Penny BickleEmilie Sibbesson - Neolithic Bodies

N EOLITHIC B ODIES

Neolithic Studies Group Seminar Papers 15

Edited by

Penny Bickle and Emilie Sibbesson

Published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by

OXBOW BOOKS

The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE

and in the United States by

OXBOW BOOKS

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Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2018

Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-901-2

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-902-9 (epub)

Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-903-6 (mobi)

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947537

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Front cover: Example of an individual buried in a regular body position, Gougenheim, Alsace, France (photo: G. Alix, Institut National de Recherches Archologiques Prventives).

This book presents the proceedings of a seminar held in November 2014, organised by the Neolithic Studies Group (NSG), that forms part of an ongoing series of NSG seminar papers. Not only is this the fifteenth volume in the series, but the meeting from which it derives celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the NSG.

The NSG is an informal organisation comprising archaeologists with an interest in Neolithic archaeology. It was established in 1984 and has a large membership based mainly in the UK and Ireland, but also including workers from the nations of the Atlantic seaboard. The annual programme includes two or three meetings spread throughout the year and seminars held in London and field meetings at various locations in northwest Europe.

Membership is open to anyone with an active interest in the Neolithic in Europe. The present membership includes academic staff and students, museums staff, archaeologists from government institutions, units, trusts and amateur organisations. There is no membership procedure or application forms and members are those on the current mailing list. Anyone can be added to the mailing list at any time, the only membership rule being that names of those who do not attend any of four consecutive meetings are removed from the list (in the absence of apologies for absence or requests to remain on the list).

The Group relies on the enthusiasm of its members to organise its annual meetings and the two co-ordinators to maintain mailing lists and finances. Financial support for the group is drawn from a small fee payable for attendance of each meeting.

Anyone wishing to contact the Group and obtain information about forthcoming meetings should contact the co-ordinators at the following addresses:

Alternatively, visit the NSG website: http://www.neolithic.org.uk/ .

This volume of papers began life as the Neolithic Studies Group autumn meeting at the British Museum in 2014. The editors proposed the day as a means to survey the variety of methodological and theoretical approaches they saw arising centred on the theme of Neolithic bodies. The body has been of central interest to archaeology since the 1990s, including (but not limited to) research into its representation, its treatment after death, and the lived experience of early farmers. The editors therefore thought such a theme was long overdue to be the focus for an NSG day. The call for papers, as anticipated, attracted a number of papers centred on Neolithic funerary practices and the skeleton. Others took the body as a starting point to explore the social worlds of the Neolithic more widely, with considerations of gender, ontologies, representations and mobility explored on the day itself. The papers included in this volume survey the range of ideas and debates presented at the conference.

The editors would like to thank the NSG coordinators Tim Darvill and Kenny Brophy, as well as the British Museum and staff for support while hosting the conference. A huge debt of gratitude goes to Julie Gardiner and the team at Oxbow Books for support during the preparation of this volume.

Penny Bickle and Emilie Sibbesson

February 2018

A BIGAIL A SH

Department of Archaeology

University of York

The Kings Manor

York

YO1 7EP

England

United Kingdom

P ENNY B ICKLE

Department of Archaeology

University of York

The Kings Manor

York

YO1 7EP

England

United Kingdom

B RUNO B OULESTIN

UMR 5199 - PACEA

Universit de Bordeaux

Btiment B8

Alle Geoffroy Saint Hilaire

CS 50023

33615 PESSAC Cedex

France

K ENNETH B ROPHY

School of Humanities

Gregory Building

University of Glasgow

Glasgow

G12 8QQ

Scotland

United Kingdom

C LAUDIA D EFRASNE

Aix-Marseille Universit

CNRS

UMR 7269

LaMPEA

LabexMed

BP 647

5 rue du Chteau de lHorloge

13094 Aix-en-Provence

France

A NTHONY D ENAIRE

Universit de Bourgogne

UMR 6298-Artehis

6 Boulevard Gabriel

21000 Dijon

France

O LIVER J. T. H ARRIS

School of Archaeology and Ancient History

University of Leicester

University Road

Leicester

LE1 7RH

England

United Kingdom

C HRISTIAN J EUNESSE

Universit de Strasbourg

UMR 7044-Archimde

Maison interuniversitaire des sciences de

lHomme

5 alle du Gnral Rouvillois

67083 Strasbourg

France

P HILIPPE L EFRANC

Institut national de recherches

archologiques prventives

UMR 7044-Archimde

Centre archologique de Strasbourg

10 rue dAltkirch

67000 Strasbourg

France

G AVIN M ACGREGOR

Northlight Heritage

Studio 114

South Block

64 Osborne Street

Glasgow

G1 5QH

Scotland

United Kingdom

R OGER M ATTHEWS

University of Reading

Department of Archaeology

Whiteknights

Reading

RG6 6AH

England

United Kingdom

G ORDON N OBLE

Department of Archaeology

University of Aberdeen

St. Marys

Elphinstone Road

Aberdeen

AB24 3UF

Scotland

United Kingdom

R ON P INHASI

Department of Anthropology

Althanstrae 14

1090 Wien

Austria

E MILIE S IBBESSON

School of Humanities

Canterbury Christ Church University

North Holmes Rd

Canterbury

CT1 1QU

England

United Kingdom