Mis à jour le 17.10.2016

Ecosse, archipel des Orcades (Orkney) : Etude taphonomique des ossements humains de la sépulture mégalithique de Quanternes

Icône actu internationale Rebecca Crozier travaille au Département d'archéologie de l' Université d'Aberdeen, où elle est spécialisée en ostéoarchéologie humaine. Elle vient de publier un ouvrage relatif à la taphonomie des ossements humains d'un site mégalithique écossais, dans les Orcades :

la couverture de l'ouvrage

Crozier, R., 2018. A taphonomic approach to the re-analysis of the human remains from the Neolithic chamber tomb of Quanterness, Orkney. Oxford, British Archaeological Reports : BAR British Series, 635, 315 p., ISSN 0143-3032.

En voici le résumé anglais :

Megalithic tombs in Orkney have yielded some of the largest volumes of human remains in Neolithic Britain. However, discrete skeletons are lacking; the researcher is often presented with formidable volumes of disarticulated and comingled remains. Themes of transformation, fragmentation and manipulation of the body permeate the literature, conferring on the megalithic structures significance as places of transition. Previously, the inherent complexity of the remains has made them an unattractive proposition for detailed study. However, advances in taphonomic analysis mean that techniques now exist for approaching such complex assemblages. A study has now been successfully carried out on the Orcadian remains, uncovering the wealth of new data presented in this volume. This data draws attention to subtle variations in funerary ritual between and within the tombs, and pushes for a dramatic reconsideration of our current understanding of the practices and cosmologies associated with these enigmatic structures.