Death in the Mesolithic
From The Observatory
Date
June 5, 2026
Location
King's Manor, University of York
Pricing
In-person (Participants)
—
Free
Area
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How can archaeologists understand the human experience of death in the deep past? More specifically, how can the archaeological record, consisting of fragmented material traces of past people’s actions when faced with death, provide real insights into past lives? The lecture will embrace themes of belief, ritual, cosmology, the dead, emotion, and concepts of body and self. Through a focus on the physical handling of the dead human body – including cremation, inhumation, manipulation, and even mummification – the approach opens a window into past lived experience where death is understood within its context, and in turn provides insights into the hunter-gatherer-fisher world more broadly.
Drawing on archaeological and anthropological theories inspired by practice theory, ritual theory and body theory, and the analytical method “archaeothanatology” this lecture explores a classic archaeological challenge: how can we archaeologically approach human experience beyond the material?Key Speaker: Liv Nilsson Stutz
