The Materiality of Death - mikroarkeologi.se

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Fig. 3. The stone coffin to the left is the one in which two of the face-urns from Rogaland, Norway, were found (Njølstad, a sketch made by Jan Petersen. From the archives at Archaeological museum in Stavanger). The stone coffin to the right is from Zawory, Chmielno in Poland (Kneisel 2005:640). Following the Oder River further south one gets to the Moravian pass with a connecting river to Donau. Pydyn (1999:62) has suggested a similar route between eastern Jutland and southern Sweden and the Lusatian culture further south, based on the Italian and Alpine imports and other cultural elements. Like their Norwegian counterparts, the Legnica face-urns often have two holes resembling eyes, and in a few cases a little knob symbolizing a nose. They all seem to be imbued with restrictions connected to their look, and it must have been important to show the connection between these specific areas. Not only does the look of the Norwegian face-urns share similarities with southern Polish examples, the conditions of deposition do as well. In several cases face-urns have been deposited in stone chambers of similar construction, such as the two face-urns found in the same chamber at Jæren, and also together with other urns lacking face decor (Aasbøe 2006). Møllerop (1987:38) has also noticed the coherence between the chambers in which the face-urns from Norway and Poland are found (fig. 3). Osteological analyses of cremated bone from both Poland (in Kneisel 2005) and Norway (Holck 1983, 1997, Sellevold 2002) show that persons of both sexes and all ages could get a face-urn, except for face-urns with pictograms of military equipment (see Kneisel 2005 for further explanation). The deposition and the osteological analysis of the bones found in Polish urns has led Kneisel (2005) to think of face-urns as possibly restricted to a person with a certain position, or abilities, from each generation. In Rogaland there are fragments from a face-urn with a striking resemblance to urns of Etruscan type. It comprises a small number of potsherds with a small amount of associated burnt bone, but no other details of the find context are known. This face-urn is exceptional however, as the urn’s decor is more plastic than stylized. The bones found together with this urn belonged to a girl who was around the age of 12 years when she died (fig. 4). The face-urns from Etruria can, like the ones from Poland, be more or less stylized. But many of the Etruscan face-urns share the same features even though they all show individualistic characteristics. They often have almond shaped eyes, thin lips, high cheekbones and a slim, straight nose. Some of them tend to have a “Mona Lisa-smile” on their lips. It could be that these features are a result of an idolization or an idealization. One can draw a simplistic analogy to the portraits of the nobility from the 18 th century, displaying almost enigmatic or expressionless characters. 108
The local context of the Norwegian face-urns The seven face-urns from Norway are, as earlier mentioned, all found in the southern part of the country, in the counties of Rogaland and Aust-Agder. Three of the four face-urns from Rogaland County were found relatively close together at Jæren within an area no greater than about 5 km in diameter. Two of these were found together in a stone chamber with three additional urns without face décor. The picture is somewhat similar in Aust-Agder County where three urns were found at Fjære within an area no more than 4 km in diameter. Two of the urns from Fjære were also found together in a stone chamber. Fig. 4. Norwegian face-urn found in Rogaland (from the archives at Archaeological museum in Stavanger). Fig. 5. Female head from a face-urn found in Chiusi (Banti 1973: planche 75a). Jæren and Fjære are at present some of the best agricultural areas in their respective counties. These areas are both coastal and have a long tradition associated with seafaring, fishing and overseas contact. They also have access to inland resources such as game, fur, timber, and minerals. Soapstone quarries (probably already in use during the Bronze Age) are recorded near both areas. Several monumental mounds are found in these areas, and the areas show a large number of registered prehistoric finds and sites for all of the Norwegian prehistoric periods in the respective counties. These areas also show some of the richest concentrations in the country of imported artefacts and artefacts associated with the elite strata of prehistoric society. Monumental mounds, imported goods, the resources of the area and their coastal location has led archaeologists to think of the Jæren and Fjære areas as possessing the potential for long distance trade contacts and likely locations for the concentration of power during the prehistoric period (Gjessing 1990, Myhre 1996 et. al.). One thinks of the social organization of society in the Bronze Age as hierarchical in the sense that some families had the possibility to acquire resources and goods that exceed what is necessary in daily life, and seek to accumulate power and gain prestige through redistribution of goods. In this hierarchical society the development of specialized production of different types of goods form the basis of an exchange system that included large areas. Metal artefacts and knowledge about metal production are assumed to be resources that generated long distance trade. So did trade with amber and glass. For these families, or social strata in the society, long distance contacts and prestige goods are regarded as other important aspects in the strategy of gaining and retaining power. Prestige goods expressed social relations and status, and the gift/exchange economy was dependent upon social contexts such as feasts, marriage alliances and other organised social happenings (Cunliffe 1994:325). 109
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The Materiality of Death Bodies, bu
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Contents Chapter 1. The Materiality
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Fig. 1. Pieter Bruegel, The Triumph
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ather one has to emphasise the mate
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dead are often regarded as unfriend
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Fig 3. The old man Tei Tetuna by hi
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The Materiality of Social Change: H
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The Materiality of Eternity - The A
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FAHLANDER, F. & OESTIGAARD, T. 2004
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Susanne Kuechler-Fogden, Webb Keane
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Chapter 2 More than Metaphor: Appro
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discuss death and the treatment of
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had to deal with. This is not to sa
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hide that could be removed to expos
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pp111-123. Philadelphia: University
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Chapter 3 A Piece of the Mesolithic
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The main point is that the division
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A Piece of the Mesolithic: Skatehol
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question we need to construct some
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Fig. 4. Skateholm I (above) and Ska
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visible many years after the origin
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Phase Area Properties Interpretatio
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phase of one site with a contempora
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MILNER, N. & WOODMAN, P. 2005. Meso
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with dead people belonging to other
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Fig. 2. Due to the extraordinaire c
Page 56 and 57:
As with all cremations in Hinduism,
Page 58 and 59:
Based on the amount of scattered bo
Page 60 and 61:
To have an ethical approach involve
Page 63 and 64: Chapter 5 From Corpse to Ancestor:
Page 65 and 66: Figure 2. Isola Sacra, Tomb 100. Ph
Page 67 and 68: Figure 4. Isola Sacra, Tomb 87. Pho
Page 73: 69 Burials
Page 76 and 77: through careful recording of the or
Page 78 and 79: Figure 4: Pencraig Hill: Distributi
Page 80 and 81: focussed on use of partial sets of
Page 83 and 84: Chapter 7 Ritual and Remembrance at
Page 85 and 86: urial (tomba a doppio loculo tipo M
Page 87 and 88: ‘original’ walls of the tomb. L
Page 89 and 90: chambers cut into two earlier trenc
Page 91: Madison: Prehistory Press, Monograp
Page 94 and 95: Well-organized cemeteries or messy
Page 96 and 97: influenced who was buried inside th
Page 98 and 99: it was quite short, which could ind
Page 100 and 101: References ARTELIUS, TORE 2004. Min
Page 103 and 104: Chapter 9 Life and Death in the Bro
Page 105 and 106: Fig. 5.1. Cremation necropolis at P
Page 107 and 108: place. These burials were very simp
Page 109 and 110: Chapter 10 Norwegian Face-Urns: Loc
Page 111: The recurring themes in the debate
Page 115 and 116: Death is the inevitable conclusion
Page 117 and 118: OESTIGAARD, T. 1999. Cremations as
Page 119 and 120: Chapter 11 The Use of Ochre in Ston
Page 121 and 122: Ochre was used so intensively that
Page 123 and 124: Fig. 5. Zvejnieki burial ground. Th
Page 125 and 126: grave has been dated to 5690±45 BP
Page 127 and 128: Khanty of northern Siberia, the col
Page 129 and 130: 125 Beliefs
Page 131 and 132: Chapter 12 ”Death Myths”: Perfo
Page 133 and 134: Variation within the same cist Bø,
Page 135 and 136: Variation within the same mound Lyd
Page 137 and 138: Figures 6 and 7. Modvo, Luster muni
Page 139 and 140: To what extent there have been corr
Page 141 and 142: when they die, a probable explanati
Page 143 and 144: fragmented spindles, iron weaving s
Page 145 and 146: Chapter 13 Reproduction and Relocat
Page 147 and 148: may be questioned, and analysed mor
Page 149 and 150: References Andersson, G. 1997: A st
Page 151 and 152: Chapter 14 A Road for the Viking’
Page 153 and 154: Figure 2. The Jarlabanke Bridge tha
Page 155 and 156: Chapter 15 A Road to the Other Side
Page 157 and 158: Fig. 4. Clearing the bridge on an e
Page 159 and 160: Chapter 16 Stones and Bones: The My
Page 161 and 162: Fig. 4. An Iron Age scene at Sylta
Page 163 and 164:
Fig. 7. The resemblance between cru
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