Death Comes to Stonehenge: The Burned Remains
There is something mysterious about Stonehenge. I have a very distinct memory of visiting Stonehenge as a child, seeing the standing rocks in the distance Perhaps it was the fog and grey […]
Category Archives: Cremation
Fire & Bone: Using Burnt Bone to Interpret Neolithic Burials in France
The big news today was that a man in California set fire to an aisle of Halloween costumes in a Walmart. Honestly, this shouldn’t be the biggest news story of […]
Pigs on the Pyre- Solving Cremation Mysteries
There is a mystery in archaeology that numerous regions and eras have to deal with- where are the infants? Deceased infants are potentially treated differently when they die- the argument […]
The Process of Cremation in Roman France
In general, cremation is a category of cadaver treatment that involves transformation of the body by fire. From there, we recognize a few patterns of cremation burials within the archaeological […]
New Morbid Terminology: Quicklime
If you’re a fan of murder-mystery novels, you’ve probably run across quicklime before. It’s commonly cited in detective and mob stories as a method for quick and anonymous disposal of […]
Cremation: The Hot Burial Trend
According to Tyler Mathisen of CNBC news, the hottest growing trend within the “death care industry”, a $17- billion-a-year business in America, is cremation. Of the 2.5 million people who died […]
Between Death and Burial
There are many things that can happen to a body between death and burial. A good example of this process is Weekend at Bernie’s. Bernie Lomax is murdered within the first […]
Presenting at University of Michigan
Today I am off to Ann Arbor today to present on my experience with excavating cinerary urns over the summer to the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. You can […]
Animal Bones as Grave Goods in Iberian Burials
When we think of bones at cemetery or burial sites, we immediately think of the human remains. However, many prehistoric and early historic graves also contain the bones of animals. […]
Ancient Baby Graveyard or Infant Sacrifice Site?
The Tophet of Carthage, an infant cremation burial ground, has been a highly debated site for over a thousand years, and only in the past decade has it come under […]
Bones Don't Lie 