Abstract
ABSTRACT Considerable attention has been given to the skeletal remains and personal ornaments from Mesolithic funerary contexts. Relatively less analytical attention, however, has been given to lithic objects frequently found in the same graves. As a result, understandings of grave goods and the broader ontological frameworks surrounding Mesolithic mortuary practices can be argued to be incomplete. A partial picture is perhaps why we have struggled to move beyond monolithic accounts of grave goods as status items. In this paper, I draw on empirical evidence for lithics playing diverse roles in funerary rites and rituals. Connections between stone objects and human bodies are drawn from funerary and other contexts to argue that, rather than being simply inanimate and utilitarian, some stone tools were perceived as living entities. Taking this new ontological perspective enables a radical rethink of the meaning of lithic artefacts in Mesolithic burials and beyond.
Published Version
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