View source for Social:Grave goods

{{short description|Items buried along with the body}}
[[Image:Respaldo del trono de oro de Tutankamón.jpg|thumb|The [[Chemistry:Gilding|gilded]] throne of Pharaoh Tutankhamun is but one of the treasures found within his tomb.]]
'''Grave goods''', in [[Earth:Archaeology|archaeology]] and [[Social:Anthropology|anthropology]], are items buried along with a body.

They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an [[Philosophy:Afterlife|afterlife]], or offerings to  gods. Grave goods may be classed by researchers as a type of votive deposit. Most grave goods recovered by archaeologists consist of inorganic objects such as pottery and stone and metal tools, but organic objects that have since decayed were also placed in ancient tombs.<ref>[[Biography:Ian Morris (historian)|Ian Morris]], ''Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity'' (Cambridge, 1992; {{ISBN| 0-521-37611-4}})</ref> If grave goods were to be useful to the deceased in the afterlife, then favorite foods or everyday objects were supplied. Oftentimes, social status played a role in what was left and how often it was left.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grave Goods in Ancient Egypt|url= https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1049/grave-goods-in-ancient-egypt/|access-date= 2020-10-02|website= [[Organization:World History Encyclopedia|World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> Funerary art is a broad term but generally means artworks made specifically to decorate a burial place, such as miniature models of possessions - including slaves or servants - for "use" in an afterlife. (Ancient Egypt sometimes saw the burial of real servants with the deceased.<ref>{{Cite web|last= hooverre|date= 2014-02-06 |title= Ancient Egyptian Grave Goods|url= http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss14/2014/02/06/ancient-egyptian-grave-goods/|access-date= 2020-10-02|website= Rise of Civilization|language= en-US|archive-date= 2021-01-18|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210118205132/http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss14/2014/02/06/ancient-egyptian-grave-goods/|url-status= dead}}</ref> Similar cases of human sacrifice of slaves, retainers and wives feature in graves in (for example) the Americas, ancient Germania, and ancient Mesopotamia.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Taylor
 |first1               = Timothy
 |title                = The Buried Soul: How Humans Invented Death
 |year = 2004
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=gbjfAAAAMAAJ
 |publisher            = Beacon Press
 |isbn                 = 9780807046722
 |access-date          = 11 April 2023
}} 
</ref> Compare suttee.)

Where grave goods appear, grave robbery is a potential problem.  Etruscans would scratch the word ''śuθina'', [[Social:Etruscan language|Etruscan]] for "from a tomb", on grave goods buried with the dead to discourage their reuse by the living.<ref>Giuliano Bonfante and Larissa Bonfante ''The Etruscan Language: an Introduction'' (Univ. Manchester Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7190-5540-7}}); several examples collected</ref>  The tomb of [[Social:Pharaoh|pharaoh]] Tutankhamun is famous  because it was one of the few Egyptian tombs that was not thoroughly looted in ancient times.

Grave goods can be regarded as a sacrifice intended for the benefit of the deceased in the [[Philosophy:Afterlife|afterlife]]. Closely related are customs of ancestor worship and offerings to the dead, in modern western culture related to All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead), in East Asia the  "hell bank note" and related customs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=All Souls' Day – Saints & Angels|url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/allsouls/|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Catholic Online|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-26|title=Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714032711/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2017|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Travel|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-09-03|title=What's the Origin of Hell Money?|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2037316/whats-origin-hell-money|access-date=2020-10-14|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref> Also closely related is the custom of retainer sacrifice, where servants or wives of a deceased chieftain are interred with the body.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Human Sacrifice {{!}} The Ancient Egypt Site|url=http://www.ancient-egypt.org/from-a-to-z/h/human-sacrifice.html|access-date=2020-10-14|website=www.ancient-egypt.org}}</ref> As the inclusion of expensive grave goods and of slaves or retainers became a sign of high status in the [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]], the prohibitive cost led to the development of "fake" grave goods, where artwork meant to ''depict'' grave goods or retainers is produced for the burial and deposited in the grave in place of the actual sacrifice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC – History – Ancient History in depth: Hidden Treasure Fact Files|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/archaeology/fact_files_04.shtml#:~:text=The%20Ringlemere%20Cup%20-%20Cups%20were,metal,%20and%20very%20occasionally%20gold.|access-date=2020-10-14|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==History==

[[File:Urnenbestattung HH-Marmstorf Grab 216 Modell.jpg|thumb|150px|Model of the warrior's burial 'Hamburg-Marmstorf Grave No. 216', dating to circa 50 A.D., Hamburg-Marmstorf, Hamburg, Germany. At the upper edge are turf and the plough horizon. Below are the burial in a ceramic urn and beneath that the grave goods.]]
There are disputed claims of intentional burial of [[Biology:Neanderthal|Neanderthal]]s as old as 130,000 years. Similar claims have been made for early anatomically modern humans as old as 100,000 years. The earliest undisputed cases of burials are found in modern human sites of the Upper Palaeolithic. There is even evidence of the Egyptians burying themselves with grave goods very early in their prehistory. Examples of these grave goods included pots, combs, stone vessels, and slate palettes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Artifacts: Grave Goods, Mummification, Online Exhibits, Exhibits, Spurlock Museum, U of I|url=https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/exhibits/online/mummification/artifacts3.html|access-date=2020-11-12|website=www.spurlock.illinois.edu}}</ref>

Beads made of [[Earth:Basalt|basalt]] deposited in graves in the [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]]
date to the end of the [[Earth:Upper Paleolithic|Upper Paleolithic]], beginning in about the 12th to 11th millennium BC.<ref>The Earliest Beads, muma.org{{Clarify|date=October 2011}}</ref>

The distribution of grave goods are a potential indicator of the [[Social:Social stratification|social stratification]] of a society. Thus, early [[History:Neolithic|Neolithic]] graves tend to show equal distribution of goods, suggesting a more or less [[Social:Classless society|classless society]], while in [[Chemistry:Chalcolithic|Chalcolithic]] and [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] burials, rich grave goods are concentrated in "chieftain" graves ([[Earth:Tumulus|barrows]]), indicating social stratification.<ref>see e.g. William A. Haviland, Harald E. L. Prins, Dana Walrath, Bunny McBride, ''Anthropology: The Human Challenge'', Cengage Learning, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-495-81084-1}}, p. 268.</ref> It is also possible that burial goods indicate a level of concern and consciousness in regard to an [[Philosophy:Afterlife|afterlife]] and related sense of [[Philosophy:Spirituality|spirituality]]. For example, when they buried pharaohs in ancient Egypt, they buried common house hold items, food, vehicles, etc. so they could have a comfortable afterlife.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mummy History|url=https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/history-of-the-mummy|access-date=2020-11-12|website=history.com|language=en}}</ref>

==Famous grave sites==
[[File:Conical loaves of bread, Gebelein, 5th Dynasty c 2400 BC.jpg|thumb|left|Conical loaves of bread as grave goods exactly as laid out in the Great Tomb, North Necropolis, Gebelein, 5th Dynasty (Old Kingdom), 2435–2305 BC. Excavations by Ernesto Schiaparelli, 1911. Egyptian Museum, Turin, S. 14051–14055]]

The expression of social status in rich graves is taken to extremes in the royal graves of the Bronze Age. In the Theban Necropolis in Ancient Egypt, the pyramids and the royal graves in the Valley of the Kings are among the most elaborate burials in human history. This trend is continued into the [[History:Iron Age|Iron Age]]. An example of an extremely rich royal grave of the Iron Age is the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lubow|first=Arthur|title=Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/terra-cotta-soldiers-on-the-march-30942673/|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

In the sphere of the Roman Empire, [[Religion:Early Christianity|early Christian]] graves lack grave goods, and grave goods tend to disappear with the [[Religion:Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism|decline of Greco-Roman polytheism]] in the 5th and 6th centuries. Similarly, the presence of grave goods in the [[History:Early Middle Ages|Early Middle Ages]] in Europe has often been taken as evidence of [[Religion:Paganism|paganism]], although during the period of conversion in Anglo-Saxon England and the Frankish Empire (7th century), the situation may be more complicated.<ref>Helen Geake, ''The use of grave-goods in conversion-period England, c. 600–c. 850'', British Archaeological Reports, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-86054-917-8}}</ref>
In the Christian Middle Ages, high-status graves are marked on the exterior, with tomb effigies or expensive tomb stones and still had certain grave goods such as accessories and textiles.<ref name="Pleşa 2017">{{Cite journal|last=Pleşa|first=Alexandra D.|date=2017|title=Religious Belief in Burial: Funerary Dress and Practice at the Late Antique and Early Islamic Cemeteries at Matmar and Mostagedda, Egypt (Late Fourth–Early Ninth Centuries CE)|journal=Ars Orientalis|volume=47|issue=20191029|doi=10.3998/ars.13441566.0047.002|hdl=2027/spo.13441566.0047.002|issn=2328-1286|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The practice of placing grave goods with the dead body has thus an uninterrupted history beginning in the [[Earth:Upper Paleolithic|Upper Paleolithic]], if not the [[Earth:Middle Paleolithic|Middle Paleolithic]]. Many people would assume that the introduction of Christianity led to the absence of grave goods, however, there were many different Christian tombs that were shown to still have grave goods such as jewelry.<ref name="Pleşa 2017"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bayliss|first=Alex|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315097220|title=Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD|date=2017-07-05|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9781315097220|isbn=978-1-315-09722-0}}</ref>

==Role in archaeology==
[[File:Copper age grave group stone wristguard copper dagger bone belt fitting sittingbourne british museum.JPG|thumb|right|A Copper Age grave group including a stone wristguard, copper dagger and bone belt fitting found at Sittingbourne]]
The importance of grave goods, from the simple behavioral and technical to the metaphysical,  in [[Earth:Archaeology|archaeology]] cannot be overestimated. Because of their almost ubiquitous presence throughout the world and throughout prehistory, in many cases the excavation of every-day items placed in burials is the main source of such artifacts in a given prehistoric culture.
However, care must be taken to avoid naïve interpretation of grave goods as an objective sample of artifacts in use in a culture. Because of their ritual context, grave goods may represent a special class of artifacts, in some instances produced especially for burial.
Artwork produced for the burial itself is known as funerary art, while grave goods in the narrow sense are items produced for actual use that are placed in the grave, but in practice the two categories overlap.

Grave goods in Bronze Age and Iron Age cemeteries are a good indicator of relative [[Social:Social status|social status]]; these wealthier graves may have included earrings, necklaces, and exotic foreign materials such as amber. Some even had the spectacular sighting of gold as their grave goods which contrasted from the less wealthy graves which were more deficient.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC – History – Ancient History in depth: Hidden Treasure Fact Files|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/archaeology/fact_files_04.shtml#:~:text=Among%20the%20personal%20ornaments%20were,spectacular%20were%20items%20of%20gold.|access-date=2020-11-12|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> Also,
in a 2001 study on an Iron Age cemetery in Pontecagnano Faiano, Italy, a correlation was found between the quality of grave goods and  [[Physics:Forensic science|Forensic]] indicators on the skeletons, showing that skeletons in wealthy tombs tended to show substantially less evidence of biological stress during adulthood, with fewer broken bones or signs of hard labor.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=John |last1=Robb |first2=Renzo |last2=Bigazzi |first3=Luca |last3=Lazzarini |first4=Caterina |last4=Scarsini |first5=Fiorenza |last5=Sonego |title=Social status and biological status: A comparison of grave goods and skeletal indicators from Pontecagnano |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=115 |issue=3 |pages=213–222 |year=2001 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1076 |pmid=11424073 }}</ref>

Along with social status, grave goods also shed light on the societal norms with regards to sex. Common binary societies had women perform duties such as mothering, processing activities, cooking, etc. and men perform duties such as hunting and fighting. These societies would bury their women with jewelry and their men with axes. The Durankulak cemetery on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast had findings to match this society structure.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Stratton|first=Susan|date=2016-08-11|title='Seek and you Shall Find.' How the Analysis of Gendered Patterns in Archaeology can Create False Binaries: a Case Study from Durankulak|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-016-9290-2|journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory|volume=23|issue=3|pages=854–869|doi=10.1007/s10816-016-9290-2|s2cid=152224107|issn=1072-5369}}</ref> There are societies where the roles are switched. The Sauromatian society's women were highly respected warriors. Their graves were full of weapons and horse trappings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guliaev|first=V. I.|date=April 2003|title=Amazons in the Scythia: New finds at the Middle Don, Southern Russia|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0043824032000078117|journal=World Archaeology|volume=35|issue=1|pages=112–125|doi=10.1080/0043824032000078117|s2cid=22946203|issn=0043-8243}}</ref> When it was difficult to determine sex of the individual due to bone decay, the grave goods became the determining factor.

==See also==
* Burial
* [[History:Grave field|Grave field]]
* Necropolis
* ''Mingqi'', the traditional Chinese burial goods

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Härke |first=Heinrich |date=2014 |title=Grave goods in early medieval burials: messages and meanings |journal=Mortality |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=41–60 |doi=10.1080/13576275.2013.870544 |s2cid=143771175 |issn=1357-6275}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Huggett |first=J. W. |date=1988 |title=Imported Grave Goods and the Early Anglo-Saxon Economy |journal=Medieval Archaeology |language=en |volume=32 |pages=63–96 |doi=10.5284/1071745 |doi-access=free}}
*{{Cite journal |last1=Woodward |first1=Ann |last2=Hunter |first2=John |last3=Ixer |first3=Rob |last4=Maltby |first4=Mark |last5=Potts |first5=Philip J. |last6=Webb |first6=Peter C. |last7=Watson |first7=John S. |last8=Jones |first8=Michael C. |date=2005 |title=Ritual in Some Early Bronze Age Gravegoods |journal=Archaeological Journal |language=en |volume=162 |pages=31–64 |doi=10.1080/00665983.2005.11020620|s2cid=162333049 }}

{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.mama.org/exhibits/ancient/ ''The Earliest Beads'', Treasures From the Ancient World, Museum of Ancient and Modern Art, at muma.org]



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[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Afterlife]]

{{Sourceattribution|Grave goods}}