Beyond cremation: Theorising fire in funerary contexts

When one thinks about the role and uses of fire in relation to mortuary archaeology, evidence concerning the practice of cremation understandably dominates the literature. However, a growing body of research is demonstrating how fire, its products and its effects were employed by people in the past for many different forms of interaction between the living and the dead. Fire can be employed for the desiccation, fumigation, purification,...