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A madeira em contextos funerários tardios: as evidências de recurso a um material perecível

Bibliographic Details
Summary:The archaeological study of the funerary world implies an integrated approach to the spaces and topographies of death, as well as to the materialities therein sedimented. Within the framework of these materialities, wood occupies a recurrently intangible place, because of its perishable character and the fact that its long-term preservation is only possible in very specifi c environments or as a result of the implementation of a strict range of processes. Nevertheless, the use of this biological material was intense, especially in periods that favored the ritual incineration of the deceased, such as in the early centuries of the Roman Empire. By contrast, from the 3rd century and, more clearly, from the 4th, the growing adherence to inhumation generated deep transformations in the funerary landscape. In this context, the ways in which wood was used also changed, and its central role as fuel was relegated to a secondary plan. The archaeological record refl ects this change, with the testimonies correlated with Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages becoming progressively scarcer. Even so, it is possible to list a set of direct and indirect remains, which show the persistence of the use of wood in funerary environments, although under new forms, namely as a protective structure, transportation device, or fi nal receptacle of the body. These remains form the focus of the present text, which does not intend to be an exhaustive listing of documented occurrences, but rather an overview of a reality that is barely touched upon, although full of interpretative possibilities concerning burial practices and strategies.
Country:Portugal
Document type:book
Access type:Open
Associated institution:Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto
Language:Portuguese
Origin:Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto

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