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The Useful Dead: Bodies as Objects in Iron Age and Norse Atlantic Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Fiona Shapland  and
Ian Armit
Fiona Shapland
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, UK
Ian Armit
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, UK
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Abstract

This paper discusses a group of modified human remains from Iron Age and Norse sites in Atlantic Scotland, several of which have been discovered or rediscovered over the past decade, and all of which have recently been radiocarbon dated. It investigates the ways in which these remains seem to have been recovered, used, modified and deposited by living communities, and what this may reveal about past attitudes towards the bodies of the dead. These practices are placed within a wider European later prehistoric and early historic context, to highlight how this group of evidence may add to current debates surrounding social memory, the ritualization of domestic life, and the place of the dead within the world of the living.

Cet article examine un assortiment de restes humains modifiés provenant de sites de l'Âge du Fer et de l'Âge Viking en Écosse atlantique, dont plusieurs ont été découverts ou redécouverts au courant des dix dernières années et qui tous ont été datés récemment par radiocarbone AMS. L'étude porte sur la façon dont ces restes semblent avoir été récupérés, utilisés, modifiés et déposés par des communautés vivantes, et sur ce que cela peut révéler des attitudes des anciens par rapport aux corps des défunts. Ces pratiques sont placées dans un contexte européen plus large englobant la préhistoire tardive et le début de l'ère historique, afin de souligner l'apport de cet ensemble de preuves aux débats actuels autour de la mémoire sociale, de la ritualisation de la vie domestique et de la place des morts dans le monde des vivants. Translation by Isabelle Gerges

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag diskutiert eine Gruppe manipulierter menschlicher Überreste von eisenzeitlichen und altnordischen Fundplätzen im atlantischen Schottland, von denen verschiedene im Laufe des letzten Jahrzehntes entdeckt oder wiederentdeckt wurden und die alle unlängst mittels AMS radiokarbondatiert worden sind. Es werden die Wege untersucht, auf denen diese Überreste von lebenden Gesellschaften geborgen, genutzt, modifiziert und deponiert worden sind und was dies über die damaligen Ansichten über die Körper von Verstorbenen aussagen kann. Die Praktiken werden in einen größeren europäischen Kontext der späten Vorgeschichte und der beginnenden Frühgeschichte eingebettet, um zu zeigen, wie diese Artefaktgruppe zu den derzeitigen Debatten über soziales Gedächtnis, die Ritualisierung des häuslichen Lebens und den Platz der Toten in der Welt der Lebenden beitragen kann. Translation by Hiener Schwarzberg

Keywords

Iron Agehuman remainsperforated craniafunerary practiceScotlandÂge du Ferrestes humainscrânes perforéspratique funéraireÉcosseEisenzeitMenschenrestedurchlochte SchädelBestattungspraxisSchottland
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , 2012 , pp. 98 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2012 

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