Bodies, Bowls, and Burial: New Perspectives on the Bab adh-Dhra’ Mortuary Assemblage

Summary

Though death may seem an instantaneous experience, the treatment of death by a mortuary community provides implications for activity and identity that stretch far beyond a stilled heart. Archaeologically, we can use evidence associated with mortuary practices to inform us about lifeways and beliefs of the interred and the community at large. Mortuary contexts from the Early Bronze I (3500 – 3100 BCE) at Bab adh-Dhra’ provide just such an opportunity. The site, situated in the Southern Ghor region of Jordan near the Lisan Peninsula of the Dead Sea, presents a diverse burial assemblage associated with shaft tomb burials. By conducting a comparative analysis of the mortuary materials that focuses on the appearance and treatment of atypical goods—including basalt bowls, maceheads, figurines, and wood objects—compared to more ubiquitous materials—osteological remains, ceramics, and beads—we can gain insight into their notions of value. By investigating their concepts of value in this assemblage, we provide a better understanding of complex practices for a group that show a marked investment in a cemetery location before their later shift to settlement at the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16993