The anthropology of absence: materializations of transcendence and loss

In studying material culture, anthropologists and archaeologists use meaningful physical objects from a culture to help understand the less tangible aspects of that culture, such as societal structure, rituals, and values. What happens when these objects are destroyed, by war, natural disaster, or other historical events? Through detailed explanations of eleven international case studies, the contributions reveal that the absence of objects can be just as tellingas their presence, while the objects created to memorialize a loss also have important cultural implications. Covering everything from organ donation, to funerary rituals, to prisoners of war, The Archaeology of Absence is written atan important intersection of archaeological and anthropological study. Divided into three sections, this volume uses the 'presence' of absence to compare cultural perceptions of: material qualities and created memory, the mind/body connection, temporality, and death. This rich text provides a strong theoretical framework for anthropologists and archaeologists studying material culture. New approach to studying material culture Brings together both recent and historical cases In-depth, international case studies with broad theoretical applications INDICE: Introduction.- Presenting the Immaterial.- Negative Archaeology and the Limits of Materialism.- Seeking Providence through Things.- AnticipatingPresence at a Contemporary Danish Cemetary.- Voluntary Death and Suicide among Siberian Chukchi.- Perceptions of Immortality in Meaningful Deaths.- Death Display in London Households.- Making Presence of Absence.- Bearing Witness to Disaster.- The Present/Absent Status of ‘Missing’ Human Remains from the Spanish Civil War.- Landscape Archaeology and the Garden as a Historical Record.

• ISBN: 978-1-4419-5528-9
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 202
• Fecha Publicación: 01/03/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés