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Four coffins dating from the period between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries from Keminmaa in northern Ostrobothnian Finland were examined using computed-tomography (CT) scanning, a methodology with research applications for exploring human remains, coffins, and funerary textiles. The age and, in two cases, sex of the remains were estimated, and both historical sources and archaeological material suggest that socialization through gender was apparent in this collection. This article explores both the material testimony of care, dedication, and innocence of newborn and infant burials, as well as the socialization process and role of women adolescents in providing children’s funerary materials. Se examinaron cuatro ataúdes que datan del período comprendido entre mediados del siglo XVIII y mediados del siglo XIX en Keminmaa, en el norte de Ostrobotnia, Finlandia, mediante tomografía computarizada (TC), una metodología con aplicaciones de investigación para explorar restos humanos, ataúdes y textiles funerarios. Se estimó la edad y, en dos casos, el sexo de los restos, y tanto las fuentes históricas como el material arqueológico sugieren que la socialización a través del género fue evidente en esta colección. Este artículo explora tanto el testimonio material acerca del cuidado, dedicación e inocencia de los entierros de recién nacidos y bebés, así como el proceso de socialización y el papel de las adolescentes en proveer materiales funerarios para los niños. Quatre cercueils datant de la période entre la moitié du 18ème siècle et la moitié du 19ème siècle découverts à Keminmaa dans l'Ostrobotnie du nord la Finlande ont fait l'objet d'une étude en recourant à la tomodensitométrie (CT), une méthodologie associée à des applications de recherche pour l'étude des restes humains, des cercueils et des tissus funéraires. L'âge et dans deux cas, le sexe des restes ont pu être estimés et les sources historiques comme le matériel archéologique suggèrent que la socialisation par le biais du genre était apparente dans ces éléments recueillis. Cet articles' intéresse au témoignage matériel des soins, du dévouement et de l'innocence des enterrements de nouveau-nés et d'enfants, ainsi qu'au processus de socialisation et au rôle des femmes adolescentes dans la fourniture des articles funéraires pour les enfants.

This is the first book-length treatment of Neolithic burial in Britain to focus primarily on cave evidence. It interprets human remains from forty-eight caves and compares them to what we know of Neolithic collective burial elsewhere in Britain and Europe. It reviews the archaeology of these cave burials and treats them as important evidence for the study of mortuary practice. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, anthropology, osteology and cave science, the book demonstrates that cave burial was one of the earliest elements of the British Neolithic. It also shows that Early Neolithic cave-burial practice was highly varied, with many similarities to other burial rites. However, by the Middle Neolithic, a funerary practice which was specific to caves had developed.

The diversity of human mortuary practices and treatments in prehistory is widely recognised, but our understanding of the purpose and manner of corpse manipulation in many regions is limited. This article reports on unusual aspects of funerary archaeology at the Neolithic site of Dingsishan, southern China. Anatomical consideration of cutmarks on human bones and the positioning of bodies and body parts within burials suggests that mortuary treatments at this site included strategic and systematic disarticulation, evisceration and excarnation. Rather than signalling social differences, these practices may have resulted from the very practical need to save space.

Across Europe early medieval archaeologists have long recognised significant numbers of graves displaying evidence for the intentional post-burial disturbance of skeletons and artefacts. The practice of reopening and manipulating graves soon after burial, traditionally described—and dismissed—as ‘robbing’, is documented at cemeteries from Transylvania to southern England. This article presents a synthesis of five recent regional studies to investigate the evidence of and the motivations for the reopening of early medieval graves. From the later sixth century AD, the reopening of individual graves and removal of selected artefact types rapidly became part of the shared treatment of the dead across this wide area.

Oracle bone inscriptions of the late Shang Dynasty (1250–1046 BC) record the burning of jade as a ceremonial sacrifice, a practice now corroborated archaeologically. The origins of ceremonial jade burning, however, are unclear. Using archaeometric methods and experimental archaeology, the authors examine an assemblage of jade objects from the late Liangzhu-period (2600–2300 BC) cemetery of Sidun. The cause of the jades’ variable surface colours has been long debated. The results presented here demonstrate that the colour changes relate to alterations in chemical composition due to exposure to fire. The evidence from Sidun confirms that the burning of jade in China commenced more than a millennium earlier than previously documented.

Recent archaeological investigations in eastern Tigray, Ethiopia, have revealed extensive evidence for medieval Muslim communities. Although the settlement of Muslims near modern Kwiha was previously attested by epigraphic evidence, its exact location remained unknown. Fieldwork, with the support of the ERC project ‘HornEast’, has identified and excavated the cemetery at Bilet—the first excavation of a Muslim cemetery in the Ethiopian Highlands. The results reveal the existence of flourishing cosmopolitanism among Muslim communities in the very heart of the Zagwe Christian kingdom. These Muslim communities developed from both foreign and local populations and were well connected with the wider Islamicate world.

The burial of multiple individuals within a single funerary monument invites speculation about the relationships between the deceased: were they chosen on the basis of status, gender or relatedness, for example? Here, the authors present the results of aDNA and isotope analyses conducted on seven individuals from an Early Iron Age barrow at Dolge njive, south-eastern Slovenia. All seven individuals are close biological relatives. While the group composition suggests strict adherence to neither patrilineal nor matrilineal structures, the funerary tradition appears highly gendered, and family links through both the male and female lines seem important in structuring of the community. The results have implications for understanding of kinship and funerary practices in late prehistoric Europe.

The site of Shash Hamdan is located on the Syrian Euphrates and includes impressive Roman-era rock-cut tombs. This article documents the extent of the damage to one of those tombs, Tomb 1 (T1), by comparing the evidence published by an Australian archaeological expedition in 1998 with images collected between 2006 and 2016 and also with a new survey that was undertaken in 2020. Interviews with people who live near the site were also conducted to identify the causes leading to the destruction of the tomb. This study explores the factors that contributed to the damage to cultural heritage before and during the Syrian conflict.

This paper aims to address relations between sexes at the start of farming in Europe, particularly through studying the funerary practices of one of the most important North Carpathian Basin Neolithic cemeteries: the site of Vedrovice (Moravia, Czech Republic), considered to be the first Linearbandkeramik (LBK) cemetery documented to date. In order to approach the relationships between women, children and men at the dawn of agriculture, use-wear studies have been undertaken on both ground and flaked stone instruments deposited as grave goods, thus generating new data about the activities performed using these tools. Furthermore, the relationship between sex, age, health condition and spatial distribution has also been addressed together with the isotopic information related to diet and mobility. The results suggest that sexes were valued differently in death. Unequal farming and/or hunting product distribution between the sexes and between women of different origin has been observed as well as higher tool and ornaments accumulation in male burials and a marked sexual differentiation of the male and female spheres of production represented through the stone funerary tools. A discussion is made around the possible interpretation of this result in terms of presence/absence of sexual inequalities.