A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600 - 130 BC (British Archaeological Reports (BAR) International, 1226)

Evans, Thomas L.

ISBN 10: 1841715913 / ISBN 13: 9781841715919

Published by Oxford, England : Archaeopress, Publishers of British Archaeological Reports, 2004

About this Item

vi, 291 : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm + 1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.). This work is an examination of the burial practices of the Upper Seine Basin during the earlier portions of the Iron Age (Hallstatt Finale to the La Tène Moyenne) conducted with the specific aims of examining concepts of identity as reflected through the funerary remains. It focusses upon three aspects of identity: regionality, gender and social status. These theoretical concepts are examined through the analysis of the artefact assemblage and the examination of aspects of similarity and differences in the artefact placement within the graves context. In order to examine these aspects, this work begins by reexamining the existing theories and models of understandings for the Iron Age in Northeastern France. It examines specifically the socio-economicmodels utilised to examine the general archaeological remains, the present understandings of social status, and pays particular attention to the existing models for our understanding of gender during the time period. Once the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches have been presented, the study goes on to discuss the analysis conducted by the author of a sample of archaeological sites. This analysis utilised a variety of quantitative techniques in order to obtain new data regarding aspects of identity associated with regionality, gender and social status. Among the statistical methods used were a simple comparison of mean averages for a series of burial categories identified by the author, as well as the use of the exploratory multivariate technique of correspondence analysis. The results are presented and discussed in detail, and then interpreted in the light of past and present models of our understanding of the Iron Age. Finally, the thesis discusses the nature of the changes in the burial rites between the Hallstatt Finale and the La Tène Moyenne, and presents a series of new interpretations of Iron Age culture in the region.

Seller Inventory # BAR1226

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600 - 130 BC (British Archaeological Reports (BAR) International, 1226)
• Publisher: Oxford, England : Archaeopress, Publishers of British Archaeological Reports
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841715913
• ISBN 13: 9781841715919
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Archaeology

About this title

Synopsis

The large amount of cemetery data available from the Upper Seine Basin is exploited here in this study of regionality, gender and social differentiation, and cultural behaviour in the Iron Age. Analysing evidence such as body positioning and artefact placement, rather than the objects and human remains themselves, Thomas Evans looks for patterns in cultural behaviour and examines the ways in which people represented their identity in death. He concludes that a single cultural identity can be discerned from the evidence. This identity shows a lack of clear gender division, a growing emphasis on warfare and all its accoutrements (whether for real or symbolic purposes) through time, and that a system of prestige exchange was operating during the final Hallstatt and ealy La Tène periods.

About the Author

Thomas L. Evans