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Chapter 1. Siting, Sighting, and Citing the Dead
Author(s) -
Charles Douglas K.,
Buikstra Jane E.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1525/ap3a.2002.11.1.13
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , cult , prehistory , politics , ancestor , history , range (aeronautics) , genealogy , archaeology , geography , sociology , ancient history , social science , law , political science , materials science , composite material
From the Middle Archaic through Mississippian periods of the prehistoric American Midwest (ca. 7000–700 B.P.), the specific location, form, and intensity of funerary activity varied through time, but always within a limited, yet evolving, range of alternatives. This material record can be understood as resulting from the interaction of traditional (i.e., meaningful) symbolic systems, the agency of the participants, and specific (i.e., historical) social, economic, and political contexts. In particular, we examine the shifting emphasis on mortuary ritual versus ancestor cult and how this is manifested in terms of the location and form of burial mounds and cemeteries.