Cremating the Dead: Bronze Age Funerary Practices in Perthshire

The Bronze Age was a time of profound change in many aspects of life, from agriculture to metalwork; these changes are documented in the objects we find and can tell us how society developed.

Another aspect of life that saw this change was funerary practices.In this talk, Beth Brunton will focus on the osteological analysis of the cremated human remains at Sketewan, Balnaguard in Perthshire, which is an Early to Middle Bronze Age funerary site.Exploring the results of the bioarchaeological analysis of the remains that determines the cremation technology and associated funerary practices, Beth will discuss the significance of this analysis from the Perthshire site and what it can tell us about practices and how they fit into the broader picture of funerary practices in Bronze Age Scotland.About the speakerBeth Brunton holds an undergraduate degree in Celtic and Archaeology from the University of Edinburgh and is currently completing her master’s degree, also at the University of Edinburgh in Human Osteoarchaeology.

Her research interests are primarily focused on Bronze Age and Iron Age funerary practices, with a focus on practices which involve the destruction of the body (eg cremation, excarnation, disarticulation).

She is also interested in understanding how funerary practices and treatments/interactions with the dead reflect aspects of identity and social structures in prehistory.