Fire and Death: Cremation as a Ritualised Funerary Practice in the Southern Brazilian Highlands

Author(s): Priscilla Ferreira Ulguim

Year: 2017

Summary

Archaeological evidence from southern Jê mound and enclosure complexes in the southern Brazilian highlands points to the development of a complex funerary ritual focused on the practice of cremation from 1000 BP onwards. Drawing upon bioarchaeological, ethnographic and ethnohistorical analysis, this paper discusses the role of cremation as a ritualised practice aimed at transforming the dead, their body and their relations with society. Patterns of similarities and differences in such practice are observable in the archaeological record at eleven mound and enclosure complex sites with repeated evidence for cremation and the secondary deposition of cremated remains. These patterns are interpreted as negotiable and non-negotiable strategic responses to death.

Cite this Record

Fire and Death: Cremation as a Ritualised Funerary Practice in the Southern Brazilian Highlands. Priscilla Ferreira Ulguim. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 429731)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -93.691; min lat: -56.945 ; max long: -31.113; max lat: 18.48 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17611