Ref ID:	22888
Ref Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Coupey, Anne-Sophie
Title:	The management of the sepulchral place and the distribution of the deceased: examples of some reduced burials from iron age sites in the Samon River Valley, upper Burma
Date:	2012
Source:	Crossing borders: selected papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists
Place of Publication:	Singapore
Publisher:	NUS Press
Abstract:	The question of opening graves and of reshaping fleshless bones is rarely tackled in Southeast Asia's prehistoric archaeology. Was this kind of funeral practice really uncommon? With regard to the Iron Age burial sites of the Samon River Valley, the answer is no. Bundled burials seem to be quite common. Reduced burials are different from secondary burials because the reshaping of bones is made in the same location as the original burials, and is not planned at the moment of the first interment. The skeletons are "adjusted" to make room for new inhumations. Reduced burials fulfil a purpose of management of the community's cemetery. The location of the graves within the burial site and their regrouping serve as evidence of family or social relationships that closely link some deceased.
Date Created:	9/19/2013
Editors:	Tjoa-Bonatz, Mai Lin Reinecke, Andreas Bonatz, Dominik
Volume:	1
Page Start:	84
Page End:	95