After-Death Manipulation: The Treatment of the Skull in Prehistoric Funeral Contexts

Abstract

The preservation of the skull (or a part of it) of the dead is linked to the cult of the ancestors and with the idea that the spirit dwells in preference in the head of the deceased. The practice of the selection and conservation of human skulls is found quite regularly starting from the last phase of the Upper Paleolithic, the Maddalenian, and then developed during the European Mesolithic period (X-VII Millennium). The archaeological evidence analyzed up to now: the ritual treatment of the skull, together with the care in the disposal of the bodies, the presence of tools, food and non-instrumental objects such as flowers or animal horns, the application of agents such as red ocher and the shells, shows the attention given to the dead from the earliest.

Older Burial Disturbance: Postfunerary Manipulation of Graves and Corpses in Precontact Northeastern Brazil

“…According to a number of authors researching burial disturbance (Aspöck 2011; Aspöck et al 2020; Cauwe 2001; Crangle 2016; Duncan 2005; Fahlander 2010, 2018; Gleize 2020; Hoernes et al 2019; Nilsson Stutz and Larsson 2016; Weiss-Krecji 2011, 2020; Zielo 2018), these postfunerary actions can include a variety of ritual and nonritual manipulations of the human remains and grave goods, including disturbance of bodies and graves in the original resting place, exhumation and redeposition of bones, curation or loss of bones, comingling of human and animal remains, and the disarticulation and rearticulation of skeletons. The myriad reasons for postburial interventions include grave reuse; ancestral rites of appropriation, veneration, and commemoration; relic cults; tomb visits and tomb renewal rites; accidental superimpositions on disturbed unmarked older graves; and grave robbery, looting, and desecration.…”

“…A bioarchaeological approach to the study of grave disturbances shows that postburial actions involving various means of reopening, reusing, disturbing, and manipulating bodies and body parts (especially skulls) in their graves occurred commonly across different prehistoric and historic periods (Aspöck 2011; Aspöck et al 2020; Cauwe 2001; Crangle 2016; Duncan 2005; Gleize 2020; Nilsson Stutz and Larsson 2016; Weiss-Krejci 2020; Zielo 2018). Although grave disturbances are found around the world, South America stands out for its examples of body manipulation and disturbed burials.…”