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A Suggested Terminology and Classification for Burial Description

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Roderick Sprague
Roderick Sprague*
Affiliation:
University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
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Abstract

A review of previous systems for describing the disposal of the dead reveals basic inconsistencies in terminology and logic. A new classification is proposed that not only utilizes concepts and terminology wherever possible but also attempts to eliminate non-mutually exclusive categories and ambiguous terminology. The system is summarized in outline form to facilitate the use of the scheme as a field checklist during the excavation of burials.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , October 1968 , pp. 479 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1968

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