Social Structures

Abstract

Mortuary analysis in archaeology has often concentrated on the social implica- tions of the disposal and commemoration of the dead. Historic cemeteries provide rich evidence for social structure, from excavation but also in a more accessible form through memorials (Moore al., 1991). The content and style of memorial texts, the arrangement of monuments within burial grounds, and the choices made over size, form and material, can often be linked to social structures. Tensions between social groups and between the owners and users of burial grounds can also be identified and analyzed. Many social changes through time and space have a correlate in the memorial evidence, and more importantly it was some- times in the arenas of burial grounds that such tensions were actively played out.