burial goods

Examples of burial goods in the following topics:

• Burial Goods of the Han Dynasty

  • The Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history during which a great deal of art, including burial goods, was produced.
  • One of the most well-known styles of art during the Han Dynasty was burial art, which evolved between the Western and Eastern Han periods.
  • During the Western Han period, burial goods consisted of wares and pieces of art that were used by the tomb occupant when they were alive.
  • During the Eastern Han period, however, new stylistic goods, wares, and artwork found in tombs were usually made exclusively for burial and were not produced for previous use by the deceased when they were alive.
  • A Jade burial suit is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which royal members in Han Dynasty were buried.

• Tombs

  • The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death.
  • Rituals and protocols included mummification, casting of magic spells, and burial with specific grave goods thought to be needed in the afterlife.
  • From the earliest periods of Egyptian history, all Egyptians were buried with at least some burial goods that they thought were necessary after death.
  • As burial customs developed in the Old Kingdom, wealthy citizens were buried in wooden or stone coffins; however the number of burial goods declined, sometimes to simply a set of copper tools and some vessels.
  • Royal mastabas were used to mark the burial site of many important Egyptians.

• Tombs of the Middle Kingdom

  • Royal funerary practices in the Middle Kingdom remained much the same as in the Old Kingdom, with kings continuing to build pyramids for their burials.
  • Burial goods continued to be commonplace in tombs.
  • During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptians outside of the elite levels of society gained access to this funerary literature and began incorporating it into their own burials.
  • Scarabs were often included in tombs along with other burial goods as protectors of written products.
  • Compare and contrast the tombs and burial goods of the Middle Kingdom with those of the Old Kingdom.

• Norse Ships in the Early European Middle Ages

  • The Oseberg ship was discovered in a burial mound in Norway and is one of the finest artistic and archaeological finds from the Viking Age.
  • The Oseberg burial mound contained numerous grave goods and the remains of two female human skeletons.
  • The skeletons of two women were found in the Oseberg burial mound.
  • Regardless, the opulence of the burial rite and the grave-goods suggests that this was a burial of very high status.
  • Identify the important artifacts found in the burial mound of the Oseberg ship.

• Eastern Woodland Culture

  • The most archaeologically certifiable sites of burial during this time were in Illinois and Ohio.
  • Due to the similarity of earthworks and burial goods, researchers assume a common body of religious practice and cultural interaction existed throughout the entire region (referred to as the "Hopewellian Interaction Sphere").
  • Clan heads were buried along with goods received from their trading partners to symbolize the relationships they had established.
  • In most areas, construction of burial mounds decreased drastically, as did long distance trade in exotic materials.
  • The most archaeologically certifiable sites of burial during this time were in Illinois and Ohio.

• Grave Goods in the Kofun Period

  • The Kofun period is the oldest era of recorded history in Japan and is characterized by its earthen burial mounds.
  • The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating back to this era.
  • Kofun (from Middle Chinese kú, meaning "ancient", and bjun, meaning "burial mound") are defined as the burial mounds built for the people of the ruling class during the 3rd to 7th centuries in Japan, and the Kofun period takes its name from these distinctive earthen mounds.
  • The mounds contained large stone burial chambers, and some were surrounded by moats.
  • Daisen Kofun, the largest of the earthen burial mounds from the Kofun period in Japan.

• The Sican

  • This social stratification is revealed in varying burial types and practices, along with accompanying grave goods.
  • Secondly, it was found that one's social status was also a determinant of the burial position of the body; seated, extended, or flexed.
  • Other grave goods of the elite included:
  • On the other hand, commoner burials had significantly fewer grave goods of different types, made of less valuable materials.
  • The pyramidal monumental mounds were used as both burials sites for the elite and places of worship and ritual.

• Etruscan Tombs

  • Burial urns and sarcophagi, both large and small, were used to hold the cremated remains of the dead.
  • Early forms of burial include the burial of ashes with grave goods in funerary urns and small ceramic huts .
  • The grave goods found in these tombs point to the Etruscan belief in an afterlife that required the same types of goods and materials as in the world of the living.
  • The tombs of the Monterozzi Necropolis outside of Tarquinia are also subterranean burial chambers.
  • Discuss the tombs, funerary practices, and grave goods of the early Etruscans.

• Woodland Burial Mounds and Chiefdoms

  • The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native-American societies sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system.
  • They served as burial structures, ceremonial sites, historical markers, and, possibly, gathering places.
  • According to archaeological investigations, Adena mounds were usually built as part of a burial ritual in which the earth of the mound was piled atop a burned mortuary building.
  • These mortuary buildings were intended to maintain the dead until their final burial could be performed.
  • Before the construction of the mounds, some utilitarian and grave goods would be placed on the floor of the structure, which was subsequently burned.

• Funerary Art

  • Tomb is a general term for a repository, while grave goods are objects that have been placed inside.
  • Such objects may include the personal possessions of the deceased, objects specially created for the burial, or miniature versions of things believed to be needed in the afterlife.
  • Although mass ossuaries have also been used, burial has always been the preferred Christian tradition, at least until recent times.
  • The church struggled to eliminate the pagan habit of leaving grave goods untouched, except for the clothing and usual jewelry of the powerful.
  • The Early Christian Church encouraged burial in a plain white winding-sheet, and, for centuries, most except royalty followed this custom.