Session: #745

Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each

Given the wealth of scientific approaches increasingly being applied to the study of grave objects belonging to pre-metallurgical (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) societies in Europe it seems like the right time to critically reflect on whether we have developed an appropriate analytical framework to study such artefacts. In recent years, more precise and robust chronologies alongside an increasing volume of archaeological data has strengthened and extended our knowledge of prehistoric forager and farmer death rituals. In the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, changes in funerary rites and burials through time and at the landscape scale are evident. Mobility, cosmology and social organisation are often seen as key drivers of these changes, with the emergence of vertical social stratification also frequently emphasised. Beyond the various treatments of the body, how we understand the mechanisms and meanings behind these changes mostly relies on studies of grave goods. This session aims to bring together researchers who are investigating the various meanings of grave goods (e.g. tools, personal ornaments, pottery, animal remains, figurines, ochre, etc) through different scientific techniques (e.g. provenance studies, functional analyses, including microscopic, biomolecular, experimental, and digital imaging etc.). In doing so, we hope to highlight the impact these methods are having on our practical and theoretical understandings of the relationships that existed between objects and people (the living and the dead) as part of the burial rite.

Grave goods, Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic

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Dr Aimée Little (United Kingdom) ¹

Alba Masclans Latorre (Spain) ^2,3
Dr Solange Rigaud (France) ⁴