Manipulated Bodies: Investigating Postmortem Interactions with Human Remains

Following death the human body becomes the focus of a diverse range of activities that include, but are not limited to, burial in the earth. The unburied dead include those who receive non-burial forms of funerary treatment and individuals whose remains are intentionally exhumed or unintentional disturbed. Examining the archaeological traces the unburied dead can illuminate the diverse interactions with, and perceptions of, dead bodies and body parts in the past. This session seeks to draw together new research that examines post-mortem interactions with the dead including both non-burial modes of treatment and manipulation of human remains. This might involve: analysis of human remains from non-burial contexts; studies of funerary treatments of the body which do not culminate with insertion into the ground; or investigation of post-burial activities that result in the exhumation, manipulation and/or display of human remains above ground, whether this occurs soon after death or much later. This session aims to highlight potential comparative perspectives across social, cultural and temporal contexts, thereby examining the reasons why, contexts within and means by which the material body is manipulated after death.