Prioritizing Death and Society
The Archaeology of Chalcolithic and Contemporary Cemeteries in the Southern Levant
1st Edition
Published on 1. November 2005
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-84465-751-3 (ISBN)
Description
Death, grief and funerary practices are central to any analysis of social, anthropological, artistic and religious worlds. However, cemeteries - the key conceptual and physical site for death - have rarely been the focus of archaeological research. 'Prioritizing Death and Society' examines the structure, organisation and significance of cemeteries in the Southern Levant, one of the key areas for both migration and settlement in both prehistory and antiquity. Spanning 6,000 years, from the Chalcolithic to the present day, 'Prioritizing Death and Society' presents new research to analyse the formation and regional variation in cemeteries. By examining both ancient and present-day - nationally Jewish - cemeteries, the study reveals the commonalities and differences in the ways in which death has been and continues to be ritualised, memorialised and understood.
Reviews / Votes
"A much-needed analysis of the rich dataset for Chalcolithic burials. Comparative analysis of more recent cemeteries highlights aspects of Chalcolithic activity that might otherwise have escaped comment. Nativ has made an important contribution: it deserves a wide audience." - Graham Philip, University of Durham "Elegantly illustrates the power of the comparative approach and the methods of archaeology to generate new insights into human societies of the past and present. It is essential reading for all archaeologists." - Katina T. Lillios, University of Iowa, USA "In this disciplined, boundary-transgressing study, Nativ offers archaeologists a profoundly thoughtful gift, showing how material discourses and negotiations surrounding death reveal deep truths about the societies that produced them." - Raphael Greenberg, Tel Aviv University, IsraelMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Durham
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
640 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84465-751-3 (9781844657513)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Assaf Nativ
Prioritizing Death and Society
The Archaeology of Chalcolithic and Contemporary Cemeteries in the Southern Levant
E-Book
09/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Assaf Nativ
Prioritizing Death and Society
The Archaeology of Chalcolithic and Contemporary Cemeteries in the Southern Levant
E-Book
09/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Person
Assaf Nativ is a post-doctoral fellow in the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, and is a staff member in the publication project of the Iron Age Fortress Mound at Tel Arad, Israel.
Content
List of figures, List of tables, Acknowledgements, Part I: Introduction, 1. Introduction, 2. Binary oppositions, logical gaps and thick descriptions, Part II: Chalcolithic cemeteries, 3. Chalcolithic cemeteries: winks, twitches and faked twitches, 4. Isolated in the landscape: single-cave cemeteries, 5. Multiple components: multiple-cave cemeteries, 6. Dark, damp and deep: karstic-cave systems, 7. Funerary structures, 8. Exceptions, outliers and misfits, 9. Structured deposition and depositional structures, Part III: Contemporary cemeteries, 10. An archaeology of us, 11. The raw materials: from matt to lustre, from grey to colour, 12. Tombstone morphology: communal trajectories, 13. Tombstone elaboration: personal expressions, 14. Spatial patterns: between institutional policy and interpersonal spontaneity, 15. Intersecting discourses, Part IV: Conclusion, 16. Prioritizing death and society, 17. Epilogue, Appendix: Gazetteers of cemeteries, Notes, Bibliography, Index