Covering the Dead in Later Prehistoric Britain: Elusive Objects and Powerful Technologies of Funerary Performance

Anwen Cooper,Catriona Gibson,Duncan Garrow,Melanie Giles

doi:10.1017/ppr.2019.8

Anwen Cooper, Catriona Gibson + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1017/ppr.2019.8

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Abstract

This paper examines the containment and covering of people and objects in burials throughout later prehistory in Britain. Recent analyses of grave assemblages with exceptionally well-preserved organic remains have revealed some of the particular roles played by covers in funerary contexts. Beyond these spectacular examples, however, the objects involved in covering and containing have largely been overlooked. Many of the ‘motley crew’ of pots and stones used to wrap, cover, and contain bodies (and objects) were discarded or destroyed by antiquarian investigators in their quest for more immediately dazzling items. Organic containers and covers – bags, coffins, shrouds, blankets – are rarely preserved. Our study brings together the diverse and often elusive objects that played a part in covering and containing prehistoric burials, including items that directly enclosed bodies and objects, and those that potentially pinned together (now mostly absent) organic wraps. Overall, we contend, wrapping, covering, and containing were significantly more prevalent in prehistoric funerary practices than has previously been recognised.

Highlights

All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law
In gathering a database of nearly 6000 objects – all of those in formal burials within our study areas – it became clear that items directly associated with covering the prehistoric dead – those involved in binding, enclosing, capping, and pinning together human remains and the objects buried with them – form a significant component of grave assemblages and vary hugely in their makeup
As well as bringing out the full variety of coffin burials, we focus on three specific aspects of these burials that are of significant interest but which have not previously been discussed in detail: the state of the body and number of individuals contained within coffins; the deposition of cremation burials within coffins; and the significant signs of charring or burning seen on some coffins

Summary

Introduction

All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law. In gathering a database of nearly 6000 objects – all of those in formal burials within our study areas (see Appendices 1, S.3 & S.4 for methodology) – it became clear that items directly associated with covering the prehistoric dead – those involved in binding, enclosing, capping, and pinning together human remains and the objects buried with them – form a significant component of grave assemblages and vary hugely in their makeup. They range from woven grass baskets and ‘blankets’ of quartz, to pots with quernstone lids and fastenings used to hold organic bundles together. It was evident that ‘covering objects’ (as we might describe them) are discussed widely as an element of materially rich prehistoric burials from elsewhere in Europe and beyond (eg, papers in Harris & Douny 2014; Riggs 2014), those from prehistoric Britain have far evaded thorough analytical attention

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