Author Description

Product Description The study of burial practices, of human attitudes and behaviour in the face of death, has been an important part of archaeological research from its very beginnings. Some funerary discoveries have achieved sensational fame. Yet beyond this the archaeological community quickly came to understand that it is possible to gain as much information about the lives of past people from studying their funerary behaviour as it is from studying their daily activities and the resultant artefacts. This volume gathers together the majority of the papers presented at the International Symposium on Funerary Anthropology, ‘Homines, Funera, Astra’, which took place at ‘1 Decembrie 1918’ University of Alba Iulia, 5–8 June 2011. The theme of the conference, aimed to address the investigation of human osteological remains and burial practices specific to the prehistory and history in Central and Eastern Europe. Contents: 1) Spirituality of Palaeolithic burials: offerings of decorative items and body ornaments (Valentin-Codrin Chirica, Vasile Chirica); 2) Considerations regarding the Palaeolithic anthropological discoveries in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (Madalin-Cornel Valeanu); 3) On Palaeolithic social inequality: The funerary evidence (Mircea Anghelinu); 4) Burial practices in the Iron Gates Mesolithic (Adina Boroneant, Clive Bonsall); 5) Bioarchaeological inferences from Neolithic human remains at Alba Iulia-Lumea Noua (Transylvania, Romania) (Mihai Gligor, Mariana Rosu, Viorel Panaitescu 6) Gendered bodies and objects in a mortuary domain: Comparative analysis of Durankulak cemetery ); (Susan Stratton, Dusan Boric); 7) Adornments from the Hamangia cemetery excavated at Cernavoda – Columbia D. Contextual analysis (Raluca Kogalniceanu); 8) Shell adornments from the Hamangia cemetery excavated at Cernavoda – Columbia D. Techno-typological analysis (Monica Margarit); 9) Traditions, Rules and Exceptions in the Eneolithic Cemetery from Sultana – Malu