Professor Howard Williams on the Archaeology of Death and Cremation

Why and how do we study cremation and for whom? I’ve long been interested in why and how the study of past and contemporary cremation practices along with what our academic and public audiences might be.

The study of cremation most certainly transcends a host of disciplinary interests regarding death, bereavement, mortuary practice and commemoration. Disciplines include art, literature and language, anthropology, sociology, history, geography, heritage studies and archaeology and existing interdisciplinary fields such as classical/ancient history, medieval studies, media studies, material culture studies, death studies.

I believe we study cremation to learn about the use of fire to transform and commemorate the dead in the human past, but also to learn about ourselves and our relationship with death and the dead.

We also explore cremation to consider our future potential deathways. Together, past, present and future, the theme and focus of ‘cremation studies’ helps us consider the materials and spaces, tempos and social memories involved in interaction of the dead with fire. It also shows us how, in contextual association with other disposal strategies and commemorative options, cremation is implicated in the historically contingent construction and reproduction of dialogues between the living and the dead on varying scales and temporalities from earlier prehistory to the present day.

I recently presented a talk where I reviewed my past research on the character, significance and variability of early Anglo-Saxon period cremation practices, as well as other cremating traditions across North West Europe. This relates to a brand-new edited collection, the first of its kind, exploring cremation in the Early Middle Ages, co-edited with Femke Lippok.

I discussed the challenge of bringing the rituals and materialities, elemental and sensorial dimensions of past cremation practices ‘to life’ in museums and heritage sites. In addition, I challenged our modest and few attempts to envision past cremation practices via art. I also addressed avenues for public engagement regarding cremation, and how the 21st-century dead are now being transformed and commemorated in dialogue with recreated prehistories and early histories of the cremated commemoration.

The challenge of bringing the rituals and materialities, elemental and sensorial dimensions of past cremation practices ‘to life’ in museums and heritage sites remains a pressing concern. We need artistic reconstructions to build upon the very few attempts thus far to envision past cremation practices.. This is but one of many potential avenues for public engagement regarding cremation, and how the 21st-century dead are now being transformed and commemorated in dialogue with recreated prehistories and early histories of the cremated commemoration.

My talk considered how cremation from the Early Middle Ages operates in contemporary popular culture. I addressed comic books about Beowulf as my opening salvo, before considering open-air cremations in Game of Thrones and Vikings. and my discussions of the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta revealing the political, cultural, social, economic and religious ramifications and connotations of cremation in today’s world.

The talk concluded by emphasising the requirement to rethink cremation’s origins, diversity and technologies past and present and expand the parameters and foci of our study of cremation in human societies from prehistory through to contemporary society.

My 2008 article and 2015 re-published article ‘Towards an Archaeology of Cremation’ point us towards the future. Also, via this blog or in my past and forthcoming works, I specifically promote the transdisciplinary nature of cremation studies.

I hope this blog goes some way to provide a resource for others interested in this topic to consider and reflect on the theories, methods and parameters of our investigation as well as the main publications where I’ve addressed each of the three themes I have selected to explore.

Find out how you can learn more about this subject area from Professor Howard Williams by checking out our course webpages to see how you can apply:

• Death and Memory MA
• Public Archaeology MA
• Archaeology BA (Hons)

You can also read more of Howard Williams’ blog posts here.

Cremation in the Early Middle Ages: Death, fire and identity in North-West Europe, edited by Howard Williams and Femke Lippol. Read it open access here.