Forensic Archaeology

Forensic Archaeology
Author: W. J. Mike Groen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 616
Release: 2015-02-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1118745965

Forensic archaeology is mostly defined as the use ofarchaeological methods and principles within a legal context.However, such a definition only covers one aspect of forensicarchaeology and misses the full potential this discipline has tooffer. This volume is unique in that it contains 57 chapters fromexperienced forensic archaeological practitioners working indifferent countries, intergovernmental organisations orNGO’s. It shows that the practice of forensic archaeologyvaries worldwide as a result of diverse historical, educational,legal and judicial backgrounds. The chapters in this volume will bean invaluable reference to (forensic) archaeologists, forensicanthropologists, humanitarian and human rights workers, forensicscientists, police officers, professionals working in criminaljustice systems and all other individuals who are interested in thepotential forensic archaeology has to offer at scenes of crime orplaces of incident. This volume promotes the development offorensic archaeology worldwide. In addition, it proposes aninterpretative framework that is grounded in archaeological theoryand methodology, integrating affiliated behavioural and forensicsciences.

The Archaeology of Cremation

The Archaeology of Cremation
Author: Tim Thompson
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2015-03-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1782978518

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 describe important cremation practices and sites from around the world and from the Neolithic period to the modern day. By emphasising the need for a robust methodology combined with a nuanced interpretation, it is possible to begin to appreciate the significance and wide-spread adoption of this practice of dealing with the dead.

The Archaeology of Death in Post-medieval Europe

The Archaeology of Death in Post-medieval Europe
Author: Sarah Tarlow
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110470624

Historical burial grounds are an enormous archaeological resource and have the potential to inform studies not only of demography or the history of disease and mortality, but also histories of the body, of religious and other beliefs about death, of changing social relationships, values and aspirations. In the last decades, the intensive urban development and a widespread legal requirement to undertake archaeological excavation of historical sites has led to a massive increase in the number of post-medieval graveyards and burial places that have been subjected to archaeological investigation. The archaeology of the more recent periods, which are comparatively well documented, is no less interesting and important an area of study than prehistoric periods. This volume offers a range of case studies and reflections on aspects of death and burial in post-medieval Europe. Looking at burial goods, the spatial aspects of cemetery organisation and the way that the living interact with the dead, contributors who have worked on sites from Central, North and West Europe present some of their evidence and ideas. The coherence of the volume is maintained by a substantial integrative introduction by the editor, Professor Sarah Tarlow. “This book is a ‘first’ and a necessary one. It is an exciting and far-ranging collection of studies on post-medieval burial practice across Europe that will most certainly be used extensively” Professor Howard Williams

An Archaeology of Religion

An Archaeology of Religion
Author: Kit W. Wesler
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2012
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0761858458

An Archaeology of Religion challenges traditional conventions by refusing to respect the geographic and temporal boundaries with which archaeologists too often define their field. This book is an ambitious attempt to survey how scholars approach the identification of religious sites and practices in the archaeological record.

The Archaeology of Death

The Archaeology of Death
Author: Robert Chapman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 1981-10-22
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9780521237758

This volume brings together studies on the disposal of the dead and the archaeological research potential of found remains.

The Archaeology of Post-medieval Religion

The Archaeology of Post-medieval Religion
Author: Chris King
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2011
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1843836939

Evidence gleaned from archaeology sheds dramatic new light on religious practices and identities between the later sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. The post-medieval period was one of profound religious and cultural change, of sometimes violent religious conflict and of a dramatic growth in religious pluralism. The essays collected here, in what is the first book to focus onthe material evidence, demonstrate the significant contribution that archaeology can make to a deeper understanding of religion. They take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the spatial and material context of religious life, using buildings and landscapes, religious objects and excavated cemeteries, alongside cartographic and documentary sources, to reveal the complexity of religious practices and identities in varied regions of post-medieval Britain, Europe and the wider world. Topics covered include the transformation of religious buildings and landscapes in the centuries after the European Reformation, the role of religious minorities and immigrant groups in early modern cities, the architectural and landscape context of eighteenth and nineteenth-century nonconformity, and the development of post-medieval burial practices and funerary customs. Offering a unique perspective on the material remains ofthe post-medieval period, this volume will be of significant value to archaeologists and historians interested in the religious and cultural transformation of the early modern world. Contributors: Chris King, Duncan Sayer, Andrew Spicer, Philippa Woodcock, Matthias Range, Simon Roffey, Greig Parker, Jeremy Lake, Eric Berry, Peter Herring, Claire Strachan, Peter Benes, Diana Mahoney-Swales, Richard O'Neill, Hugh Willmott, Natasha Powers, Adrian Miles, Anwen Cedifor Caffell, Rachel Clarke, Rosie Morris

Tales of Gotham, Historical Archaeology, Ethnohistory and Microhistory of New York City

Tales of Gotham, Historical Archaeology, Ethnohistory and Microhistory of New York City
Author: Meta F. Janowitz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2013-02-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1461452724

Historical Archaeology of New York City is a collection of narratives about people who lived in New York City during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, people whose lives archaeologists have encountered during excavations at sites where these people lived or worked. The stories are ethnohistorical or microhistorical studies created using archaeological and documentary data. As microhistories, they are concerned with particular people living at particular times in the past within the framework of world events. The world events framework will be provided in short introductions to chapters grouped by time periods and themes. The foreword by Mary Beaudry and the afterword by LuAnne DeCunzo bookend the individual case studies and add theoretical weight to the volume. Historical Archaeology of New York City focuses on specific individual life stories, or stories of groups of people, as a way to present archaeological theory and research. Archaeologists work with material culture—artifacts—to recreate daily lives and study how culture works; this book is an example of how to do this in a way that can attract people interested in history as well as in anthropological theory.