Coldharbour Plain

Guest post by Stellar Diggins: A tale of country folk in old Wiltshire....

CHAPTER TWO

Pomona Poste came down to breakfast a little after nine to find the farmhouse utterly deserted, save for a muttering from behind Aunt Awenna Threefold's bedroom door, which she had never so far seen opened. It sounded like: "I saw somethin' NARSTY inna Museum...".  Making her way downstairs to the kitchen, she replaced the kettle on the Aga and made a pot of her precious recaffeinated coffee she had thought to bring with her.

Not liking the look of anything in the cupboards, Pomona was idly flicking through her copy of British Archaeology and waiting for her coffee to cool, when the door banged open and Amairghin Starkadder stomped in and sat down heavily, glaring at her across the table.  Pomona affected not to notice.

A silence ensued, as of the brooding tension between the waiting, round-bellied earth and the burgeoning, ballooning thunderclouded sky in the heat of late harvesting.

"I ha' scranletted a' the way down from Cursus Acre up to Barrowight Hill," said Amairghin Starkadder eventually.  

"Did you, really?" Pomona exclaimed, wondering what on earth scranletting was.

A longer silence followed, broken only by Amairghin munching his way through a bowl of ayurvedic museli.

Pomona sipped her coffee, and perused an article on a neolithic burial of someone who had been shot full of arrows who they were calling The Boscombe Bowman. Finally Amairghin pushed the bowl away from him for Ash Mistcalf the hired man, to 'cletter', as they called it, and began to roll a spliff.

"Ar." He said, affirmatively. Then, after a pause: "Could you a' done that?"

Pomona looked up from her article. "No, Cousin Amairghin, I'm sure I couldn't - and I wouldn't want to, anyway."

'Ar". Amairghin snorted. "I 'spec' you wouldn't, neither. Rather get a site supervisor in, I reckon you would, from Wessex Archaeology, an' a whole team o' diggers. Or maybe they Time Team fellers an' camera crews, an' suchlike."

Amairghin shuddered, then lit up. Then he resumed:

"Hear me, Cousin Pomona - I ha' nursed this sacred landscape like a sick mommet, man an' boy, these thirty year or more. Many's the round barrow I ha' scranletted over, an' many's the Bronze Age burial urn I've re-cremated." He blew a long cloud of green smoke across the table, as if to illustrate.

Pomona did her best to dissemble her mounting sense of horror. These Wiltshire Starkadders were even worse, more backward and ignorant, than her other cousins the Sussex Starkadders that Great Aunt Flora had told her about, before she had reformed them all with what she called The Higher Common Sense. Here they were, scranletting - was that a metal detector by the door, next to Cousin Amairghin's
wellingtons? - prehistoric artefacts on Coldharbour Plain, and - well - destroying them!

"Haven't you heard of The Portable Antiquities Scheme?" Pomona asked. 

Amairghin's eyes narrowed. "Oh, ar. We don' 'ave nuthin' to do with he. Bronze Age bones is for re-cremation, to send 'un back to uns rest, an' their jewellery - well - 'tes ours, ain't it?"

"Yours?!" Pomona declined the spliff Amairghin held out to her, with a wave of her hand. "Don't you think they belong to everybody?"

"Nah. Course not. They'm our ancestors, up Barrowight Hill, look.  They's always been Starkadders on Coldharbour Plain. So the gold torcs and amber beads an' copper alloy bracelets, is our heirlooms. Nobody else's. Not for folk to gawk at in no museum. 'Twould be flyin' in the face o' the ancestors. 'Tes disrespectful.

Amarirghin's brow furrowed in thought as he took another toke. "See here, Cousin Pomona. You'm Robyn Poste's child. You wouldn' sift her ashes out o' the bed o' the River Awen an' put 'em in a peepshow, would you? But you wears her old pentacle. No. 'Tes disrespectful, to do anythin' diff'rent. Jewellery belongs in the family."

Pomona forced a cheery smile at her eldest cousin. "Well, Cousin Amairghin, I certainly don't want your portable antiquities, and I'm not qualified to say how you should farm your land -"

"- sacred landscape," Amairghin interrupted.

"- how to look after your sacred landscape, but just think - if Uncle Dagda were to - go off on a long lecture tour - a very long, international lecture tour - about Honouring The Ancestral Dead, don't you see - the Sarsen Grove round the farm would be yours to - er - scranlett - as much as you liked. In Uncle Dagda's absence, there needn't be another Hereditary Chief Archdruid of Wiltshire."

Amairghin's eyes blazed and his saturnine face split open in a wide, toothy grin. He lurched forward, and seized Pomona's hand. "By the Goddess, Cousin Pomona, I misjudged yer! Would you - could you - talk to the old man about it? He'd never listen to me, but you -" and his voice tailed off as he sat back, drew a long lungful of weed and slowly exhaled, his ruddy countenance beaming like a child's as he
reflected on the possibilities of Pomona's suggestion.

"I'll go and talk to him this minute if you like, said Pomona. "Where would he be this morning?"

"Away with the Quivering Aspen Grove over at Herne Abbot's, picketing they television fashionistas who be feminizing the Long Giant for a wimmin's underwear documentary."

"I'll take the Range Rover, then," said Pomona over her shoulder as she made for the door. "And by the way, Amairghin - a struggling British farmer on an SMR-listed site can make a lot of money out of portable antiquities. More than the Ministry of Defence pays you for scranletting up unexploded bombs. And much more than DEFRA pay you for not immunising your cows against bovine TB. You might even be able to afford to grow some food. "

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Readers wishing to know about the adventures of Flora Poste among the Starkadders of Sussex might want to read the very great Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, of which I and the author of the above are both devoted fans.

New Facebook group

We're Pagans who love archaeology and believe that it has contributed hugely to our knowledge of our ancestors and the religions of the past.

Without archaeology, people would still think ancient peoples were fur-clad smelly cannibals and that ancient paganism involved practising human sacrifice.

In addition, we are opposed to the reburial of ancient human remains, and want them to be preserved so that the memory of the ancestors can be perpetuated and rescued from oblivion, and the remains can be studied scientifically for the benefit of everyone.

Of course we want human remains to be treated with respect, but respect does not automatically mean reburial. Respect should mean memory, which involves recovering the stories of past people.

We also believe that the excavation of Seahenge was a good thing, contributing hugely to our knowledge of Bronze Age religious practices.

Not on Facebook? Express your support in the comments, or join the Yahoo group.

Update: I have now created a blog, Pagans for Archaeology, to accompany the groups.

Here we go again

The exhibition of Lindow Man at the Manchester Museum has prompted an article in British Archaeology's Spoilheap column complaining about the way the exhibition was planned, and how it has ended up with hardly any educational content about Iron Age people, or interpretation around the different theories of how and why Lindow Man died; instead the exhibition focuses on the reburial controversy.

The article complains that 12 Pagans were involved in the discussions around the exhibition, because it says Pagans are only a small group. On the other hand, several archaeologists and museum curators were involved, and the article claims that they represent everybody. I'm not sure that they do "represent everybody", as not everyone subscribes to the Enlightenment discourse that they represent. My main complaint is this, however: why weren't Pagans who DON'T want remains reburied consulted? Manchester Museum is aware that we exist (I hope I left them in no doubt about that when I attended the Respect conference there) so why weren't we included?

When I wrote to British Archaeology about this issue in 2004, my letter was edited so that it was not apparent that I am a Wiccan. Thus somewhat negating the point I was trying to make, that not all Pagans agree with Emma Restall-Orr et al, and many, if not most, completely support archaeological and historical understanding and investigation of the past.

Why is my position, which is that of a reasonable Pagan, being ignored by British Archaeology? Is it because representing Pagans as irrational sells more magazines?

I completely disagree with reburying remains, and want them to be available for archaeologists to study, so that the ancestors of all of us can be remembered and memorialised by recovering their stories, to the benefit of everyone who wants their identity rooted in the past.

Besides, surely Pagans have got better things to worry about, like the destruction of wildlife habitats, war, death, famine, environmental degradation, etc?

TAG -Theoretical Archaeology Group conference 2008

So I submitted an abstract for TAG 2008...

Our silent ancestors:
an exploration of the discursive construction of issues around ancient British human remains

There is currently some discussion among museum staff (Levitt and Coats, 2006) and archaeologists (Carroll, 2005: 1) about how best to treat ancient human remains. Some druids (Davies, 1998) have been calling for the reburial of all ancient British human remains, partly in response to the perceived greater respect given to Christian remains, and partly in response to calls by indigenous peoples in other parts of the world for the repatriation and reburial of their ancestors (Wallis and Blain, 2004: 3). Pagans' responses to this issue vary considerably, but illustrate the interrelationship between their spiritual and other concerns. Amongst the respondents of my study, I identified two main groups; those who took a broadly holistic and ahistorical view of the past, and wanted remains reburied eventually; and those who took a more scientific and historical view, and wanted remains to be studied. They also felt that their positions were not the only possible ones, acknowledging the validity of other views, as is quite common among Pagans. However, Pagans form a significant sector of the heritage audience, so the diversity of Pagan discourse should be considered in formulation of policy (Blain and Wallis, 2007a: 10-11).

In order to explore the various discursive positions occupied by Pagans in relation to this issue, qualitative interviews were selected as the best method for this project because they can elicit 'multiple and contradictory perspectives' (Burck, 2005: 241).

Clearly, with such a small sample, it is not possible to generalise about all Pagans; there are several different contemporary Pagan traditions. All that I can describe is how these particular Pagans frame their talk discursively, and compare it to the writings of others on this theme.

Currently, 'official' discourse largely doubts the 'legitimacy' of Pagan concerns, some even dismissing them as 'frivolous' (Blain and Wallis, 2007b: 10), but this has begun to change. It seems that the issue of human remains is now firmly on the agenda, though it remains to be seen whether the multiplicity of Pagan voices will be heard, especially of those who do not want to see remains reburied.

Don't know if they will like it.

a tiny window of opportunity

Anger as burial site digs are blocked | Science | The Observer

Archaeologists complain that new restrictions will hamper study of our ancestors' skulls and bones

Two months is a ridiculously short time to allow archaeologists to have access to bones before reburying them. It probably wouldn't be enough time to get all the paperwork sorted out! Surely even the people who are really keen on reburial would want to allow a longer amount of time than that for archaeologists to be able to study the bones.

'People think archaeologists go around digging up the dead wherever they want,'... [said David Miles, the chief archaeological adviser to English Heritage]. 'We don't. Usually we are called in because a new railway, motorway, house, supermarket or church extension is being constructed. Buried humans are found and we are asked to deal with them. We then use these skulls and bones to learn about our ancestors. The Ministry of Justice is now stopping us from doing that any more.'

Personally, I want archaeologists to have access to bones, so that we can find out more about our ancestors and how they lived, and by remembering them, honour them.

What do we mean by "respect"?

The text of the talk I gave at the APT conference (26 May 2007: Gods and Sacred Places) is up at my other blog.

What does "respect" mean? A discussion of responses to the reburial question
Yvonne Aburrow

Abstract
Not all Pagans feel strongly that ancient human remains should be reburied. Yet those who do not feel that way do not lack respect for their ancestors, they just show that respect differently. This paper will examine what different groups mean by respect, and look at the discourses from which these meanings emerge; on the one hand, a 'timeless' and holistic concept of landscape and a view of archaeologists as rationalist scientists, and on the other, a sense of landscape as a historical construct, and of archaeologists as restoring connections with our ancestors, and a range of positions in between. Further, it will suggest a selection of possible compromises on the treatment of human remains.

Topics

• What happens to the body and consciousness after death?
• What is the ontological status of human remains?
• How did Ancient Britons treat their dead?
• Whose ancestors?
• Respect as reburial - the 'holistic' / animist discourse
• Respect as remembering - the 'memory' discourse
• The Hávamál and the Popol Vuh
• The discourse of scientific materialism
• Implications for ancient human remains
• Compromise options

hard-boiled rationalists and woolly holists

Those hard-boiled rationalists who assume that all Pagans must be nutters (like the tiny handful of reburial extremists who want to rebury all human remains) are themselves being irrational by assuming this. A moment's thought (or even Googling) would reveal that there is a broad spectrum of Pagan views on this issue, as on many other issues. Most religions have a broad spectrum of views, in fact, so why should Pagans be any different? I agree that reburial extremists are nutters (why aren't they putting the same amount of energy into campaigning against climate change, for gods' sake?) but that's no reason to tar all Pagans with the same brush.

Examples:

• Dieneke's Anthropology Blog - "Let's hope that scientists and politicians around the world stand firm against this kind of muddle-headedness." (and take a look at some of the comments)
• Fat man on a keyboard - "More madness"
• Green Bamboo - "Never let it be said that rationality ever had anything to do with religion" (though in a reply to my comment, the author seems to have moderated his views somewhat)

The kind of people who are advocating reburial regardless of any archaeological value of the remains are out-and-out holists. All is one to them — time, space, matter and spirit — there is no acknowledgment of context or other viewpoints.

The kind of people who lump all religionists together as a bunch of loonies are hard-boiled materialists and rationalists who assume that the only truth is scientific materialism. These are the kind of people who are so amoral that they pursue knowledge without regard for the suffering it may cause.

I reject both these extremes.

new address for respect conference proceedings

www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/ourpractice/respect/

podcast interview with me

Alun Salt interviewing me in a podcast about the issue of human remains

• via the History News Network blog
• via the ClioAudio blog

in which I rant extensively about compromise and why it's such a good idea. Also, did I mention how much I think archaeology has contributed to contemporary Paganisms? I may have mentioned it once or twice...

It was nice that the interviewer (Alun Salt) decided to do the interview because he read the Guardian article and thought, surely this can't represent the views of all Pagans, as he knows a few Pagans and realises how diverse we are.

finding a compromise

My new article has now been posted on the Honouring the Ancient Dead website:

Finding a Compromise – Keeping Places

in which I propose that keeping places would be a good compromise solution for the controversy over what to do with ancient human remains, so that archaeologists could still have access to them, but they would be in a sacred space, consecrated by Pagans. I also put forward some cheaper compromise options which might be a bit more realistic.

UPDATE 3-3-2008: The article has now been removed from the HAD website, so I have posted it at http://pagantheologies.pbwiki.com/Finding-a-compromise

UPDATE 29-5-2008: Ah, apologies to HAD, it turns out that they had merely moved the article, so it is available from their articles page.

my personal view

I personally think that the archaeological value of human remains is equally as important as their spiritual value, and I think the archaeological insights we can gain from them contribute to their spiritual value.

I think that the spiritual, artistic, and archaeological views of the remains should be given equal consideration. This implies to me that a compromise solution is the best one.

But in any consideration of the responsibilities we owe to the dead, perpetuating (or restoring) the memory of them is just as important to many people as respecting the integrity of their burial, and I think archaeology contributes massively to restoring the memory of the ancient dead.

I also think that there are other issues we should be worrying about right now, like climate change, the war in Iraq, nuclear proliferation, and so on.

bloggers' responses

Some Pagan bloggers have responded to the request for reburial.

• Chas Clifton comments briefly on the issue, viewing it largely as a political stunt;
• and Jason Pitzl-Waters also comments on it and has a longer article on it.

Other bloggers have also commented.

• Dieneke's Anthropology blog was less than impressed;
• Remote Central favours a compromise;
• Cabinet of Wonders comments on the difficulty of establishing genetic or cultural continuity;
• Green Bamboo draws an analogy between demands for reburial and other unreasonable religious demands;
• I-confusion is not sure what to think, but is generally of the opinion that once you're dead, you're dead, and it would be quite interesting to be on display in a museum.
  

the storm breaks...

Interesting post at archaeology blog Cronaca about the British reburial issue, commenting on the recent Guardian article about it. At least the Guardian article also mentioned the more moderate response by Honouring the Ancient Dead to the issue, and quoted Emma Restall-Orr:

"It is not about claims for reburial or repatriation," said Emma Restall Orr, of Honouring the Ancient Dead, which recognises the value of some research. "We are talking to them to see what is possible rather than standing up with banners." Her group recognises that information from scientific work can be valuable, but she wants to see bones with the least potential for study returned.

I think there is a case for reviewing human remains held by museums, and perhaps improving some displays. The archaeological value of these remains should be paramount, however, in any negotiations, because many Pagans are very interested in archaeology, in the stories of the ancient dead, and much of modern Pagan practice (especially reconstructionists) is informed by archaeological insights into the past - even if only indirectly in the form of raised awareness that our ancestors were not "primitive". Indeed, Davies' claim that "Any story that is reconstructed from that data will be an imagined past, which usually turns out to be a blueprint of the present imposed upon the past," is pretty rich coming from him, a past-master at imposing his own blueprint of the present on the past (see a 1998 article written by him for a sample).

conference papers online

The proceedings of the Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice conference are now online.

Three papers are available at the moment, with more to follow (one hopes).

"Persons, Things and Archaeology: Contrasting World-views of Minds, Bodies and Death" (PDF, 44Kb) - Piotr Bienkowski, University of Manchester

"Human Remains: The Acknowledgment of Sanctity" (PDF, 35Kb) - Emma Restall Orr, Honouring the Ancient Dead

"Bog Bodies: Representing the Dead" (PDF, 63Kb) - Melanie Giles, University of Manchester

interview 4

I did interview no 4 the other day. It was completely fascinating, with some unexpected extra bits. Again, the ideas expressed supported the range of ideas in the literature, but in an unexpected way. I think I asked a leading question at one point. Also, the interviewee clearly demonstrated a postmodern awareness of the relativity of truth claims, something which all the respondents have done, which is interesting in itself.

bibliography

Bienkowski, Piotr (2006), 'Persons, Things and Archaeology: Contrasting World-views of Minds, Bodies and Death.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) - unpublished

Blain, Jenny and Wallis, Robert (2001), 'A British Reburial Issue? Statement by the “Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights” Project.' “Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights” Project [online] available from http://www.sacredsites.org.uk/reports/reburial.html [accessed 27.10.2006]

Blain, Jenny and Wallis, Robert (2004), 'No One Voice.' British Archaeology (78). [online] available from British Archaeology (http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba78/feat1.shtml) [accessed 27.10.2006]

Blain, Jenny and Wallis, Robert (2006), 'A Live Issue: Ancestors, Archaeologists and the “Reburial Issue” in Britain.' Association of Polytheist Traditions [online] available from http://www.manygods.org.uk/articles/essays/reburial.html [accessed 27.10.2006]

Blain, Jenny and Wallis, Robert (2006), 'The Sanctity of Burial: Pagan Views, Ancient and Modern.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Blain, Jenny and Wallis, Robert (forthcoming, 2007), Sacred Sites – Contested Rites/Rights: Pagan Engagements with Archaeological Monuments. Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press.

Brenneis, Don (2002), 'Some Cases for Culture.' Human Development 45 (4), pp. 264-269 [online] available from Ebscohost/Academic Search Elite (AN 11375837) [accessed 24.12.2006]

Brothwell, Don (2004), 'Bring out your dead: people, pots and politics.' Antiquity 78 (300), pp. 414-418 [online] available from Blackwell Synergy (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Burck, Charlotte (2005), 'Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis.' Journal of Family Therapy, 27 (3), pp. 237-262 [online] available from Ebscohost/Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (AN 17909639) [accessed 26.12.2006]

Cantwell, Anne-Marie (2000), ' “Who Knows the Power of His Bones”: Reburial Redux'. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 925 (1), pp. 79-119. [online] available from Blackwell Synergy (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Carroll, Quentin (2005), 'Bodies: Who wants to rebury old skeletons?' British Archaeology (82). [online] available from British Archaeology http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba82/feat1.shtml) [accessed 27.10.2006]

Chatters, James (2002), 'Last Word on Kennewick Man?' Archaeology, 55 (6) p. 17 [online] available from Ebscohost/Academic Search Elite (AN 7510937) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Davies, Paul (1998), 'Speaking for the ancestors: The reburial issue in Britain and Ireland. Personal thoughts concerning modern-day Druidic and Pagan theologies of burial, life after life and the conflicting practices of archaeologists.' Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids archive [online] available from http://www.druidry.org/obod/eisteddfod/entries/prose/reburial.html [accessed 27.10.2006]

De Baets, Antoon (2004), 'A Declaration of the Responsibilities of Present Generations towards Past Generations.' History and Theory, Theme Issue 43, pp. 130-164. [online] available from Blackwell Synergy (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Diaz-Bone, Rainer (2006), 'Kritische Diskursanalyse: zur Ausarbeitung einer problembezogenen Diskursanalyse im Anschluss an Foucault.' Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 7 (3), p. 1 [online] available from Ebscohost/SocINDEX (AN 21734748) [accessed 24.12.2006]

Domanska, Ewa (2005), 'Toward the Archaeontology of the dead body.' Rethinking History, 9 (4), pp. 389-413 [online] available from Ebscohost/Academic Search Elite (AN 18807076) [accessed 26.12.2006]

Doumas, Christos (1998), 'Excavation and rescue operations: what to preserve and why.' Museum International, 50 (2), pp. 6-9 [online] available from Blackwell Synergy (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Giles, Melanie (2006), 'Archaeology of Human Remains: Paradigm and Process.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Goldstein, Lynne and Kintigh, Keith (1990), 'Ethics and the Reburial Controversy.' American Antiquity, 55 (3), pp. 585-591 [online] available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Klesert, Anthony L. and Powell, Shirley (1993), 'A Perspective on Ethics and the Reburial Controversy.' American Antiquity, 58 (2), pp. 348-354 [online] available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Kluger, Jeffrey and Cray, Dan (2006), 'Who Should Own the Bones?' Time, 167 (11), pp. 50-51 [online] available from Ebscohost/Business Source Premier (AN 19953808) [accessed 26.12.2006]

Lehtonen, Mikko (2000), The Cultural Analysis of Texts. London: Sage Publications.

Levitt, Sarah and Coats, Laura (2006), 'Museums and Human Remains: Duty of Care, Consultation, Consent.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Parker-Pearson, Mike (2003), The Archaeology of Death and Burial. 2nd ed. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.

Randerson, James (2004), 'Guidelines for reburial of old Christian bones.' New Scientist 182 (2447) [online] available from Ebscohost/Academic Search Elite (AN 02624079) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Restall-Orr, Emma (2005), 'A Theology of Reburial.' Honouring the Ancient Dead [online] available from http://www.honour.org.uk/articles/reburial.html [accessed 27.10.2006]

Restall-Orr, Emma (2006), 'Cultural Attitudes Towards Sanctity of the Human Body.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Restall-Orr, Emma and Bienkowski, Piotr (2006), 'Respectful Treatment and Reburial: A Practical Guide.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Rountree, Kathryn (2006), 'Performing the Divine: Neo-Pagan Pilgrimages and Embodiment at Sacred Sites.' Body & Society, 12 (4), pp. 95-115 [online] available from Sage Publications (http://www.sagepublications.com) [accessed 5.11.2006]

Scarre, Chris and Scarre, Geoffrey, eds. (2006), The Ethics of Archaeology: Philosophical Perspectives on Archaeological Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scarre, Geoffrey (2006), 'Archaeology and Respect for the Dead.' Journal of Applied Philosophy 20 (3), pp.237-249 [online] available from Blackwell Synergy (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/) [accessed 18.10.2006]

Seibold, Carmel (2000), 'Qualitative research from a feminist perspective in the postmodern era: methodological, ethical and reflexive concerns.' Nursing Inquiry, 7 (3), pp. 147-155 [online] available from Ebscohost/Academic Search Elite (AN 5519166) [accessed 26.12.2006]

Slater, Elizabeth (2006), 'The Benefits of Scientific Study and Analysis of Ancient Human Remains.' Respect for Ancient British Human Remains: Philosophy and Practice. A conference organised by the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) and Honouring the Ancient Dead, supported by the Museums Association (17.11.2006) – unpublished

Wallis, Robert (2000), 'Queer Shamans: Autoarchaeology and Neo-Shamanism.' World Archaeology, 32 (2), pp. 256-262. [online] available from JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org) [accessed 18.10.2006]

interviews 2 and 3

I have now done interviews 2 and 3, which also went well and the respondents' ideas were richly nuanced and contained lots of different ideas and discourses, including some new ones not referenced in the first interview. All of the interviews taken together do actually reflect the range of positions and ideas to be found in the academic and other literature on this subject, though.

interview 1

I've just done my first interview, and it went really well, except I think I asked a leading question at one point, though it's difficult when it's someone you know and they said something fabulous in the past that you want them to reiterate for the interview.

Anyway I think I identified about 7 different discourses in one interview, so it was very richly-nuanced.

further reading

• No One Voice (British Archaeology no 78) Archaeologist Robert J Wallis and anthropologist Jenny Blain have been talking to modern British pagans about their beliefs and their interests in archaeological sites
• Bodies - Who wants to rebury old skeletons? (British Archaeology no 82) - Quentin Carroll
• A Theology of Reburial by Emma Restall-Orr
• A British Reburial Issue? by Jenny Blain & Robert Wallis
• Ancestors, Archaeologists and the 'Reburial Issue' in Britain - Jenny Blain and Robert J Wallis 2006
• Speaking for the Ancestors: The reburial issue in Britain and Ireland by Blackbird
• The unquiet dead - reflections on what to do with human remains by Yvonne Aburrow
• Reflections on the relationship between archaeology and Paganism by Yvonne Aburrow

Pagan perspectives

Pagan perspectives on the ancient dead vary according to a number of things:

• interest in archaeology: many Pagans are interested in archaeology and value the insights into our ancestors that it offers. Indeed, many Pagans were interested in archaeology before they started out on their spiritual path, and it may have been what inspired them in the first place.
• emphasis on timelessness: those who advocate reburial across the board don't seem very interested in history, stories and remembering the dead. They seem to regard the ancestors as a part of the landscape, not as individuals. Their discourse is also characterised by an essentialist view of tradition - the "it's always been this way" school of thought largely derived from early 20th-century folklore studies.
  
• emphasis on memory and stories: those who are interested in remembering the ancient dead and connecting with their culture (including Emma Restall Orr, whose position seems to have become more complex and nuanced) want to see respect at the centre of the agenda for handling the ancient dead, and acknowledge that this means different things to different people and in different cases and contexts.
• beliefs about the soul: those who are more inclined towards animism will tend to see the bones of the ancient dead as still containing spirit in some form. Those who are more inclined towards dualism will tend to see bones as inert matter.
• degree of holism: the more holistically inclined will tend to see landscape, community and ancestors as aspects of an organic whole; those who are more inclusionally inclined will see these as intertwined but distinct domains.