Identification of the first reported Lapita cremation in the Pacific Islands using archaeological, forensic and contemporary burning evidence

Scott, Rachel M.; Buckley, Hallie R.; Spriggs, Matthew; Valentin, Frédérique; Bedford, Stuart

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.11.020

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Detailed mortuary analyses have already been Petchey et al 2011:34). published for 29 of the 71 inhumations (Valentin et al 2010a) and one cremation (Scott et al 2010) from Areas 2 and 3 of the Lapita cemetery. Valentin et al (2009) briefly summarized mortuary data recorded on 44 Lapita burials there while the five Erueti burials from Area 7C were briefly presented in Valentin et al (2011).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate

Valentin

Herrscher

Bedford

et al. 2014

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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International audienceIn the southern Melanesian islands of Vanuatu, as in New Caledonia, Fiji, and West Polynesia, the archaeological record indicates significant shifts in aspects such as patterns of settlement and mobility, landscape use, and pottery production, some 500 years (2500 BP) after initial colonization. The relatively uniform Lapita Cultural Complex, the first manifestation of human activity on these islands, was transformed in each archipelago into various distinctive cultural entities.Using dietary (δ13C and δ15N values measured in collagen) and mortuary data recorded in 43 Lapita and seven immediately Post-Lapita adult burials from the site of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu), we demonstrate that these medium-term, transformative processes also affected the economic component of the social system as well as its symbolic andreligious structures. Evolutionary change adapting to changing local conditions is envisioned as the likely dominant factor influencing this cultural trajectory, while environmental/climatic change, secondary migration, and internal social changes unrelated to adaptive processes could have interacted to produce the recorded patterns

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate

Valentin

Herrscher

Bedford

et al. 2014

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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“…Usually, additional contextual information (such as the presence of funerary goods) is used to determine this (e.g. Scott et al, 2010), although evidence from the skeletal remains themselves, such as fracture patterns, can also be indicative of the timing of burning relative to death (Garrido-Varas and Intriago, 2015;Gonçalves et al, 2011).…”

Section: The Effect Of Taphonomic Factors On the Interpretation Of Crmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death on the frontier: Military cremation practices in the north of Roman Britain

Thompson

Szigeti

Gowland

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract:The study of cremated human remains from archaeological contexts has traditionally been viewed as less valuable than the study of inhumed bodies. However, recent methodological and theoretical developments regarding the taphonomic processes that transform the human body during cremation have highlighted their potential for understanding past cultural and funerary practices. This study combines the first application of spectroscopic with more traditional methods of studying cremated bone to examine Romano-British contexts, with the aim of better understanding funerary practices along the military frontier. Five RomanoBritish military sites from northern England (Beckfoot, Carlisle, Herd Hill, Lincoln and Malton) were studied, with remains excavated from a range of cinerary urn contexts. Despite the known heterogeneity of the ethnic composition of the Roman army, analyses revealed a surprising consistency with respect to the cremation practice, implying shared knowledge of pyre procedure and, possibly, a prescribed funerary practice amongst military communities in the Roman North. The consistency within these five northern provincial sites in Britain stands in contrast to cremation contexts from Roman sites elsewhere in Europe, as well as other periods of the British past. The associated material culture recovered from these cremation deposits, however, does provide evidence for differences in dress and bodily display. This contrasts with the homogeneity of the cremation technology and highlights the importance of these individualizing features for signalling identity amongst Roman military communities in Britain.

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“…In this respect mortuary studies are important for understanding social structure in both the present and the distant past. Detailed archaeological discussions of mortuary practices in the Pacific have been largely limited to the last 10 Mortuary Contexts and Social Structure years (Anton and Steadman 2003;Fitzpatrick and Nelson 2008;Parke 1998;Pietrusewsky et al 2007;Scott et al 2010;Valentin 2003;Valentin et al 2010). These studies enhance our understanding of the development of societies and social structure across the Pacific.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mortuary Contexts and Social Structure at Nan Madol, Pohnpei

Seikel

2011

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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Archaeological studies of mortuary practices contribute to discussions of prehistoric social structure. Relatively little work has focused on mortuary practices in Micronesia, particularly those associated with societies that built the monumental earthworks of Palau, the Latte sets in the Mariana Islands, and the monumental centers of Leluh on Kosrae and Nan Madol on Pohnpei. This study utilizes multiple lines of evidence to consider mortuary contexts and their relationship to social structure at the site of Nan Madol. The mortuary context is interpreted as reflecting ascribed status in a stratified hierarchical system consistent with traditional histories. The study provides a base line for future studies of Pohnpeian mortuary practices and adds to archaeological knowledge of complex societies in Micronesia and the Pacific.Data from burial practices and beliefs about death were of central importance to the early development of the study of human evolution, of the rise of ancient civilization, and of cultural and social institutions. (Huntington and Metcalf 1979:5) The study of mortuary practices has long been a focus in anthropology and archae-

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Identification of the first reported Lapita cremation in the Pacific Islands using archaeological, forensic and contemporary burning evidence

Cited by 19 publications

References 44 publications

Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate

Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate

Death on the frontier: Military cremation practices in the north of Roman Britain

Mortuary Contexts and Social Structure at Nan Madol, Pohnpei

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