BA Classics

Death is not just the one certainty of human existence but its final mystery. This course uses archaeology to explore the funerary rites of different times and cultures, in order to learn about beliefs surrounding the afterlife, the power of the ancestors and the role of the dead. We will learn about communities who circulated human bones as relics, and those who buried them under impressive barrows. We will explore chambered tombs in Scotland, the pyramids and royal graves of Egypt, Iron Age chariot burials and bog bodies, as well as Anglo-Saxon ship burials and Viking massacres. We will also explore the exquisite grave goods buried with the dead, and ask what they mean – were they personal possessions, gifts, heirlooms or equipment for the afterlife? The course will also encourage you to explore the art of death and burial: the moving headstones and impressive memorials of the Historic era, the ‘dancing dead’ and jewel-encrusted reliquaries of the high Medieval period. We will finish the course by reflecting on contemporary burial legislation and forensic archaeology.

More fundamentally, we will examine the remains of the dead to explore many aspects of their lives (origin, diet, lifestyle, disease and injury) as well as the circumstances of their death. Basic sessions in the archaeological lab will be complemented by visits to the Manchester Museum, to talk about how we display the dead and the policies and ethics of working with human remains. For those ambitious about a career in archaeology or museums and galleries, or even those thinking of training in forensics, this course will prepare you to deal with all periods of burials within Britain, as well as becoming familiar with some of the most iconic remains in national museums.

• To introduce students to a range of contrastive burial practices from the UK and abroad, using secondary syntheses (Seminar, Level 2: Poster)
• To raise students’ awareness of archaeological and ethnographic approaches to the dead: their perceived agency, contrastive concepts of ancestry and beliefs about the afterlife (Lectures and Seminars, Level 2: Poster)
• To introduce students to the concept of ‘Grave Goods’ and debate the ways in which they have been interpreted by archaeologists and presented to the public (Lectures, Workshops: Radio Programme)
• To introduce students to qualitative and quantitative methods for analyzing burial practice and cemetery data (Seminars, Level 3)
• To introduce students to the basics of skeletal analysis and familiarize them with the technical terminology used in the laboratory and field to record and analyse human remains (Lab Practical)
• To familiarise students with a range of contrasting mortuary practices (inhumation, excarnation, cremation, preservation) and their physical appearance, recovery and curation in archive/museum contexts (Lab Practical, Museum fieldtrip, Lectures)
• To raise students’ awareness of the legislative frameworks surrounding treatment of the ancient dead, discuss practical and ethical issues relating to archaeological and museums practice, and enable them to articulate exemplars of analysis, interpretation and dissemination (Lectures, Seminars Level 2 and Museum Fieldtrip: Radio Programme, Poster)

• Describe and discuss contrastive forms of funerary rite and mortuary behaviour from a range of different time periods and regions (Lectures: Poster);
• Describe and illustrate archaeological methods and interpretive frameworks used to examine contrastive forms of mortuary behavior (Seminars Level 2, Poster);
• Analyze and interpret the role of material culture in processes of remembering and forgetting e.g. monuments, memorials, cemetery architecture and funerary paraphernalia (Radio Programme); 
• Discuss the theoretical, ethical, social and political issues involved in the investigation and interpretation of the dead.

·       Critically discuss the significance and meaning of a specific kind of mortuary rite, through an integrated analysis of human remains, grave goods and the character and place of interment (Seminars Level 2; Poster);

·       Express interpretations of funerary practice in a variety of media, and select appropriate language, imagery and content to reach a variety of academic and public audiences (Poster, Radio Programme);

Assist in the planning, identification and interpretation of research materials, and develop content to disseminate knowledge to a public audience (Radio Programme).

·       Assist in the planning of a public broadcast, by helping to identify research materials, themes and content based around an archaeological artefact from a burial, and undertake training to edit recorded material and present the final work (Radio Programme);

·       Research, synthesise and deliver ideas about past burial rites through oral dissemination (Radio Programme), text and imagery (Poster);

·       Make use of academic publications, online news materials, museum digital resources etc. to develop content on a type of burial rite, and undertake technical training to successful create a digitally-designed academic output (Poster);

Conduct themselves sensitively, ethically and professionally in the excavation and interpretation of human remains (Lectures, Lab Practical, Museum field visit).

·       Retrieve archaeological and ethnographic information from a variety of sources (Seminar, Level : Poster);

·       Order and present arguments and interpretative ideas in variety of formats, to different audiences (Poster, Radio Programme);

·       Evaluate numerical data, written argument and visual information, in a rigorous manner (Seminar, level 2: Poster);

·       Demonstrate computer literacy, visual and design literacy and ability to create, edit and present audio information;

·       Work as part of a team in both informal academic settings (seminar debate/discussions) and formal public presentations (Radio Programme Workshops and final delivery);

·       Manage time effectively both as an individual and as a group (Radio Programme Workshops);

·       Demonstrate an ability to negotiate, problem-solve and adapt individual roles; manage behaviour and carry out responsibilities, as delegated by the group (Radio Programme workshops;

Reflect upon peer and mentor feedback, both formative and summative (Feedback sheets, Office hours).

(25% final oral group audio programme presentation 25% Minute Book)

Core reading (available either as e-books or digital chapters):

Biers, T.and Stringer Clary, K. 2024. (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage and Death. London, Routledge.  

Boric, D. and Robb, J. Past Bodies. Oxford, Oxbow Books.

Bradbury, J. and Scarre, C. 2017. Engaging with the Dead: Exploring Changing Human Beliefs about Death, Mortality and the Human Body. Oxford, Oxbow.

Chamberlain, A. and Parker Pearson, M. 2001. Earthly remains: the history and science of preserved human bodies. London, British Museum.

Clegg, M., Redfern, R., Bekvalac, J. and Bonney, H. (eds) 2013. Global Ancestors: understanding the shared humanity of our ancestors. Oxford: Oxbow

Downes, J. and Pollard, T. (eds.) The loved body’s corruption: archaeological contributions to the study of human mortality. Glasgow, Cruithne Press.

English Heritage. 2011. The Heritage of Death. Conservation: The Bulletin of the Historic Environment. Issue 66, Summer 2011. Swindon, English Heritage.  

Giesen, M. (ed.) 2013. Curating Human Remains: Caring for the Dead in the United Kingdom. Woodbridge: Boydell.

Gowland, R. and Knüsel, C. 2006. Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains. Oxford, Oxbow. ¿

Lohman, J. and Goodnow, K. 2006. Human Remains and Museum Practice. London, Museum of London/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. ¿

Mays, S. 2010. The Archaeology of Human Bones. London, Routledge. 

Parker Pearson, M. 1999. The Archaeology of Death and Burial. Stroud, Alan Sutton. ¿

Redfern, R. 2020. Injury and Trauma in Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Violence in Past Lives. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Robb, J. and Oliver, J. 2016. The Body in History. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Roberts, C. 2009. Human remains in archaeology: a handbook. York, Council for British Archaeology. 

Sayer, D. 2010. Ethics and Burial Archaeology. Cambridge, Duckworth.  

Tarlow, S. 1999. Bereavement and Commemoration. Oxford, Blackwells.

Tarlow, S. and Nilsson Stutz, L. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (especially chapter 1).  

Taylor, T. 2003. The Buried Soul: How Humans invented Death. London, Forth Estate.

Wiliams, H. and Giles, M. (eds.) Archaeologists and the Dead: Mortuary Archaeology in Contemporary Society. Oxford, Oxford University Press.