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Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets

Bradbury, J.; Davies, D.; Jay, M.; Philip, G.; Roberts, C.A.; Scarre, C.

Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets Thumbnail


Authors

J. Bradbury

D. Davies

M. Jay

C. Scarre



Abstract

There can be few “bigger” questions than the nature and development of human experience and self-awareness and few better ways to study it than through the changing treatment of the dead over time. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the ‘Invisible Dead’ project (Durham University) is exploring diachronic changes in mortuary practices across two regions: Britain and the Levant. In doing so, it uses archaeology as a way to approach fundamental questions about the human condition. This paper explores the principal difficulties faced during the construction of a database for this project and their wider relevance for the development of robust and successful methods for the study of large “mortuary” datasets in the future. It discusses the issues and biases identified within the mortuary record and how the project has sought to mitigate some of these. By adopting a flexible and ultimately expandable approach to data entry and analysis, value can be added to legacy datasets and “grey” literature, allowing us to make comparisons between regions which are both geographically and chronologically distinct.

Citation

Bradbury, J., Davies, D., Jay, M., Philip, G., Roberts, C., & Scarre, C. (2016). Making the Dead Visible: Problems and solutions for "big" picture approaches to the past, and dealing with large "mortuary" datasets. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 23(2), 561-591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9251-1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 6, 2015
Online Publication Date May 16, 2015
Publication Date Jun 1, 2016
Deposit Date Dec 9, 2014
Publicly Available Date May 16, 2016
Journal Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
Print ISSN 1072-5369
Electronic ISSN 1573-7764
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 23
Issue 2
Pages 561-591
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9251-1
Keywords Mortuary archaeology, Death and disposal, Database management, Bioarchaeology, Britain, Levant.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1416249

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