Archaeological Perspectives on Burial Practices and Societal Change: Death in Transition

Archaeological Perspectives on Burial Practices and Societal Change examines the relationships between burial practices and societal transformations in the past.

This book highlights the centrality of burials as archaeological material for the understanding of societal change. It critically reassesses past approaches, and suggests new ways of understanding the relationship between burial practice and change in archaeology. Particular attention is given to archaeological periods where change was especially intense: so-called transition periods. The volume has a wide chronological and geographical scope, spanning the Early Bronze Age to the present day, and ranging geographically from Cyprus to Scandinavia. Recent developments within archaeological methods and theory have sparked discussions about the mechanisms and reasons behind societal changes in the past. This book aims to revive interest in understanding and explaining these changes, which are fundamental questions to the discipline of archaeology. The volume is organised into three thematic parts. The first, Practices, Communities, and Agents of Change, examines the roles individuals and communities play in transforming burial customs, highlighting the non-linear and often chaotic nature of these changes. The second theme, Migration, Identities, and Narratives of Change, challenges traditional narratives of migration and identity formation, proposing more nuanced understandings of how burial practices encapsulate these complex processes. The final theme, Transitions, Tempos, and Complexities, explores the multifaceted nature of societal transitions, emphasising the importance of diverse tempos and scales in understanding these shifts.

Archaeological Perspectives on Burial Practices and Societal Change is for students and researchers in archaeology, primarily mortuary archaeology and archaeological theory.

Frida Espolin Norstein is a researcher in archaeology at Stockholm University, specialising in Viking Age funerary practices in northern Europe with a particular interest in artefact studies, ritual practices, regional variation, and the process of Christianisation. She is currently researching the use of grave goods in the construction of personhood in Viking Age graves.

Irene Selsvold is a postdoctoral researcher in Classical Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg, University of Leicester, and University of Oslo. She specialises in the funerary practices of late Roman Asia Minor and Italy and the Christianisation of urban spaces in Late Antiquity. An active field archaeologist, she has participated in excavations in Greece, Norway, Türkiye, and Italy. She is currently excavating involved in fieldwork in Vulci, Italy with the Understanding Urban Identities (UUI) project.