19-20 April 2018 – Mortuary Archaeology Today
Groningen
1-2 ECTS
Mortuary Archaeology Today: Approaches, methods and ethics.
Archaeology has focused on the mortuary context since its inception. The earliest antiquarians took advantage of prominent burial monuments and other grave contexts in their search for curios and information about past societies. While burials tell us much about the ways in which people buried their dead, they have also been a valuable resource for reconstructing the ways in which people lived. Today, the technical advances made in the study of human remains themselves allow for more detailed study of past peoples than ever before. With that change has come an added responsibility concerning the proper handling of human remains. During this symposium, co-organised between the Universities of Groningen and Leiden, we aim to start a discussion between researchers interested in studying cultural and emotional aspects of burial practices, and those using human remains as a data source for lifestyle and population studies, to which the issue of ethical practices is crucial.
On Thursday April 19, a one day symposium open to the general academic community will be held. The day’s talks are divided into three sessions (see below) and we cordially invite you to submit a proposal for a 15-20 minute paper intended for one or more of these sessions. The next day, a workshop will focus discussion on the results of these three sessions. The aim of the interactive workshop sessions is to engage ReMA and PhD students in critical review of mortuary archaeology today and to explore opportunities for collaborative research. For ARCHON students or others taking the workshop for ECTS, reading will be circulated beforehand. On Friday afternoon, an excursion taking in some of Groningen’s funerary monuments is open to all participants.
The deadline for signing up is March 31st and can be achieved by sending an email to mortuaryarchaeologytoday@gmail.com. Attendance fee for non-speakers: 10 euro for 1 day, 15 euro for 2, to be paid on arrival at the event. For Archon members this fee will be reimbursed.
You can obtain 1 EC by writing a regular report and 2 EC by participating in the workshop. The programme can be found here. More information about the Mortuary Archaeology Group can be found here.
