A new book re-appraising burial in Bronze Age Orkney is out now.
Animating the Dead: An Archaeology of Bronze Age Burial Practices in Orkney by Professors Jane Downes and Colin Richards follows decades of research and incorporates new excavation results and radiocarbon dates from sites across the county.
The result of a long-term project examining Bronze Age round barrow construction and burial practices, a focus of the research was the act of cremation – an act of transformation articulated through complex mortuary practices and which produced a distinctive form of funerary architecture.
This, and other topical themes, are explored through the results of extensive excavations at several Orcadian barrow cemeteries, including Lingafiold, Gitterpitten, Varmedale, Vestrafiold and the Knowes of Trotty.
The latter is renowned for the 19th century discovery of rich grave goods, including gold discs and amber beads in one of the barrows. Being built on the ruins of an early Neolithic settlement, the Knowes of Trotty provides an intersection of relational fields, fusing local traditions with faraway places.
At Lingafiold, the barrow cemetery was almost entirely excavated, and by employing sophisticated recovery techniques and analyses, evidence is presented for a complex sequence of barrow building and mortuary practices. This enables the reconstruction of an extraordinary ritual journey of the deceased from cremation pyre to final interment.
Additionally, several cist excavations are published here for the first time. This evidence allows an appraisal of the developing cist burial tradition in Orkney through the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age – from the insertion of remains into chambered tombs and large re-enterable unobtrusive cists, to the development of imposing linear barrow cemeteries, to the drawing in of the dead closer to home.
Overall, the book allows a reconsideration of the chronology and specifics of changing Orcadian burial technologies and traditions – results with a significance beyond Orkney for understanding the complexities of Bronze Age cremation and burial practices across Britain and north-west Europe.
Published by Oxbow, Animating the Dead is priced £40 (hardback).
