Revistas de JAS Arqueología
Not a member yet
283 research outputs found
Sort by
From Plastered Skulls to Palliative Care: What the Past Can Teach Us About Dealing with Death
Get PDFModern, advanced healthcare detects and monitors long-term and life-limiting illness more comprehensively than ever before. Death is now, however, often considered as medical failure, and is a virtually taboo topic of conversation in daily life. At a time when the relevance of archaeology is under scrutiny, the AHRC-funded ‘Continuing Bonds’ project – a collaboration between archaeology and palliative care – explores the potential of the past to promote discussion. Not only does archaeology illuminate the diversity of practice surrounding death, the past provides a safe, distanced platform for considering death, dying and bereavement today. Through archaeological and ethnographic case studies, healthcare professionals explore topics such as place, choice and identity, in both personal and professional life. This paper explores some of the most thought-provoking materials and participant responses, and discusses the implications for contemporary society and for the ways in which archaeologists interpret mortuary practices of the past
Digital Public Mortuary Archaeology via 3D Modelling: The Pago del Jarafi Cemetery (Granada, Spain)
Get PDFOne of the main goals of the MEMOLA research project's open-area excavation at Pago del Jarafà (Lanteira, Granada, Spain) was to promote knowledge socialisation by means of imparting information and public participation. The site, a multi-phased rural settlement with cemeteries of different chronologies and cultural affinities, was subject to a complete 3D photogrammetric survey, a tool serving to develop virtual models both to interpret the excavation and subsequently transmit the results to the public – so as to raise their level of engagement - via social networks and websites. Burials, in particular, are features that attract the local population to the site and arouse both a demand for information and site preservation. 3D modelling of the burials is thus a digital resource bearing a high scientific and social potential when integrated in a strategy reaching beyond the technical aspects. This paper therefore considers the 3D modelling of burials as an innovative form of digital public mortuary archaeology
Public Engagement through Burial Landscapes: Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland
Get PDFBritish occupation of Newfoundland dates to the early 1600s with the founding of settlements such as Cupids and Ferryland. While records of deaths exist at both colonies, their seventeenth-century burial grounds have not been located. Historic burial grounds in Newfoundland come with certain characteristic features: surviving gravestones in a rocky landscape, views of the ocean, and often a large cross on top of a hill. Though not visible at the sites in question, these ‘lost’ burial landscapes can be employed as an engagement tool by archaeologists. By exploring a ‘lost’ burial landscape with visitors, a dialogue is opened to speculate where the settlers were buried and why. While indirect, discussing these themes with visitors provokes thought on historic vs. modern burial practices and acknowledges the seventeenth-century dead within the context of the modern landscape. This article aims to explore the use of burial landscapes to engage visitors in a conversation about early colonial history, but also about mortality in both historic and modern contexts
Exploring your Inner Hades: DNA as Mortuary Archaeology
Get PDFTwo revolutions in using human genetics to investigate the past are beginning to have a profound effect on how the public regard heritage and their connection to it. Direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry tests (GATs) are becoming a popular way for the public to explore their familial history and ancestry. Major advances in ancient DNA methods mean that the field is beginning to live up to its early promise. Both of these analyses can be considered forms of public mortuary archaeology in how they are perceived to provide an individual an interface with their recent and more ancient ancestors, their own personal Hades, referring to the Ancient Greek home of the dead. GATs are useful for resolving genealogy and determining the origins of an individual’s recent ancestors, but have been criticized for reifying differences between populations, failing to give clear guidance on how they should be interpreted and making exaggerated links to historic groups of people that are at the heart of genetically determinist nationalistic origin myths. Recent palaeogenomic studies of prehistoric Europeans have found evidence for population discontinuity that will have repercussions for the public’s perception of archaeological mortuary sites and the communities who built them. Public archaeologists are going to have to engage increasingly with these types of data to combat the misappropriation of genetic results in defining rights and affinities to archaeological heritage
Forum: State-consented destruction of archaeological sites: the Dakar rally in northern Chile (2009-2015)
No full textOpen Data as Public Archaeology: The Monumental Archive Project
Get PDFThe value of open data is transforming archaeological practice while also introducing new concerns relating to the ethics of studying the dead. This paper uses the Monumental Archive Project, recently launched as a public database of cemetery records from Barbados, as a case study to critically examine the realities of platforms created to bring together academic and general audiences in open mortuary archaeology. Digital literacy and support structures are significant barriers to digital data within the discipline, while the impact of open data on the public(s) that archaeologists seek to engage and collaborate with is rarely considered let alone measured. Is it possible to serve diverse audiences with a single platform? What are the implications (social, ethical, emotional) for sharing cemetery data? When digitizing the dead, strategies in platform design, marketing and communication for public interest and use becomes even more complex and necessitates further attention
Overcoming Issues in Ancient Puerto Rican Boulder Art Research: Reflections from the La Mina Petroglyph Project
Get PDFPuerto Rico has long been understood by archaeologists as a key geographical location for understanding the succession of cultural occupations in the Caribbean (AlegrÃa, 1965; Curet, 2006; Siegel, 2005.) Unfortunately, despite the importance of archaeology in this region, the island has been continuously effected by socio-economic instability, lack of archaeological funding opportunities, few specialized academic programs, and a heavy focus on cultural resource management (CRM) rather than academic research. Though more Puerto Rican-focused archaeologists have joined the academic discussion, publications in this area are still relatively low and heavily focused on CRM and salvage work. Poor funding and resources for non-consulting archaeological projects has relegated Puerto Rico to the “island with the lowest number of publications in the Spanish Caribbean.†(L.A. Current, 2006 pg. 656). This paper will highlight some of the limitations of working in Puerto Rican archaeology. We will use the experiences we gained from our research project at the La Mina archaeological site to shed light on some of the difficulties we encountered as well as (hopefully) encourage an increase in academic and financial support for this understudied region of the Caribbean
Decisions and Adaptations on the Frontier: The Russian Cemetery at Fort Ross, Northern California
Get PDFThis study focuses on stakeholders and changing perspectives on a heritage site. The case study is an historic cemetery within a public state park that was the location of a Russian colony in northern California: Fort Ross State Historic Park. From 1990–1992, I excavated the cemetery at the Russian Colony Ross, which was in use from 1812–1841, and which included Russians, Native Alaskans, Native Americans, and combinations thereof. A total of 135 burials were excavated and reburied. Although the Russian Orthodox Church has clear requirements for funeral and burial, the specific location and extent of the cemetery were unknown. Examining the site from the perspective of different stakeholders and their agendas, this article explores the changing nature of a mortuary heritage site, as well as how different groups interpret and use the same site, how communities reacted to the excavation project, and how the project continues to have an impact on communities. Various stakeholders have used the cemetery in different ways to memorialize their own pasts and make claims in the present