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Social implications of unburied corpses from intergroup conflicts: postmortem agency following the Sandby borg massacre
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Cultural Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0181-4458
2019 (English)In: Cambridge Archaeological Journal, ISSN 0959-7743, E-ISSN 1474-0540, Vol. 29, no 3, p. 427-442Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

A massacre took place inside the Sandby borg ringfort, southeast Sweden, at the end of the fifth century. The victims were not buried, but left where they died. In order to understand why the corpses were left unburied, and how they were perceived following the violent event, a theoretical framework is developed and integrated with the results of osteological analysis. I discuss the contemporary normative treatment of the dead, social response to death and postmortem agency with emphasis on intergroup conflict and ‘bad death’. The treatment of the dead in Sandby borg deviates from known contemporary practices. I am proposing that leaving the bodies unburied might be viewed as an aggressive social action. The corpses exerted postmortem agency to the benefit of the perpetrators, at the expense of the victims and their sympathizers. The gain for the perpetrators was likely political power through redrawing the victim's biographies, spatial memory and the social and territorial landscape. The denial of a proper death likely led to shame, hindering of regeneration and an eternal state of limbo.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cambridge University Press, 2019. Vol. 29, no 3, p. 427-442
Keywords [en]
Sandby borg, massacre, postmortem agency, dead bodies, body politics, Iron Age
National Category
Archaeology
Research subject
Humanities, Archaeology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-82594DOI: 10.1017/S0959774319000039ISI: 000475364600004Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85061706993OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-82594DiVA, id: diva2:1316356
Available from: 2019-05-17 Created: 2019-05-17 Last updated: 2021-04-28Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. The Corporeality of Death: Bioarchaeological, Taphonomic, and Forensic Anthropological Studies of Human Remains
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Corporeality of Death: Bioarchaeological, Taphonomic, and Forensic Anthropological Studies of Human Remains
2021 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Dödens kroppslighet : osteoarkeologiska, tafonomiska och forensisk-antropologiska studier av mänskliga kvarlevor
Abstract [en]

The aim of this work is to advance the knowledge of peri- and postmortem corporeal circumstances in relation to human remains contexts, as well as to demonstrate the value of that knowledge in forensic and archaeological practice and research. This article-based dissertation encompasses papers in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, with an emphasis on taphonomy. The studies include analyses of human osseous material and human decomposition in relation to spatial and social contexts, from both theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Taphonomic knowledge is vital to interpretations of the circumstances of peri- and postmortem deposition, with a concern for whether features were created by human hand or the result of decomposition processes and other factors. For example, taphonomic knowledge can aid interpretations of the peri- and postmortem sequence of events, of the agents that have affected human remains, as well as for estimations of time since death. When integrated with social theories, taphonomic information can be used to interpret past events. 

In this dissertation, a combination of bioarchaeological and forensic taphonomic methods are used to address the question of what processes have shaped mortuary contexts. Specifically, these questions are raised in relation to the peri- and postmortem circumstances of the dead in the Iron Age ringfort of Sandby borg, and about the rate and progress of human decomposition in a Swedish outdoor environment and in a coffin. Additionally, the question is raised of how taphonomic knowledge can inform interpretations of mortuary contexts, and of the current state and potential developments of forensic anthropology and archaeology in Sweden. 

The result provides us with information of depositional history in terms of events that created and modified deposits of human remains. Furthermore, this research highlights some limitations in taphonomic reconstructions. The research presented here is helpful for interpretations of what has occurred in the distant as well as recent pasts, to understand potentially confounding factors, and how forensic anthropology can benefit Swedish crime scene investigations. In so doing, the knowledge of peri- and postmortem corporeal circumstances and how it can be used has been advanced in relation to both the archaeological and forensic fields.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Växjö: Linnaeus University Press, 2021. p. 93
Series
Linnaeus University Dissertations ; 413/2021
Keywords
Taphonomy; mortuary archaeology; bioarchaeology; forensic anthropology; forensic archaeology; Sandby borg; human decomposition; crime scene investigation; archaeothanatology
National Category
Archaeology
Research subject
Humanities, Archaeology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-102468 (URN)9789189283701 (ISBN)9789189283718 (ISBN)
Public defence
2021-05-24, MA135, Hus Magna, Kalmar, 14:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Funder
Knowledge Foundation
Available from: 2021-04-28 Created: 2021-04-28 Last updated: 2024-02-29Bibliographically approved

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Alfsdotter, Clara

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