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Disarticulation, evisceration and excarnation: Neolithic mortuary practices at Dingsishan, southern China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2024

Ziqi Ye Open the ORCID record for Ziqi Ye [Opens in a new window] ,
Minghui Wang ,
Jay T. Stock  and
Fa-jun Li
Ziqi Ye
Affiliation:
The Key Laboratory of Human Evolution and Archaeometry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Canada
Minghui Wang
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
Jay T. Stock
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Canada
Fa-jun Li*
Affiliation:
The Key Laboratory of Human Evolution and Archaeometry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China Department of Anthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
*
*Author for correspondence ✉ lifajun@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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Abstract

The diversity of human mortuary practices and treatments in prehistory is widely recognised, but our understanding of the purpose and manner of corpse manipulation in many regions is limited. This article reports on unusual aspects of funerary archaeology at the Neolithic site of Dingsishan, southern China. Anatomical consideration of cutmarks on human bones and the positioning of bodies and body parts within burials suggests that mortuary treatments at this site included strategic and systematic disarticulation, evisceration and excarnation. Rather than signalling social differences, these practices may have resulted from the very practical need to save space.

Keywords

Southeast AsiaNeolithicDingsishan culturecorpse treatmentmortuary practicecutmarks
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd

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