The persistent presence of the dead: recent excavations at the hunter-gatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia)
(2013) In Antiquity 87(338). p.1016-1029- Abstract
- The well-known Mesolithic cemeteries of Northern Europe have long been viewed as evidence of developing social complexity in those regions in the centuries immediately before the Neolithic transition. These sites also had important symbolic connotations. This study uses new and more detailed analysis of the burial practices in one of these cemeteries to argue that much more is involved than social differentiation. Repeated burial in the densely packed site of Zvejnieki entailed large-scale disturbance of earlier graves, and would have involved recurrent encounters with the remains of the ancestral dead. The intentional use of older settlement material in the grave fills may also have signified a symbolic link with the past. The specific... (More)
- The well-known Mesolithic cemeteries of Northern Europe have long been viewed as evidence of developing social complexity in those regions in the centuries immediately before the Neolithic transition. These sites also had important symbolic connotations. This study uses new and more detailed analysis of the burial practices in one of these cemeteries to argue that much more is involved than social differentiation. Repeated burial in the densely packed site of Zvejnieki entailed large-scale disturbance of earlier graves, and would have involved recurrent encounters with the remains of the ancestral dead. The intentional use of older settlement material in the grave fills may also have signified a symbolic link with the past. The specific identity of the dead is highlighted by the evidence for clay face masks and tight body wrappings in some cases. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4376582
- author
- Stutz, Liv Nilsson ; Larsson, Lars LU and Zagorska, Ilga
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Latvia, Zvejnieki, Mesolithic, burial practices, archaeothanatology, cemetery, hunter-gatherers
- in
- Antiquity
- volume
- 87
- issue
- 338
- pages
- 1016 - 1029
- publisher
- Antiquity
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000330820000005
- scopus:84888381914
- ISSN
- 0003-598X
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 839a2047-3919-4966-8b7d-5c14791e9a73 (old id 4376582)
- alternative location
- http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871016.htm
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:04:51
- date last changed
- 2022-03-29 19:01:39
@article{839a2047-3919-4966-8b7d-5c14791e9a73,
abstract = {{The well-known Mesolithic cemeteries of Northern Europe have long been viewed as evidence of developing social complexity in those regions in the centuries immediately before the Neolithic transition. These sites also had important symbolic connotations. This study uses new and more detailed analysis of the burial practices in one of these cemeteries to argue that much more is involved than social differentiation. Repeated burial in the densely packed site of Zvejnieki entailed large-scale disturbance of earlier graves, and would have involved recurrent encounters with the remains of the ancestral dead. The intentional use of older settlement material in the grave fills may also have signified a symbolic link with the past. The specific identity of the dead is highlighted by the evidence for clay face masks and tight body wrappings in some cases.}},
author = {{Stutz, Liv Nilsson and Larsson, Lars and Zagorska, Ilga}},
issn = {{0003-598X}},
keywords = {{Latvia; Zvejnieki; Mesolithic; burial practices; archaeothanatology; cemetery; hunter-gatherers}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{338}},
pages = {{1016--1029}},
publisher = {{Antiquity}},
series = {{Antiquity}},
title = {{The persistent presence of the dead: recent excavations at the hunter-gatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia)}},
url = {{http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871016.htm}},
volume = {{87}},
year = {{2013}},
}