Mortuary Monuments and Burial Grounds of the Historic Period MANUALS in ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, THEORY and TECHNIQUE

Mortuary Monuments and Burial Grounds of the Historic Period MANUALS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, THEORY AND TECHNIQUE Series Editor: Charles E. Orser,Jr., IllinoisState University, Normal, Illinois Michael, B. Schiffer, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY E. B. Banning LITHIC ANALYSIS George Odell MORTUARY MONUMENTS AND BURIAL GROUNDS OF THE HISTORIC PERIOD Harold Mytum A Contin uation Order Plan is available for this series. A cont inuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual ship ment. For further information please contact the publisher. Mortuary Monuments and Burial Grounds of the Historic Period Harold Mytum University of York York, United Kingdom SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mytum, H. C. Mortuary monuments and burial grounds of the historic period I by Harold Mytum. p. cm. - (Manuals in archaeological method, theory, and technique) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-306-48076-8 ISBN 978-1-4419-9038-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9038-9 1. Sepulchral monuments. 2. Cemeteries. 3. War memorials. 4. Funeral rites and ceremonies. 1. Title. II. Series. CC77.B8M962004 2003061895 ISBN 978-0-306-48076-8 © 2004 Springer-Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer AcademicIPlenum Publishers, New York in 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 2004 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I A c.I.P record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Al! rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, ar otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the book. To Michael Farr, BillFord, and jocelyn Morris, who encouraged me in my archaeology whilst at school and university, and who gave me my first projects in Warwick, from which my interests in historica l archaeology came. Preface Burial grounds strike an immediate chord with all who visit them. They are land scapes full of pathos and cultural associations which many find attractive, though a minority feel are too morbid to deserve detailed attention. This book is designed to offer a framework for studying historic burial ground monuments, and contains a certain amount of information regarding below-ground archaeology, as some projects will involve the study of both. Moreover, from a research perspective above and below ground archaeology together can throw considerable light on the process of dying, body disposal and commemoration that formed a continuum for those involved. However, the more easily accessible graveyard memorials can be used to study many aspects of past culture beyond that directly associated with death, and they are the focus of the book. Most people who become interested in historic graveyard memorials come to the subject via the material itself. Only rarely does a research question get posed, and graveyard data seem like an appropriate arena for investigation. This has the advantage that many researchers have some ideas about the data available, but the disadvantage that they may not have clear questions to ask of it, nor how to set their discoveries in a wider intellectual context. The purpose of this book is therefore to show those with particular questions that, in some cases at least, graveyard data may be a valuable research area, but also those with an interest in burial grounds and their monuments what sorts of topics can be studied through their data, and how their results can be compared and contrasted with those from elsewhere. Through a series ofchronological chapters (2-4) the general sequence of development of mortuary behavior is outlined, then the material is considered under a series of thematic chapters (5-8). Here the curent state ofknowledge and the research questions already posed in at least some regions and periods are outlined. Suggested strategies for developing these aspects, and also new areas are proposed. Thus, the chapters provide a stimulus to directed research and references to relevant literature to help situate further work within the existing knowledge base. The book could have provided a step-by-step method of recording graveyard memorials, but as the data required for different research questions is so diverse, and the range of forms, types of decoration and cultural context so variable over vii viii MORTUARY MONUMENTS ANDBURIAL GROUNDS both time and space, this would have created eitheran extremely large and unwieldy volume , or one which was problematic and confusing for most users. Instead, em phasis has been placed on the background and context of memorialization, and on the general factors that need to be considered in the light of local circumstances and research aims. Many of the publications give little information on how fieldwork was conducted, but some of the practical issues are discussed here, and examples of recording forms are provided in the Appendix. Chapter 9 does give some practi cal advice regarding graveyard recording, including some of the specific elements that make historic burial excavation unique . Graveyard memorials form a rich seam of archaeological evidence, but pub lication is often in a local format. I have tried to offer an international range of examples to show general trends and the effects of local cultural traits. We are all familiar with our own areas and regions, and imagine others must be the same. Despite some national and indeed global features, many aspects have a clear local manifestation. The situating of graveyard studies within the local is both valuable and stimulating, but it can mean that valuable studies of interest to others are not discovered. I have tried to follow up references and search for appropriate exam ples, but my inevitably restricted experience may be visible in places, and some books and journals I have not been able to trace from Britain. Some aspects which I consider underdeveloped may have been examined and published in journals not easily available to me, and as work proceeds this will undoubtedly be the case, so any information on other published material would be welcome. The bibliography contains many recent references and some ofthe classic ones, but I recommend de tailed study of Bell's Vestiges ofMortality & Remembrance.A Bibliography on the Historical Archaeology ofCemeteries (1994), and subscription to the Association for Gravestone Studies. Some may find my Recording and Analysing Graveyards (2000) of value, though written primarily for a British and Irish context. For too long graveyard studies have been seen as an eccentric by way rather than a specialist subject area with as much to contribute as the study of ceramics, building types or faunal remains. As a category of material evidence with variety of form, decoration and text, and well contextualized spatially and temporally, it should be suitable for many forms of analysis. Excavated mortuary evidence has tended to be seen as a source for biological data, and the cultural dimension has often been underdeveloped. The linking between above and below ground data has rarely been achieved , and the integration of graveyard data within settlement and landscape archaeology has also been likewise rarely attempted. Whilst much has been undertaken, there is far more to do, and it can be achieved on a range of scales appropriate to the resources ofindividuals and teams. Moreover, as so much of graveyard archaeology is non-destructive, it carries fewer ethical constraints and can be undertaken by those at many stages of their careers. It can be an archaeological activity well placed to be integrated within the community, and an arena where local populations can feel a sense of pride and association with material culture from the past. PREFACE ix I have been involved in graveyard recording for many years, and in that time many people have encouraged my interest, and helped me with my researches. Philip Rahtz was an important early influence, and I thank him for his continued support and the use of some images reproduced in this book, listed below. My wife Caroline was a great help with my surveys in Wales and Gibraltar, where Chris and Christine Webster also gave valuable assistance. More recent surveys in Ireland and Yorkshire have benefitted from the help of Steve Rowlands and Carol Simmonds, and particularly the enthusiasm and dedication of Robert Evans, who has also kindly read through and commented on the text. Most of all, however, graveyard recording is a team effort, involving many people, and all the under graduate and graduate students from the University of York, international students on the University of York Castell Henllys Field School, and Earthwatch volunteers need to be thanked for their steady application in the field and in data entry and processing. My work on the York Diocesan Advisory Committee has allowed me many opportunities to consider the implications of ecclesiastical development and conservation in relation to below and above ground archaeology, and to see the competing needs of various interest groups in relation to the heritage . Illustration credits : all photographs are by the author except for those by Philip Rahtz (figures 19, left, 22, 29,42,45,46) Joshua de Giorgio (figure 14, left) Catherine Marlow (figure 7) and Department of Archaeology, University of York (figures 4, 5, 40, 53); I thank them for the gift of their images, or permission to publish them here. This book aspires to create a more diverse use of graveyard monuments, and allow scholars to place their own findings in a wider context. It therefore contains a large number of references, and examples from many places.

Load more