Variation beyond the Grave

Abstract

The study of deviant burials is enhanced through a social bioarchaeology perspective that incorporates multiple lines of evidence to better capture the nuances of these unusual mortuary practices and the life histories of individuals receiving such treatment. This chapter presents the range of unusual burials from an early medieval cemetery at the site of Libice nad Cidlinou in the Czech Republic. Additionally, three burials are examined in depth to explore how individual life histories might contribute to atypical mortuary treatment. The diversity revealed in terms of these individuals’ demographics and skeletal data, as well as the wide variation in burial contexts, highlights the interpretive challenges presented by multiple unusual burials at a single site. However, these burials also provide different opportunities to examine how identity, practice, and ideology might intersect at the graveside.