Mingled Bones, Mingled Bodies: Primary and Commingled Burials at Nabataean Petra, Jordan

Summary

Although bioarchaeologists have recently developed best practices for the analysis of commingled samples, few scholars have theorized the significance of communal, commingled burial. In many cases, the practice of commingling skeletal remains is but one possible variant in the mortuary process. Numerous societies, including the Nabataeans at Petra, utilize collective burial in addition to primary inhumation within the overall mortuary program. The actual practice of commingling, such as when and why it is considered an option in mortuary practice, who are the actors and participants creating the assemblage, and how the physical body is perceived after death involves broader concepts of personhood, identity, embodiment, and commemoration in ancient societies. In this case, exploring this intimate act of postmortem body manipulation, along with other elements of the mortuary realm, can build upon the scant knowledge regarding Nabataean identity. These perspectives move beyond perceiving the body as a deceased individual and biological object to a socially-produced artifact. In addition, it considers commingled remains not as a bioarchaeological “problem” but as a context worthy of rigorous methodology within a theoretical construct.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Buried, Burned, Bundled and Broken: Approaches to Co-Occurrence of Multiple Methods, Treatments and Styles of Burials Within Past Societies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage