Performing Pain, Performing Beauty: Dealing With Difficult Death in the Iron Age

Abstract

Traumatic death rends the fabric of personal and social relations in a manner that is qualitatively different to other kinds of mortality. Mourners must deal with the personal affects, familial consequences and political aftermath of such events. This paper examines the way in which performances around such difficult deaths were used to express and negotiate trauma, through the lens of Iron Age burials in Britain and Ireland. It draws on performance theory developed in relation to contexts of violence to argue that such funerals embodied a necessary tension: articulating pain whilst working towards a re-making of the world. The paper makes an original contribution to the archaeological analysis and interpretation of funerary performance, and moves recent debates on violence in the Iron Age into a new arena of study.

Becoming Bog Bodies Sacrifice and Politics of Exclusion, as Evidenced in the Deposition of Skeletal Remains in Wetlands Near Uppåkra

“…Sacrifices could also, as argued by Giles (2015), have had far-reaching emotional effects. If these killings were 'official' acts, they may have created ruptures in the social fabric of the communities, but also invoked feelings of horror and fear in the population.…”

Towards an Archaeology of Pain? Assessing the Evidence from Later Prehistoric Bog Bodies

“…However, we will argue that the evidence from certain bog bodies allows us to consider the significance of the pain and suffering of these individuals in the moments leading up to their death. In particular, we suggest that this may have relevance in terms of understanding the 'performative' nature of certain killings (Giles 2014).…”

“…In contrast with previous interpretations, the analysis of injuries provides strong indications that the experience of pain might have been ‘managed’ and controlled to minimize suffering of the individuals in question. This might be linked to Giles’ (, 547) observation that the ‘brutal’ deaths signified by later Iron Age bog bodies: ‘may strike us as callous, but it seems likely they were framed within a different ontological understanding of violence and the body.’ Whilst it would not be appropriate to assume that all bog bodies necessarily represent the same traditions or intentions, the evidence for the apparently controlled infliction of pain is striking. Another important point in this context has been raised by Fredengren (), who argued that certain individuals preserved as bog bodies might have been exposed to ‘slow violence’ (for example, through the lack of access to sufficient nutrition) in the months or even years before their deaths.…”

“…Whilst several discussions acknowledge the ‘brutality’ of injury and death (e.g. Kelly ; Giles ), the bodily experience of pain by the individuals has not been directly considered. More broadly, whilst there is of course a profusion of palaeopathological studies detailing mortality, health and disease in past societies, Kjellström (, 57) has observed that ‘none of the often cited palaeopathology textbooks has the word pain in its index’, suggesting that the reason for this may be: ‘the difficulties in dealing with such an individually perceived and culturally controlled issue.’ In addition, there is considerable philosophical debate concerning the nature and character of the human experience of pain (e.g.…”

Iron Age ‘Predatory Landscapes’: A Bioarchaeological and Funerary Exploration of Captivity and Enslavement in Britain

“…26 The act of captivity is likely to have transformed the captive's (or enslaved) status, making them 'not human' and changing them into a 'gift' (Cameron 2015;Peregrine 2015). The act of performative violence-their killing and subsequent actions-may have been conceived as a creative act which perpetuated relationships within these communities and those they encountered in their 'predatory' landscape (Giles 2015;Murer 2014); as Robb (2013) Ante-mortem (healed) evidence for non-lethal skull, dental, torso and forearm fractures (Roberts & Cox 2003) Sparse evidence for Colles' fractures in IA populations (Roberts and Cox 2003) Desire for prestige/trade and/or concubines: respect and admiration given to somebody, because of a reputation for success and social influence (Roberts & Cox 2003) Activity-related changes reported in site publications substance and fragments may be viewed as innately powerful, or they may serve as symbolic anchors to history or referents of social values.' Also raised as potential evidence are atypical mortuary practices and burials, and the work of Aldhouse Green (2001) and Harding (2016) provides Iron Age 'Predatory Landscapes' (Northants), where the body of a 30-40-year-old female who may have been wearing a lead-alloy torc around her neck, had been placed prone in a pit within an enclosure: her arms were folded under her torso, hands placed under her face, and her legs tightly contracted, suggesting that she had been 'trussed in this position' (Chapman 2001).…”