lecture before fieldtrip

q1. why study mortuary practices in anthropology? what can it possible tell us? - it can be important to see how different cultures view the dead and how they deal with death and grief.

tells us their familial connections, and spiritual connection.

studying the death can help us understand the living, how they view the afterlife.

q2. does the dead body matter? why? - it depends on the culture, the Wari believe that the person was trapped in the body hence why they would burn and canablise the body to help release the spirt.

so much emotion around death it can help to physically say goodbye.

it can be important to understand how people lived, with things like tooth decay and/broken bones, you can tell a lot with how the person died from the body, brittle bones can show they died of disease - from an archeological view point.

"where we have come from and where we are going"

death tells us about the living society as the dead tells us about the living, the living preform various forms of grieving.

to study the dead illuminates the living

death ways: scholars use the term to capture the diversity of mortuary beliefs and practices, including the ideas about the afterlife.

Diogenes the Cynic - ordered himself to be thrown anywhere without being buried. his view is the body is meaningless

Karl Marx - "let the dead bury the dead"

Jesus - "follow me, and let the dead bury their dead" Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60

believe that we don't do right by the dead they will come back to haunt us.

q3. what kinds of data or evidence would help us to understand death, dying and the dead in the past and in the contemporary world? can you identify any issues that might arise in one's research?

-mistranslations when finding artifacts of the death.

-educate yourself on the culture before going to a site to make sure your not disrespectful.

-the actual burial sites are evidence on traditions.

-what the living leave behind to tell us about the dead.

-biased in looking at past practices, can't see anyone who was cremated.

-forensics - bones and teeth shows your life history.

deathly case study:

"most archaeologist agree that, in the majority of cases, graves and their contents are the results of intentional and structured actions" - Ekengren

approaching the context

intentionality

ritual sequences

spatial arrangements

cause study: The Tomb of Fu Hao

time of large settlements from people, time of rich tombs, many were robbed before they could be examined.

society where magic and ancestors are important.

the tomb provides a window into the Late Shang elite life and practices of divination and ancestor worship, as well as engendered state of power

she was a formidable warrior.

gendered grave offerings:

public realm

general and warrior - axe blades and horse gear

tribute items: bronze bells and ritual vessels

oracle bones and turtle shells - when heating turtle shells and ask it questions it will tell you the answer

six sacrificed dogs

16 sacrificed servants - there to accompany and engage in the festivies - drinking

700 cowrie shells

alters and containers of food/wine for feasting

private realm:

500 hair pins

755 jades including heirlooms

bronze vessels with familial nickname 'the smart and lovely girl'

bronze ritual and food vessels inscribed 'mother'

bronze mirrors from non-Shang Northern Zone: natal home

-focus on the wider landscape eg, road, separation into three areas by denomination - dissenters used for people who dissented from the main line of church eg, Baptist, Methodist

- trees - holly trees, why are they there

-the environment from humans eg needles, bottles, condoms

-focus on symbols on stones. crosses, flower language, animals,

-focus on what is written on the stones

aim - 5 examples to Annalise from the three sections - include children

collect what you can, min of 30-40 examples

specify everything, get as much of inscription if that is what you focus on