id
	11834
Url
	https://chloe.cnr.it/s/BiDiAr/item/11834
Resource template
	Academic Article
Resource class
	bibo:AcademicArticle
Title
	Theatres of Closure: Process and Performance in Inhumation Burial Rites in Early Medieval Britain
Creator
	Harrington, Sue
	Brookes, Stuart
	Semple, Sarah
	Millard, Andrew
Date
	2020
Language
	eng
Abstract
	Inhumation burials are recorded in Britain and Europe during excavations in a standardized way, especially graves of early medieval date. Just a limited number of attributes are usually foregrounded and these mainly concern skeletal identification, the grave plan and, when a burial is furnished, a list of objects, particularly metalwork, as well as occasional reference to burial structures, if present. In this paper, we argue that concealed within these recorded details are attributes that often receive little attention, but which can provide evidence for community investment in the individual funerary rite. These include grave orientation, grave morphology, the body position and the empty spaces in the grave, as well as categories of material culture. We argue here that these factors enable us to define communal burial profiles and can facilitate the identification of group perceptions and actions in dealing with death. By capitalizing on these additional aspects of funerary ritual, archaeologists can move away from a general dependency on well-furnished burials as the main stepping-off point for discussion of social and cultural issues. This has particular relevance for regions where unfurnished burial rites are the norm and where furnished rites do not rely on a wealth of metalwork.
Is Part Of
	Cambridge Archaeological Journal
Cited by
	11059
Doi
	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774320000050
Issn
	0959-7743, 1474-0540
Issue
	3
Pages
	389-412
Short title
	Theatres of Closure
Uri
	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/abs/theatres-of-closure-process-and-performance-in-inhumation-burial-rites-in-early-medieval-britain/48D70E26F55A35B1115473578A141D14
Volume
	30
Homepage
	https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/items/JR32FAR8/item-list

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