Death in the Iron Age of Eastern England: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Human Remains from 800 BC – AD 60

Death in the Iron Age of Eastern Englandexplores the treatment of the non-cremated dead from 800BC - c.AD60 in what is now eastern England. The research presented identifies large-scale patterns in post-mortem treatment, furthering existing debates around excarnation practices, inhumation traditions and the ‘invisible dead’. The region has seen comparatively little in-depth study in recent years, while the quantity of excavated material has increased exponentially due to the rise of development-led archaeology. This book gathers and presents the known data to shed light on an under-researched part of Iron Age Britain through the study of complete inhumations, partial skeletal remains and disarticulated human bones. The data is interpreted via integrated methodological approaches that combine contextual archaeology, osteology and bone taphonomy to better understand post-mortem processes, regional variation and the role of the dead in Iron Age societies.