The archaeology of death

Death is a universal human experience, but one that evokes a wide range of cultural and material responses. Archaeologists have used mortuary and bioarchaeological evidence to try to understand topics as diverse as paleodemography, human health and disease, social structure and inequalities, ritual, and identity and personhood. As such, the archaeology of death has become a locus for lively debates about archaeological interpretation. Furthermore, the study of human remains and mortuary contexts raises a set of complex ethical and political issues. We will explore these themes using a range of archaeological and anthropological case studies from different times and places.