ANTH 3666 - Anthropology of Death

The primary goal of the course is to identify and understand the range of human expression through the treatment of human remains in anthropological literature with focus on burials, mortuary practices, and associated rituals. Along with more theoretical papers, specific case studies will be used to address a variety of topics and issues, such as historic and prehistoric social organization, bio-archaeology, cannibalism, human sacrifice, mummification, the ethics of studying human remains, and the treatment of pets in prehistory. The time range that we will cover in the course will span from the Neolithic to the early 20th century, and numerous cultures from all parts of the globe will be our subject matter. Semester Hours: 3 to 3