The Historical Dimension in Mortuary Expressions of Status and Sentiment [and Comments and Reply]

Reinterpreting chronology and society at the mortuary complex of Jebel Moya (Sudan)

“…death is manipulated by the living for reasons of power relations. Finally, a later study by Cannon (1989) also recognised that aspects of mortuary rites and displays should not be related to the nature of social complexity and hierarchical structures amongst the living due to the cyclical nature of emphasis on different aspects of funeral sets for display by elites and non-elites.…”

Practical and prestige technologies: The evolution of material systems

“…Such striving for material emulation by commoners or low level aggrandizers aspiring to higher status is well documented (see Veblen, 1899;G. Clark, 1986, p. 3;Randsborg, 1982;Schiffer, 1976;Shennan, 1982;Bradley, 1984, p. 132;Fallers, 1973;Cannon, 1989) and is probably one of the main driving forces behind periodic shifts in prestige styles and the development of new prestige technologies. The cheapening of the symbols of power essentially forces successful aggrandizers to look for, or to develop, ever more costly prestige items.…”

Determination of a kinship system using ancient DNA, mortuary practice, and historic records in an upper Canadian pioneer cemetery

“…Cannon (1989) has found that mortuary behaviour in many cultures exhibits a cyclical change in display ostentation, which could be used to provide estimated interment phases. This would act to limit skeletal analyses of all types to a shorter period of time, thus reducing the influence of a variety of confounding variables on any single burial 'cohort'.…”