Following the dead beyond the ‘nation’: a map for transnational Alevi funerary routes from Europe to Turkey

Abstract

Life-cycle rituals such as weddings and funerals vigorously stimulate transnational engagements among immigrant communities. On the basis of a two-year multi-sited ethnographic research project among Alevi immigrant communities in Europe, this article approaches the process of ‘revival’, by which Alevism has evolved from a locally invisible to a transnationally visible belief community, through the lens of mortuary practices. The ‘mortuary focus’ draws attention to the significance of funeral rituals to the study of transnational engagements of contemporary immigrant communities beyond methodological nationalism. This analysis thus considers the act of transporting deceased community members back to their home-village as a ritualized and spatial practice of (transnational) community-making beyond national categories and cartographies.     

Intentional cutmarks on an early mesolithic human calvaria from Margaux Cave (Dinant,Belgium)

Margaux Cave (Belgium) yielded a Pre‐Boreal Early Mesolithic burial covered by what resembled a burial mound. The hundreds of human bones excavated belonged to 7 to 10 adult females. Among these bones, the CR3 cranium presents numerous cutmarks on both zygomatic processes, on the frontal squama and along the two coronal sutures, as well as on the left part of the posterior cranium. The cutmarks on the zygomatic processes correspond to the removal of the mandible while those on the top of the forehead and the occipital may result from the removal of the scalp. Therefore, these cutmarks may be interpreted as part of a mortuary ritual. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

新疆吐鲁番加依墓地的母婴合葬现象

新疆吐鲁番加依墓地位于吐鲁番市亚尔乡加依村南3公里的戈壁台地上,其年代大致在青铜-早期铁器时代。本文结合人类骨骼考古学、死亡考古学与临床医学的方法,对其中4例疑似的母婴合葬墓（M31、M70、M222、M224）进行了研究。通过对墓葬中遗骸的生物学信息以及埋藏位置信息的采集与分析,判断这4座墓葬中的个体关系应当为母亲和其婴儿。其中,3座墓葬中的母婴个体为分娩后死亡,1座墓葬中的母亲和胎儿个体死于孕期或者分娩过程中。造成这些个体死亡的直接原因可能是难产和产褥期疾病,营养不良和感染性疾病等因素也增加了他们的死亡风险。这4座墓葬一方面体现了古代女性生育所面临的困难,一方面体现了加依先民们对于母婴联结以及“灵魂”的认识,将母婴葬于一室不仅是对死者的关怀,更是对生者的告慰。本文的研究旨在为解读古代遗址中的母婴合葬墓提供一个新视角。     

Death,Funerals and Emotion in an Australian Aboriginal Community

This paper discusses emotions as intersubjective states that develop in the interactions between individuals. Central to the discussion is the funeral of an Aboriginal elder in Cape York Peninsula, Australia. The actions of certain of her kin are described, and demonstrate their concern to bridge the gap between the loss of such elders and the uncertainties of a future without their guidance. Funerals are clearly events marking the social change associated with death and allow for intense expressions of grief, but they are also part of the trajectory of everyday life. In the social context discussed, beliefs about intersubjectivity between the spirits of the dead and their living kin inform all spheres of action, including the economic, and require observance of the cultural value of ‘respect’. Understanding emotions as interactive states engaged in such locally significant events sheds light on the relationship between them and collective political aspirations.