Grave Goods in Mortuary Rituals

Excerpts from the Paper

Grave Goods in Mortuary Rituals
For many archaeologists, grave goods play an important role in mortuary rituals; there is a general sense that the goods in question (which can also be described as mortuary wealth) reveal a great deal about the preoccupations and aspirations of a society along with offering us a review of the family, social and possibly even legal structure of a society. Beyond that, within the context of mortuary rituals, grave goods can capture what the rituals believe a person must prepare for, and must bear with him or her, when they enter into the next world. With the above in mind, the next several pages will look at the following: the ancient mortuary or burial grounds of the Scandinavian Vikings; the grave goods of...

.....nai. Journal of Arid Environments, 74(7): 829-841.
Cool, H. (2005). Rescuing an old dig. Archaeology, 58(3): 61-66.
Dogume (Guedevi), Abomey. (2009). Acta Archaeologica, 80(1): 119-126.
Kana-Damehouegbo (Mikonhikpota). Acta Archaeologica, 80(1): 110-119.
Linderholm, A., Hedenstierna-Jonson, C., Svensk, O., & Liden, K. (2007). Diet and status in Birka: stable isotopes and grave goods compared. Antiquity 82, 446-461.
Simpson, E. (2001). Celebrating MIDAS. Archaeology, 54(4): 27-34.
Sodohome. (2009). Acta Archaeologica, 80(1): 99-104.
Vanhaeren, M., & D’Errico, F. (2005). Grave goods from the Saint Germain la Riviere Burial: Evidence for social inequality in the Upper Paleolithic. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 24(2): 117-134.