The Age-at-death Profile of Burial Sites in Mainland Southeast Asia: A Funerary Perspective
Age-at-death profiles of individuals from cemeteries are commonly used to indirectly study health and demographic fluctuations in bioarchaeological studies. In this paper, we consider a large dataset, comprising 18 well-dated sites from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, spanning the Neolithic...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/15954 |
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| Summary: | Age-at-death profiles of individuals from cemeteries are commonly used to indirectly study health and demographic fluctuations in bioarchaeological studies. In this paper, we consider a large dataset, comprising 18 well-dated sites from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, spanning the Neolithic to the Iron Age, to investigate age-biased patterns. We challenge the assumption that such patterns are solely due to underlying demography, incomplete excavation or selective preservation of certain skeletons. We argue that age-related anomalies are linked at least in part to the funerary and social dimensions of these sites. By using age-at-death profiles, we demonstrate that age-based selection takes part in the overall funerary behaviour of a given culture, although other influences, such as demographic fluctuations and diseases, may play a determining role at given locales and at different time periods. |
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| ISSN: | 1777-5469 |