Reconstructing the Social Life of Death at Ancient Aksum through Micro-CT Imaging (AD 50–400)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents micro-CT histological data on bone samples from Aksum’s Stelae Park cemetery (AD 50–400). Aksum was the capital of an ancient polity (AD 50–800) that spread across the northern Horn of Africa and was a major global power in the Indian Ocean trade. The most notable lasting remains of the ancient capital are its towering funerary monuments and elaborate tomb complexes. Human remains from Aksumite tombs previously demonstrated systematic patterns of cut marks consistent with postmortem ritual processing. In consideration, micro-CT imaging was conducted on ~20 ancient bone samples that revealed heavy bacterial bioerosion throughout all samples suggesting only a short postmortem interval prior to burial. Cut-mark distribution suggested remains were later disinterred—perhaps not more than 1–2 years after burial. Additionally, targeted areas of density loss could be quantified and compared between bone samples. These data aid in reevaluating previously excavated features that likely relate to the identified postmortem processing rites. Most importantly, these results work in concert with other lines of data that indicate Aksumite mortuary practices were important domains of negotiating “local” vs. “global,” and reveal how Aksumites dramatically reinvented their death rites in creating new identities during periods of increasing globalization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37723.0