Blowing in the wind? Identity, materiality, and the destinations of human ashes

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In this Subject: <a title="Anthropology & Archeology" href="/content/subcat?j_subject=237&j_availability=">Anthropology & Archeology
By this author: Prendergast, David ;&nbsp; Hockey, Jenny ;&nbsp; Kellaher, Leonie

Authors: Prendergast, David; Hockey, Jenny; Kellaher, Leonie

Source: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Volume 12, Number 4, December 2006 , pp. 881-898(18)

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Abstract:

This article asks whether the recent UK-based practice of removing ashes from crematoria has led to entirely new, innovative rituals of disposal, or whether contemporary practice is an appropriation of late nineteenth-century Romantic values and beliefs. Drawing on findings from a major empirical study among both professionals and lay people involved in the removal of ashes, it explores the potentiality of ash remains as a mobile material residue of the corpse, and considers whether they enable disposal strategies which no longer reflect concerns with space and place - particularly those associated with traditional burial grounds.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2006.00368.x

Publication date: 2006-12-01