creating, contesting, and unmaking relationships and identities for the later community independent of a connection to the past. In this paper, I explore the social and political roles that mortuary rituals at the Mound of the Hostages, Tara, Ireland played during the Middle Neolithic (3350-2800 BC) and Early Bronze Age (2300-1700 BC).

Tara’s emergence as a regional mortuary center occurred only several hundred years after its initial reuse by Early Bronze Age peoples. Just as importantly, the burial activity that marked Tara as special in the Early Bronze Age was very brief, revealing that the regional centralization at Tara was ultimately unsuccessful. The analysis of cemetery formation at Tara is only possible due to the development of a fine-grained site specific chronology. These results have broad implications for how we understand cemetery formation, the reuse of mortuary monuments, and the dynamics of social complexity in prehistoric societies.

ABSTRACT: The archaeological excavation of Unidad de Ejecución número 3 del PGOU de Llíria was carried out
between September 2011 and August 2012, coinciding with the redevelopment works. The intervention, directed
by Francisco De Manuel, had a technical team with the following archaeologists and anthropologists: Llorenç
Alapont, Sheyla Sancho, Adrià Pitarch, Daniel Santfeliu, Alejandro Vila, Rubén López and the draughtswoman
Virginia Berrocal. The excavation of the Islamic necropolis has meant a great opportunity to know, through the
exhaustive anthropological and paleopathological study, the characteristics of part of the Muslim population that
inhabited the city. The analysis of the 147 skeletons and their context has provided an essential knowledge of the
structure, density, dynamism, physical appearance, living conditions and funeral practices of that Islamic society
that lived and died in Llíria during the Andalusian period.
KEY WORDS: Islamic necropolis, andalusí, funerary practices shroud, physical anthropology, Llíria.
RESUMEN: Entre septiembre de 2011 y agosto de 2012 se lleva a cabo la excavación arqueológica de la Unidad de
Ejecución número 3 del PGOU de Llíria, coincidiendo con los trabajos de reurbanización. La intervención, dirigida
por Francisco De Manuel, cuenta con un equipo técnico formado por los arqueólogos y antropólogos Llorenç Alapont,
Sheyla Sancho, Adrià Pitarch, Daniel Santfeliu, Alejandro Vila, Rubén López y la dibujante Virginia Berrocal.
La excavación de la necrópolis islámica ha significado una gran oportunidad de conocer, mediante el exhaustivo
estudio antropológico y paleopatológico, las características de parte de la población musulmana que habitó la
ciudad. El análisis de los 147 esqueletos y su contexto ha proporcionado un conocimiento esencial de la estructura,
densidad, dinamismo, aspecto físico, condiciones de vida y prácticas funerarias de parte de aquella sociedad
islámica que vivió y murió en Llíria durante el periodo andalusí.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Necrópolis islámica, andalusí, prácticas funerarias, sudario, antropología física, Llíria.

Egyptians went to great lengths to protect their dead from the omnipresent threat of robbery by incorporating specially developed architectural features in their tombs. However, until now the architecture of tomb security has rarely been studied as a subject in its own right and is usually treated as a secondary topic in publications of a scholarly nature, which tend to regard its role as incidental to the design of the tomb rather than perhaps being the driving force behind it. In this seminar, I discussed the questions asked, issues raised and methodology employed in my recent PhD thesis on Tomb Security.

Lepenski Vir is one of the best known Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites in Europe and the world. This book is the first volume of a comprehensive archaeological and anthropological study of the human skeletal remains from this site. Bringing various strands of mortuary evidence together for the first time the author provides a more complete picture of life and death at Lepenski Vir, including comparisons of the many contexts in which human remains have been found as well as details of biological characteristics of the people who created such distinctive material culture at the site. The site of Lepenski Vir is one of the best documented and analyzed contexts for the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition anywhere. A combination of a detailed study of archaeological data, archaeothanatological analysis, science-based approaches to the skeletal material, and a social bioarchaeology perspective regarding the integration of different strands of data when providing wider interpretations, make this book an unique contribution to the current literature on the many-sided consequences of the change from foraging to farming.
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/deathways-at-lepenski-vir.html

A recent archival research project in the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) identified artifacts and human remains associated with the 1980 excavation of stone cairns and habitation areas on the west side of Lake Turkana. The presence of stone grave cairns across eastern Africa is common, but their cultural origins and construction times are enigmatic. This article presents the results of the archival project and contextualizes both the artifacts found and the unpublished research notes within the framework of evolving settlement patterns in eastern Africa during the middle to late Holocene. Despite the presence of numerous decorative features on ceramics and the recovery of many complete lithic tools, the material culture is generally non-diagnostic within existing typo-technological categories. The research indicates that there was tremendous diversity in the material culture of the Turkana Basin during the late Holocene.

The discovery of a previously unknown ridge-top mound during the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s recent excavations at the East St. Louis Mound Complex reveals that landscape modification, interment of human remains, and carefully engineered layers of soil were integral not only to the mound-building process, but to the making of East St. Louis’ community. Each mound-making act, at East St. Louis and throughout the Mississippian world, represented action imbued with meaning that was intended to make and maintain community at these centers. This paper overviews the events surrounding the construction of Main Street Mound and discusses them in the context of the ridge-top monuments and their use in the Greater Cahokia region.

Lepenski Vir is one of the best known Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites in Europe and the world. This book is the first volume of a comprehensive archaeological and anthropological study of the human skeletal remains from this site. Bringing various strands of mortuary evidence together for the first time the author provides a more complete picture of life and death at Lepenski Vir, including comparisons of the many contexts in which human remains have been found as well as details of biological characteristics of the people who created such distinctive material culture at the site. The site of Lepenski Vir is one of the best documented and analyzed contexts for the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition anywhere. A combination of a detailed study of archaeological data, archaeothanatological analysis, science-based approaches to the skeletal material, and a social bioarchaeology perspective regarding the integration of different strands of data when providing wider interpretations, make this book an unique contribution to the current literature on the many-sided consequences of the change from foraging to farming.
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/deathways-at-lepenski-vir.html

Between the 1930s and 1970s, several sources reported the presence of old, roof-like, wooden grave shelters in cemeteries in Sussex and Wicomico Counties. Their age, origins, and purpose were a matter of speculation. However, the mysterious shingled structures were documented only sparingly, and never seriously investigated. None are known to have survived to the present, making a handful of 20th-century sources and photographs the only evidence that such a custom ever existed.

This article appeared in the Laurel Historical Society's Winter 2017 newsletter.

Nineteenth-century highland Madagascar was a place inhabited by the dead as much as the living. Ghosts, ancestors, and the possessed were important historical actors alongside local kings and queens, soldiers, traders, and missionaries. This book considers the challenges that such actors pose for historical accounts of the past and for thinking about questions of presence and representation. How were the dead made present, and how were they recognized or not? In attending to these multifarious encounters of the nineteenth century, how might we reflect on the ways in which our own history-writing makes the dead present? To tackle these questions, Zoë Crossland tells an anthropological history of highland Madagascar from a perspective rooted in archaeology and Peircean semiotics, as well as in landscape study, oral history, and textual sources.

Qui organise aujourd'hui des funérailles catholiques à Abomey, dans le sud du Bénin? Comment, pourquoi, et dans quelles conditions? Voici quelques-unes des questions auxquelles ce texte s'efforce de répondre, en replaçant ce cas dans la problématique plus générale de l'articulation entre identités religieuses et divisions sociales dans l'Afrique contemporaine.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

This study provides chemical confirmation for the use of resinous plant exudates in mortuary contexts in Roman Britain. The presence of European Pinaceae (conifer) resins, Pistacia spp. (mastic/terebinth) resins from the Mediterranean/Levant and Boswellia spp. (frankincense) gum-resins from southern Arabia/eastern Africa were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In addition, traces of a balsamic resin, probably Liquidambar orientalis, were recovered. 

Theoretical consideration of this imported rite indicates the multiplicity of roles played by resins/gum-resins as part of Roman period mortuary practices. On a practical level, they acted as temporary preservatives and masked the odour of decay. As social signifiers, they appear to have denoted the status of the deceased while their sensory impact promoted remembrance and facilitated the final rite of passage to the afterlife.

This thesis provides new insights into the treatment of the dead in Roman Britain and establishes fresh links between this remote province and the remainder of the Empire. It is hoped that speculation about the meaning, associations and origins of this rite will serve to promote debate and further research into the use of natural plant exudates in the mortuary sphere.

This thesis reports on the 2010 excavations of the North Group and Eastern Court at the ancient Lowland Maya site of Pacbitun. It provides a construction history of the architecture and an analysis of associated artifacts, burials, and caches. The archaeological investigations demonstrate that the seven structures (Strs. 34-40) of this restricted access plazuela group were built in the Early Classic period, and renewed in the Late Classic period. Based on analyses of artifacts (ceramics and lithics), skeletal and faunal remains, and intra- and inter-site comparisons, the North Group functioned as a secondary elite domestic residential group. Reconstruction suggests that the inhabitants here were not commoners; instead, the occupants probably were related to the ruling elite of Pacbitun. Some of the evidence includes the central location and elevation of the North Group, the presence of red painted plaster surfacing, a burial with multiple ceramic musical instruments, and multiple dedicatory caches with exotic goods (e.g., marine shell, jadeite, "Charlie Chaplin" figures).

When bioarchaeologists investigate ancient gender identity, they typically place skeletal remains into one of six sex assessment categories: male, female, possible/probable male, possible/probable female, ambiguous, and indeterminate. However, the study samples are often reduced to male and female reproducing a male/female gender and sex binary prevalent in the “Western” cultural milieu and bioarchaeology when inferences are made about gender and sex in the past.
In order to allow for the existence of non-binary cultural genders and biological sexes, this thesis: 1) demonstrates the multitude of ethnographic, ethnohistoric, historic, and medical evidence relating to non-binary sex and gender expression; 2) tests a method inspired by Whelan (1991) that looks at gender as an identity not fully inspired by biological sex; 3) keeps all sex assessment categories used by bioarchaeologists separate in analysis and interpretation; and 4) analyses patterns relating to all available material culture and biological attributes in a mortuary sample to investigate gender identity.
This thesis used the Early Anglo-Saxon (470-600 AD) burial ground at Worthy Park in Hampshire to achieve these objectives. This thesis found that when examining all sex assessment categories among all mortuary variables, only the male sex was clearly defined by its mortuary assemblage. This suggests a one gender structure corresponding to linguistic evidence for one gender in Old English.

Quand les bioarchéologues enquêtaient l’identité de gendre ancienne, ils placient les squelettes individuelles dans un des six catégories en déterminer le sexe : mâle, femelle, probable mâle, probable femelle, ambigu, et indéterminé. Or, les échantillons d’études sont réduits souvent à mâle et femelle qui reproduire la binaire de le sexe et le gendre de mâle et femelle. Cette dichotomie est régnant dans le milieu culturel Occidental et la bioarchéologie quand les spéculations sont faisaient du sexe et gendre dans la passé.
Pour permettre l’existence des gendres culturels et sexes biologiques qui sont pas dichotomique, ce thèse : 1) démontre la masse d’évidence ethnographique, ethnohistorique, historique, et médicale des gendres et sexes non binaire ; 2) teste une méthode qu’était inspiré par Whelan (1991) qui examiner gendre qu’une identité retiré de le sexe biologique ; 3) garde séparée toutes des catégories pour déterminer le sexe utilisé par les bioarchéologues dans l’analyse et dans l’interprétation ; et 4) analyse les modèles avec toutes de les artefacts et les attributs biologiques dans un échantillon mortuaire pour enquêter l’identité de gendre.
Cette thèse utilise le cimetière anglo-saxon (ap. J.-C. 470-600) à Worthy Park dans Hampshire pour réaliser ces objectifs. Cette thèse a trouvé que quand examiner toutes des catégories de sexe entre toutes les variables mortuaires, le sexe mâle était le seul sexe défini clairement par les assemblages mortuaires. Ce suggère une structure d’un gendre qui correspond avec l’évidence linguistique anglo-saxonne pour un gendre.

Rituale sind eine besondere Form gemeinschaftlichen Handelns, die in nahezu allen Lebensbereichen und kulturellen Kontexten vorkommt. Sie spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei der Identitätskonstruktion in Menschengruppen. Oft geht mit ihnen ein überhöhter Symbolcharakter und ein beträchtlicher Ressourcenaufwand einher. Aus einer evolutionären Sicht stellt sich die Frage nach den Ursprüngen dieses eigentümlichen Verhaltens in der steinzeitlichen Vergangenheit unserer Spezies. In diesem Beitrag wird der aktuelle Forschungsstand in der paläolithischen Archäologie diskutiert, der sich auf die ältesten bekannten materiellen Hinterlassenschaften bezieht, welche als Anzeiger für die kognitive Fähigkeit zur symbolisch-rituellen Kommunikation gedeutet werden können. Demnach ist symbolisch-rituelles Handeln in Gemeinschaft eine menschliche Universalie, die eine tiefe evolutionäre Vergangenheit hat, in Ansätzen auch bei anderen Homininen vorkam und dessen Spuren bis weit vor die Entstehung unserer eigenen Spezies zurückverfolgt werden können.

ABSTRACT: This lecture (Part-2) continues the examination of Old Kingdom elite tombs, looking at (1) other types of middle-upper class tombs that emerge in Old Kingdom Egypt (i.e., rock-cut tombs; rock-cut mastaba tombs); (2) various reasons why such apparently “different” tombs emerge and whether they really are so different (i.e., identical components; non-structural elements); (3) ancient tomb robbing, robbers, and how some tomb builders/owners try to combat robbery (e.g., decoy chambers); (4) a brief discussion of changes in tomb design during the ED-Old Kingdom; (5) the sorts of texts and decoration (genres) found in middle-upper class tombs; (6) the artists and various techniques applied in decorating elite tombs (e.g., training; painting; relief work; stages; etc.); (7) the various ways in which Ancient Egyptian artists portrayed things (e.g., twisted profile; architecture); (8) the various types of decorative themes that emerged in Old Kingdom elite tombs; (9) the significance of the various decoration (genres) found throughout elite tombs (e.g., essential/key funerary elements [e.g., banquet scene] versus less crucial/non-essential things [e.g., daily life and other scenes]); (10) other things we can say about the elite tomb architecture, decoration, and their significance (e.g., nullifying potential dangers in decoration [depicting snakes without heads]; superstitions regarding completing funeral procession scenes); (11) the different types of elite burial chambers and examples of and changes in  decorated ones (versus mostly non-decorated ones); (12) some examples of non-royal sarcophagi (i.e., “stone coffins”: rectilinear boxes); (13) selected examples of non-royal, elite coffins (i.e., wooden, rectilinear boxes); (14) some "typical" mortuary furnishings (burial goods) found in elite tombs; and (15) the forms of and furnishings in middle class and lower class tombs and graves (only a brief summary to illustrate the burial practices of the bulk of Egypt's Old Kingdom populace).  The lecture ends with a series of text slides summarizing the main points from both parts 1-2 of the lectures on elite Old Kingdom tombs.  UPDATED: March 13, 2023. Much editing/formatting, plus some new images, and adding a selected set of sources (end slides)

Any discussion on object value has to start with Marcel Mauss's famous dictum: " To give something is to give part of oneself. To give away is to give part of one's nature and substance , to receive something is to receive a part of someone's spiritual essence. " A large bibliography deals with the fusion between subjects and objects in gift exchange or with the simultaneous and mutual definition of the value of things and the prestige of persons. I have argued previously that the conspicuous consumption of objects establishes a different relation between persons and things. While gift exchange brings about a dispersal of personal identity beyond bodily boundaries, through time and across space, consumption allows one to absorb and appropriate transitory gifts, with all their associations of distant places, famous previous owners, and exotic value systems. In this paper I would like to elaborate this point further by discussing the (re)definition of personhood in mortuary ritual and by examining the use of (valuable) objects in bodily practices (such as body modification, adornment, anointment, grooming, arraying, and disarticulating). While conspicuous consumption at death is often discussed as a purely social strategy of display and aggrandizement, or at best as symbolic exchange with the ancestors, I argue that it has a much deeper cultural significance: it is a crucial attempt to contain the drift of meaning and value and to counteract the disintegration of personal identities—during the very process that dissolves persons into ancestors. These ideas will be applied to a specific case study: the grave circles of Mycenae.