Dealing with the Dead: Manipulation of the Body in the Mortuary Practices of Mesolithic North West Europe A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2011 Amy Gray Jones School of Arts, Histories and Cultures Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 11 DECLARATION ............................................................................................................. 12 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT .......................................................................................... 12 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 13 1 Disarticulation as mortuary practice in the Mesolithic of north-west Europe ............. 14 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 14 1.2 The cemetery evidence ...................................................................................... 15 1.3 Disarticulation as mortuary practice ................................................................... 21 1.4 Disarticulation as social practice ........................................................................ 28 1.5 Disarticulation, bodies, and personhood ............................................................. 31 1.6 Disarticulation and cannibalism ......................................................................... 32 1.7 Towards a systematic study of disarticulated Mesolithic remains ....................... 33 2 Methodology: Discovering mortuary practice ........................................................... 36 2.1 The methodological approach ............................................................................ 36 2.1.1 Taphonomic analysis - Translating patterns into practices ........................... 38 2.1.2 Identifying the deceased ............................................................................. 56 2.2 Osteological methodology – recording ............................................................... 57 2.2.1 Selection of case studies for osteological analysis ....................................... 57 2.2.2 Data recording ............................................................................................ 58 2.2.3 Data collection ............................................................................................ 60 2.2.4 Identification and quantification - Zonation, refitting, MNE, MNI and BRI 60 2.2.5 Recording surface condition /modification .................................................. 62 2.2.6 Recording fracture type............................................................................... 64 2.2.7 Anthropological data................................................................................... 65 2.3 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 68 3 Case study 1: Mortuary practice at the late Mesolithic site of Hardinxveld-Polderweg, Netherlands ...................................................................................................................... 74 2 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 74 3.2 Site background ................................................................................................. 74 3.2.1 Circumstances of excavation ....................................................................... 74 3.2.2 Archaeological context ............................................................................... 75 3.2.3 Dating and phasing ..................................................................................... 75 3.2.4 Human remains and mortuary practice ........................................................ 76 3.2.5 Current interpretation of burial practice at the site ....................................... 78 3.3 Osteological analysis of Hardinxveld-Polderweg ............................................... 79 3.3.1 Basic quantification of the assemblage ........................................................ 79 3.3.2 Surface preservation ................................................................................... 82 3.3.3 Completeness; an assessment of the degree of fragmentation of the assemblage ............................................................................................................... 90 3.3.4 Osteometric and morphological analysis ..................................................... 91 3.3.5 Results of refitting exercise ......................................................................... 94 3.3.6 Minimum number of elements (MNE) ........................................................ 96 3.3.7 Minimum Number of Individuals .............................................................. 100 3.3.8 Skeletal part representation (BRI) ............................................................. 101 3.3.9 Body modification and processing ............................................................ 104 3.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 113 4 Case study 2: Analysis of human remains from „Petit Marais‟, Le Chaussée Tirancourt (Somme, France) .......................................................................................... 117 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 117 4.2 Site background ............................................................................................... 117 4.2.1 Circumstances of excavation ..................................................................... 117 4.2.2 Archaeological context ............................................................................. 118 4.2.3 Dating and phasing ................................................................................... 121 4.2.4 Human remains and mortuary practice ...................................................... 123 4.3 Osteological analysis of Petit Marais................................................................ 127 3 4.3.1 Basic quantification .................................................................................. 127 4.3.2 Surface preservation ................................................................................. 130 4.3.3 Completeness of elements ......................................................................... 130 4.3.4 Osteometric and morphological analysis ................................................... 131 4.3.5 Results of refitting exercise ....................................................................... 132 4.3.6 Minimum number of elements (MNE) ...................................................... 132 4.3.7 Minimum number of individuals ............................................................... 132 4.3.8 Skeletal part representation ....................................................................... 133 4.3.9 Modifications............................................................................................ 137 4.3.10 Discussion of body treatment at Petit Marais............................................. 138 5 Case study 3: Analysis of human remains from „Les Varennes‟, Val de Reuil (Eure, France) .......................................................................................................................... 141 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 141 5.2 Site background ............................................................................................... 141 5.2.1 Circumstances of excavation ..................................................................... 141 5.2.2 Archaeological context ............................................................................. 142 5.2.3 Dating and phasing ................................................................................... 145 5.2.4 Human remains and mortuary practice ...................................................... 145 5.3 Osteological analysis ....................................................................................... 146 5.3.1 Basic quantification .................................................................................. 146 5.3.2 Surface preservation ................................................................................. 148 5.3.3 Osteometric and morphological analysis ................................................... 148 5.3.4 Minimum number of elements (MNE) ...................................................... 149 5.3.5 Minimum number of individuals (MNI) .................................................... 151 5.3.6 Completeness of elements ......................................................................... 151 5.3.7 Skeletal part representation ....................................................................... 152 5.3.8 Spatial distribution of the remains ............................................................. 156 5.3.9 Modifications............................................................................................ 157 4 5.3.10 Discussion of body treatment at Les Varennes .......................................... 157 6 Different and complementary: Comparisons of mortuary practice using osteological data