Rebecca Crozier

University of Aberdeen | ABDN · Department of Archaeology

The Neolithic site of the Knowe of Rowiegar chambered cairn, Orkney, was excavated in 1937 as part of a campaign that saw the excavation of various chamber cairns on the island of Rousay, Orkney (Davidson & Henshall, 1989). Osteological and isotope research undertaken in recent years has reignited interest in the site. The research presented here f...

This paper has several aims: to determine if Yersinia pestis was the causative agent in the last Scottish plague outbreak in the mid-17th century; map the geographic spread of the epidemic and isolate potential contributing factors to its spread and severity; and examine funerary behaviours in the context of a serious plague epidemic in early moder...

Livestreaming and filming death rites and funeral ceremonies to enable remote engagement proliferated rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many expect these options to remain prevalent going forward. This paper draws on interviews with a diverse UK sample of 68 bereaved people, funeral directors, officiants and celebrants. It illustrates how,...

Especially when travel and gatherings were restricted during the pandemic, filming and livestreaming enabled more people to connect with funerals than could attend in person. Filming has also created another less well considered possibility: of revisiting a funeral via a recording. This Viewpoint outlines a range of experiences and opinions about t...

This paper describes the analysis of a small assemblage of fragmentary human remains discovered during renovations in a residential property in Aberdeen City, Scotland. Two sets of cranial remains display clear evidence for dissection/autopsy activities; a craniotomy and a trephination. Radiocarbon dating places them in the late 18th and early 19th...

This paper explores the evidence for social structuring principles and other aspects of identity at Man Bac, an early Neolithic (2066–1523 cal. BCE) community in northern Vietnam. Drawing on a wealth of work over the past 15 years, we examine identity with respect to three fundamental classes of data: intrinsic biological variables (age-at-death, s...

Of over 300 burials excavated at the Carmelite church site of Whitefriars in Perth, Scotland, 22 individuals were found associated with wooden staffs. Staffs, also termed rods and even wands, are a relatively uncommon grave good in otherwise Christian burials of the time. The staffs themselves are long and fashioned from ‘green’ wood; usually from...

The Bubog-1 rockshelter on Ilin Island has provided important evidence for Late Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene (c. 33 000–4000 cal BP) human habitation, yet little is known about the contemporaneous transmission of material culture, technology and mortuary practices across Island Southeast Asia. Recent archaeological research at Bubog-1 has revealed a...

Since the 1990s there has been an increase in bioarchaeological research in many parts of Southeast Asia by both locals and non-locals. Southeast Asian countries are characterised by varied social, cultural, and political histories, but there are also some broad similarities in terms of poor economic development that limits much local research, and...

Megalithic tombs in Orkney have yielded some of the largest volumes of human remains in Neolithic Britain – a significant resource. However, discrete skeletons are lacking, the researcher often presented with formidable volumes of disarticulated and comingled remains. Themes of transformation, fragmentation and manipulation of the body permeate the...

The antiquity of the practice of grazing on and/or foddering with seaweed is of interest in terms of understanding animal management practices in northwest Europe, where provision had to be made for overwintering. Orkney holds a special place in this discussion, since the sheep of North Ronaldsay have been confined to the seashores since the early...

A case of disability in the Metal Period of the Philippines, likely requiring healthcare from others, is presented to explore aspects of group dynamics in this period of antiquity. B243, a middle-aged male excavated from the Napa site in the central Philippines, suffered severe trauma to the right leg resulting in considerable restrictions to mobil...

Recognition of tremendous variation in the treatment of the dead, both temporally and geographically, has done little to curtail the pursuit of homogenous mortuary rites for monuments which appear, by virtue of their architecture, to be similar. This is aptly demonstrated in considering the Neolithic tombs of Orkney, Scotland. The Orcadian human bo...

A total of 20 new AMS radiocarbon determinations on human bone have been obtained for the Neolithic chamber tomb of Quanterness, Orkney. The results show poor agreement with the recorded stratigraphy, suggesting extensive mixing of the chamber deposits. A Bayesian model treating all of the determinations as deriving from a single phase of activity...