Pattern and diversity in the Early Neolithic mortuary practices of Britain and Ireland> contextualising the treatment of the dead

ABSTRACT – This article presents the first synthesis of the evidence for a diverse range of mortuary practices across the British Isles, and an interpretation of what they suggest about understandings of the body, relatedness, personhood and ancestry in Early Neolithic Britain and Ireland. By exploring the ways that mortuary practices were interwoven with the development of the places where they were carried out, we can build up a more detailed – and more varied – picture of the principles underlying Early Neolithic mortuary practices. Some practices suggest an interest in the ancestral remains of the dead, while others suggest different phenomena, yet a general picture of how human bodies were appreciated emerges. IZVLE∞EK – V razpravi predstavljamo prvo sintezo podatkov o razli≠nih pogrebnih praksah na Bri-tanskem oto≠ju in interpretacijo razumevanja telesa, sorodstva, osebnosti in prednikov v zgodnjem neolitiku v Britaniji in Severni Irski. S pomo≠jo prepletanja pogrebnih praks in razvoja prostorov, na katerih so potekale, gradimo natan≠no, a raznoli≠no podobo na≠el, na katerih so temeljile zgod-nje neolitske pogrebne prakse. Nekatere prakse so povezane s predniki, druge nakazujejo druga≠ne fenomene, vse pa omogo≠ajo splo∏en uvid v dojemanje ≠love∏kega telesa. KEY WORDS – mortuary practice; excarnation; cremation; collective burial; successive burial; bodies; Neolithic Britain and Irelan