Brûler le défunt pour traverser le temps des funérailles

Abstract

The archaeological excavations have made an important contribution to understand how a oven is in action. Here take place the physical and symbolic transformation of a body. Structures of this type are a place of cremation, of burial and symbolical activities. At first, the physical process of transformation seems easy : burning the corps then collecting the bones. In detail, the “doings” make a complex process of events. New evidences emerge from the excavations and the reconstruction of the chaining of events becomes possible. Ethnoarchaeological examples are presented to illustrate the ways of burning a human corps and to determine how the events follow one other. Finally, this article suggests directing research towards the restitution of the material transformation process of the body, in order to try to identify the stages of the funeral transformation of the deceased.

Keywords

• cremation
• ethnoarchaeology
• oven
• transformation process