2018/07/23 by Bob Simpson · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Medicine · Psychology · #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Organ Donation and Transplantation #Paleopathology and ancient diseases
paper · pdf · doi:10.29164/18death
openalex publication_date 2018/07/23 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The variety of ways in which death has been handled in human societies has been a source of much scholarly fascination. In this brief overview, anthropological approaches to the study of death are identified and explained. The emphasis is on death as a social event rather than the mere cessation of bodily functions. The piece describes classical anthropological approaches to death rituals and specifically as these are found in the work of Robert Hertz. Consideration is then given to the transformation of death and the way that mortuary practices have changed over time. In these changes can be seen the way that the lives of the dead are conceived in relation to those who are left behind. Contemporary examples of this relationship are drawn from biomedicine and the practice of organ transplantation and from instances where those killed in political violence are exhumed. The piece ends with a brief reflection on the future of the afterlife.