Final Blog

For my final blog entry I want to comment on what I thought about the blogging process for Archaeology of Death. At first I wasn't sure how I would feel about blogging because I didn't feel like I had a lot to say, however I ended up really enjoying blogging and I also really enjoyed reading my classmates blog entries. It was very interesting to see everyone's diverse interests within our class blogging parameters. That's one reason why I absolutely love Anthropology. It has such a diverse group of people with different interests within it, but we all can bond about the love of it! This class defiantly had one of the biggest social aspects in it out of all the classes I have taken at UVic. The way that the social aspects taught me were very beneficial as I was supposed to be able to have full discussions so I always made sure I would have everything memorized before class! The two major group projects as well as the data base assignment in this class also gave me very beneficial skills as it taught me to work in a group setting as well as gathering my own research and writing a research paper on it. Overall, I have had a very good experience with Archaeology of Death and I will defiantly recommend the class to other Anthropology students in the future!

Neandertal Burials

Along with taking Archaeology of death I have been taking Palaeolithic Archaeology as well as The Neandertals, which of course have all combined over the course of semester on one very interesting topic. Neandertal burials. Very cool. At the site of Sima de las Palomas there are remains of six to seven other Neandertals including an infant and two juveniles. The burials have associated tools, food as well as well as a panthers paw. The interesting fact about the panthers paw is that the rest of the skeleton was buried way from the Neandertal skeletons, which would give the impression that the paws were removed intentionally and were put in the grave on purpose, possibly for ritual or spiritual purposes. The bodies appeared to be intentionally buried because the arms were folded "such that the hands were close to the head" and other individuals have been found in the same position.  In the article it states that the researchers could not be 100% certain that the individuals were all related but they states that the child was related to one of them.

Based off of what I have learned in all my classes this semester I want to believe that Neandertals did have burial practices, as there is a lot of evidence in circulation and  because have discussed it so much in such a wide variety of classes it must have some validity. I just find it very interesting that Neandertals would bury their dead, as that likely means that they had some kind of thoughts in relation to an afterlife. I'd like to learn about what those types of thoughts were if they did have any inclination to afterlife and where they may have gotten the idea to bury there dead.

Just keep learning... just keep learning.

Here is the web page where you I found some information!

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/neanderthal-burial-ground-afterlife-110420.htm

Capacocha!

I’m not going to lie. This blog post may be lacking creativity as I am swamped with projects and papers that are due over the next couple of weeks and my brain is basically fried. However. I will attempt to discuss interesting things for all of your enjoyment.

The group project that I am apart of for this class is based on Ritual Sacrifices - we decided to focus that even more and look at Incan child sacrifices, specifically, on a type of sacrificial ceremony called a capacocha. This type of ceremony involves children being chosen or parents volunteering their children (:|) to be apart of a special ceremony that can last months. The children are treated very well once they are chosen; they are fed very fancy meals, clothed nicely and in most cases go on a trip to either the top of a mountain (where the sacrifice happens) and in some cases, at the bottom of mountains/valleys. Because many of the sacrifices were near the tops of the mountains the bodies of the children have been preserved quite well, even some of their internal organs are still in place and therefore, there can be a proper coroners report on the bodies - which can determine what the children were eating and what kind of health conditions they were in when they were killed. This is how they know about the types of food they were eating, etc. Many of the bodies still have their hair on the head and even their arms! I just think that is crazy. Anyway, moving along. The children were usually buried with different types of grave goods. One of the best grave goods that I have stumbled across in my research is a 25 cm silver figurine. That’s a pretty big deal guys. Fancy.

I’m not going to write too much more about the capacochas because that IS what our project is about and I’d love it if you guys would look at our project once it is all put together and makes more sense - I will post the tumblr soon... Since right now it is a mess of our group writing notes back and forth to each other.

The "Gay Caveman"

The "gay caveman" buried with "household jugs." 

(Photo from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html)

I don't even know how to begin. First off, I love how majority the newspaper articles are stating that this "gay” “caveman" is not even a "caveman” as this individual is dated from about 2,900 and 2,500 B.C., and was from a Copper Age farming community... not even close to being a caveman! I also I find it very interesting that reporters were soon to jump to the conclusion that because "he" (who may not even be a he because there is a sliding scale on sexing a skeleton, as we discussed in class) was buried facing the way of a female and was buried with female grave goods, “he” is considered automatically gay. Though, in one article I read, it stated that people from that period took funerary rights very seriously, therefore it would have been unlikely that this individual would have been buried incorrectly.

One way to look at this type of information would be that the dead do not bury themselves, and we did talk abut this in class as well. Who knows what this individuals family thought of them, their life style, and this individuals sexuality. Another point is that it may not have been the family who preformed the burial. There is also a chance that this individual could have been transgendered. Now, I'm just going off on one of my own ideas, but maybe there was a chance that this individual could have been reburied? Maybe this individual was dug up after an initial burial and then reburied in a different manner. Who knows. It is very interesting how much attention this archaeological find has gotten and how much it has gotten out of hand.

Another point that I find interesting that I saw in Krystal Grove's blog (http://archofdeath.blogspot.ca) was that the idea of sexual orientation in western culture could have been very different in other cultures and it could have been different for this specific individual as well. Maybe the culture was diverse, or this individual had to take on different roles in their family.

Bottom line is, I feel like the press went a little crazy when naming the "gay caveman” because who really knows.

You can find more information at these websites:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/04/17/gay-caveman-probably-not-gay-or-a-caveman/

http://www.livescience.com/13620-gay-caveman-story-overblown.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html

Anglo-Saxon Chest Burials

 I saw Tegan Lang’s blog on death rituals of the Anglo-Saxons (http://archofdeathblog.blogspot.ca/2013/02/death-rituals-of-anglo-saxons.html) and I found it to be very interesting (not to mention we have talked about the Anglo-Saxons in class). So, I started to look up Anglo-Saxon burials and I found some information on Anglo-Saxon chest burials, and let me tell you, it is very interesting.

Chest burials are when the body is put in is a wooden chest with a hinged lid and it is one of the most characteristic funerary practices of the middle Anglo-Saxon period in northern England. The individuals buried in chests were provided to both sexes, but rarely afforded to infants and young children. The people who were usually buried in these chests usually shared a physical lifestyle and some of them met violent deaths (Craig-Atkins, 2012). Craig-Atkins (2012) also states that the appearance of grave goods and burial containers in the same grave states that it is an indication of a higher social status - which therefore is a bigger investment in the burial rites - and it appeared that the people buried were part of a select group of individuals that were also “afforded other, comparatively rare, funerary practices.”

Bibliography

Craig-Atkins, E. (2012). Chest burial: A middle anglo-saxon funerary rite from northern England. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 31(3), 317-337. doi: 0.1111/j 1468-0092.2012.00391.x

"Green Burials - Return Naturally"

What I'm going to talk about THIS week in my blog is Green Burials! I find them to be quite fascinating and I am quite excited about being able to discuss them in my blog. Green burials are natural in all respects because the individuals bodies are placed in a bio-degradable casket, a shroud, or even a favourite blanket. What I like the most about green burials is that there are no embalming fluid used and there are no concrete vaults being put in the ground which is so much better for the planet! Natural burials in a specified green cemetery is an affordable cremation option. I feel like this is a very good idea as green burials do not harm the environment, they aren’t taking up viable land and using unnecessary resources and it still gives the deceased a proper funeral and a beautiful send off. 

Another type of “natural” cremation I found is called an Eternal Reef. What it is, "is a designed reef of 100% natural cast concrete that can include the cremated remains of a loved one and/or pets. Eternal Reefs create new marine habitats for fish and other forms of sea life." Loved ones can then decorate the reef with handprints, messages and they can add their loved ones mementoes.This form of cremation is great I think as well because it is helping sea life and it is not using other resources on the land, not to mention "establishing new reefs helps to take the pressure off the natural reef systems and help repair the damage that has been done by man kind." 

I feel that because they give back to the environment, and they don’t damage it that these are the types of burials that the future generation should be thinking about because our viable land is becoming smaller and smaller and the last thing that the planet needs is more chemicals and toxins being put into it.

If you want to read about these more visit these links!

http://www.greenburials.org/index.htm

http://www.eternalreefs.com

(eternal reef found at http://www.eternalreefs.com)

Data bases - friend or foe?

After working with the cemetery data for our Data assignment for this class I have a mix review on how I feel about data bases and quantitative analysis... I'm not going to lie - I was not a fan of it initially. I felt like it was very complicated and hard to read, understand and I could not figure out for the life of me how to do a query! However, once I gathered myself (and all my angry thoughts) and actually focused, I found it to be a very useful tool in the organization and categoriztion of cemetery data. I actually really liked how the data set also had information on what was on each monument as it gave me a better insight as to who the person (or multiple individuals) who were buried in a specific plot. It also helped me a lot when I was doing my data base assignment because I needed to figure who who the people were and what family relations they had when they passed away.

Now they we are working with making data bases again for our Monument Analysis project I feel like it should be pretty easy for us as we have now learned how to use the programs that make it very easy to make spreadsheets and data sets for our information. This allows us to see the data in a very accessable (haha... access) way.

Over all.... I think I like databases now. I never thought I would say that, but.. I like the idea of them and I am looking forward to making one for our new project!

And because it is Friday...

Here are some funny pictures!

And....

My Afterlife Identity

This question is very interesting and has really made me think.. What would I like to be buried with when I die and what do I think my family would bury me with? I've always thought to myself that I would like to be cremated when I die, I don't like the idea of my body being buried deep down in the ground - even if caskets these days are quite high tech....

So, what would I like to be buried with? I think pictures of my loved ones, my camera, my dog (after a natural death, of course), a blanket to surround my box of ashes and probably my iPhone.. yes, I have a problem... I'm a little addicted to it. Also, maybe a nice bottle of wine. I posed this question to my Grandma and my boyfriend. My grandma says that she would bury me with a box of snickerdoodles (my favourite cookie), my rose gold watch and of course a nice leather bag. My boyfriend said my iPhone as well, a bowl of mac&cheese, also he said that my urn should be my favourite colour - mint green, my dog, my rain boots, and a family photo album as I am a very family orientated person.

Based on what the three of us said, I feel like we are all in some form of an agreement. My favourite foods, photos of my family, my dog and my favourite material goods that I have and love. You have to wonder what represents you.. I always wonder what items people associate to me and I was pretty happy with what they could come up with in the limited time that they had.

Anyway, I have to say this was a very interesting blog idea and maybe further into the class I'll write another one to see if I change my mind about anything!

Look what I stumbled across... a "twin" burial!

I've been looking up some ideas for our group project and I stumbled across this article called "Ice age 'twins' found in ancient burial ground." This of course caught my attention because our group is interested in looking at child burials and have been leaning towards doing something in that area for the project.

Back to the article - What was found near Krems in northern Austria was two (what they think are) newborn twins in the same burial together, however it can't be proven that they are biological twins until significant DNA evidence can prove it. The remains of the babies were not carbon dated at the time, but there were artifact found near them, such as beads that were dated between 27,000-40,000 years old, therefore the burial must be at least 27,000 years old. I remember talking about beads found in other child burials in an Anthropology class I took last year (Paleolithic Art). The photo below shows that the twins were buried side by side and it was intentional, I believe, because they are covered in ochre and that is something that I have come across a lot in multiple Anthropology classes. 

I found it very interesting that the newborns were found underneath a woolly mammoth's shoulder blade, which was propped up by a mammoth tusk. I haven't heard of other burials like that before. It makes me wonder if they were placed underneath the bones so they were easy to come back and visit, or if it was simply extra protection from predators.

Here is a link to the article if you want to read it as well!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8063-ice-age-twins-found-in-ancient-burial-ground.html

The "twins" covered in ochre (The photo can be found here: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8063-ice-age-twins-found-in-ancient-burial-ground.html)

An Introduction to... Me!

Hello!

My name is Carly McNeill and I am a 3rd year Anthropology major. I am originally from the mainland but Vancouver Island captured my attention late in high school and I decided to move here for university! So here I am.

I first decided I wanted to go into Anthropology in grade twelve in my Comparative Civilizations class when we were discussing different hominins and evolution. It fascinated me and it had never been brought to my attention until that class; I talked to my teacher and she directed me to Anthropology.

I haven't had the chance to take a wide variety of higher level Anthropology courses yet at UVIC, but what I have taken I have really enjoyed. In particular, I really enjoyed Paleolithic Art and Primate Behaviour Ecology. What I find to be most interesting is studies around primates and the behaviours they exhibit. I also find the similarities in genetics between non-human primates, primates and ourselves to be very intriguing.

The reason Archaeology of Death caught my eye initially was because in previous Anthropology courses I have had the chance to discuss different grave goods left with the dead and I find that to be fascinating. I've always wanted to discuss burials and grave goods in further depth since learning about them.

I am looking forward to this course and reading everyone else's blog entries!


Carly