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Revisiting funerary practices: A methodological approach to the study of funerary sequences and social organisation in the Neolithic Near East, integrating forensic experiments in archaeo-anthropology

Project description

A closer look at the dynamics of ancient burials

Unlocking the secrets of ancient societies is hindered by a crucial deficiency in funerary archaeology: an exclusive focus on the final resting places of human remains, neglecting the dynamic nature of funerary practices. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ArchFarm project will address this gap. It aims to expand the methodological principles of funerary archaeology and apply an innovative approach to interpret Neolithic Near Eastern burials. By developing a protocol to identify pre-depositional treatments, such as mummification, ArchFarm will reconstruct the sequence of funerary actions. It will combine archaeo-anthropology, forensic science and ethnoarchaeology to develop a more comprehensive narrative of funerary practices while fostering communication and outreach on the timeless subjects of ‘dying, death and mourning’.

Objective

ArchFarm aims to expand the methodological principles of funerary archaeology and apply this innovative approach to interpret Neolithic Near Eastern burials.
Funerary practices provide a valuable insight into social organisation and ideology of past societies. A major deficiency is that the archaeological record only shows the final deposition of human remains. Funerary practices are not often considered as a dynamic process that consists of several stages over a length of time. In addition, a confident interpretation of funerary treatment before deposition is currently very difficult due to the lack of experimental research. In order to reconstruct the sequence of funerary actions, ArchFarm will develop and test a protocol for the identification of pre-depositional treatment such as different forms of mummification. During the outgoing phase, controlled and repetitive experiments of human body decay will be conducted at the Australian Body Farm, the only human decomposition facility in the world that is connected to an archaeological department and combines archaeological questions with forensic science. The new methods will then be applied to Neolithic Near Eastern burials which are known for body part manipulations such as skull removal. During the incoming phase, skeletal remains from several Neolithic Near Eastern sites will be analysed. The results will be combined with ethnological research to increase our understanding of social choices and ideology behind certain funerary actions.
ArchFarm is an interdisciplinary study that will create methodological novelties relevant to several periods. Based on a combination of archaeo-anthropology, forensic science and ethno-archaeology, this study will produce a more holistic narrative of funerary practices. In addition, ArchFarm will create the opportunity for communication and outreach on the subject of ‘dying, death and mourning in past and present times’.

Fields of science

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.

Coordinator

UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX
Net EU contribution
€ 270 918,00
Address
PLACE PEY BERLAND 35
33000 Bordeaux
France

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Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Aquitaine Gironde
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 270 918,00

Partners (1)