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....