The Celtic World (Routledge Worlds)

(Barry) #1

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX


BURIAL AND THE


OTHERWORLD


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Gerald A. Wait


INTRODUCTION


I
t is a truism to observe that all people die. It is equally true to observe that
the death of a loved one is one of the most traumatic events in life. Beliefs
about the nature of life, death and what happens thereafter, are profoundly religious
in nature. The study of burials brings the archaeologist into the closest possible
contact with a vanished people and society - providing both the remains of the
individuals and one of the very few enduring examples of very deliberate, and inher-
ently meaningful, belief-laden activities. Jean-Louis Brunaux has phrased it thus:
'it would be more correct to see the [world of the dead] as the terrain of an ideology



  • not simply funerary, but more broadly religious and eschatological.' Burials and
    funerary practices are of unequalled value to the archaeologist.
    There is a multitude of intervening factors between the archaeologist and an
    understanding of Celtic burial practices and Celtic beliefs about the Otherworld.
    These must be considered first, before discussing in rather more detail just what
    sources of information are available, and what those sources have to say about the
    Celtic world.
    The first and mo'st important point is that the archaeological record (which is
    almost all the information available over most of the time and area discussed) is of
    itself almost mute. The archaeological artefacts and contexts acquire meaning
    through a process of argument by analogy. It is therefore important that the analogies
    be selected with care.
    A second and equally important point is that specific religious beliefs about death
    and the Otherworld need not be reflected in specific practices, and vice versa. Put
    simply, a belief in life after death may be instituted by the practice of cremation,
    but is equally likely to be implemented by inhumation burial. Lastly, the vagaries of
    survival that plague all archaeological evidence must be mentioned. It is all too likely
    that crucial evidence was made of perishable materials and is unlikely to survive in
    its usual context; therefore if it survives in an unusual context its relevance may not
    be recognized.

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