Author
Duncan Sayer
Other affiliations: University of Bath
Bio: Duncan Sayer is an academic researcher from University of Central Lancashire. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Mortuary Practice. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 30 publications receiving 456 citations. Previous affiliations of Duncan Sayer include University of Bath.
Papers
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Book•
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The post-medieval period was one of profound religious and cultural change, of sometimes violent religious conflict and of a dramatic growth in religious pluralism as discussed by the authors, and a broad interdisciplinary approach to the spatial and material context of religious life, using buildings and landscapes, religious objects and excavated cemeteries, alongside cartographic and documentary sources, to reveal the complexity of religious practices and identities in varied regions of postmedieval Britain, Europe and the wider world.
Abstract: The post-medieval period was one of profound religious and cultural change, of sometimes violent religious conflict and of a dramatic growth in religious pluralism. The essays collected here, in what is the first book to focus on the material evidence, demonstrate the significant contribution that archaeology can make to a deeper understanding of religion. They take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the spatial and material context of religious life, using buildings and landscapes, religious objects and excavated cemeteries, alongside cartographic and documentary sources, to reveal the complexity of religious practices and identities in varied regions of post-medieval Britain, Europe and the wider world. Topics covered include the transformation of religious buildings and landscapes in the centuries after the European Reformation, the role of religious minorities and immigrant groups in early modern cities, the architectural and landscape context of eighteenth and nineteenth-century nonconformity, and the development of post-medieval burial practices and funerary customs. Offering a unique perspective on the material remains of the post-medieval period, this volume will be of significant value to archaeologists and historians interested in the religious and cultural transformation of the early modern world. Contributors: Chris King, Duncan Sayer, Andrew Spicer, Philippa Woodcock, Matthias Range, Simon Roffey, Greig Parker, Jeremy Lake, Eric Berry, Peter Herring, Claire Strachan, Peter Benes, Diana Mahoney-Swales, Richard O'Neill, Hugh Willmott, Natasha Powers, Adrian Miles, Anwen Cedifor Caffell, Rachel Clarke, Rosie Morris
12 citations
TL;DR: The authors compare recent excavations at Swavesey and Burwell and demonstrate that, while the letter of Wittfogel's classification of a "hydraulic society" is not applicable to medieval England, aspects of it can be used to understand regional communities and wetland environments.
Abstract: The wetlands of medieval Britain represented a valuable regional resource, and contributed to the success of some of the wealthiest monasteries in Britain. Drainage systems and transport mechanisms created an interdependent regional economic environment that needed administrative elites to manage and maintain its resources and ensure the continued survival of urban communities. This paper will compare recent excavations at Swavesey and Burwell and demonstrate that, while the letter of Wittfogel's classification of a 'hydraulic society' is not applicable to medieval England, aspects of it can be used to understand regional communities and wetland environments.
11 citations
Book Chapter•
01 Nov 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the archaeological evidence of two Kentish cemeteries, Mill Hill and Finglesham, with the seventh-century legal sources, also from Kent, focusing on cemetery organisation by considering grave location, burial wealth and grave structures.
Abstract: Archaeological studies of kinship have been scarce in recent scholarship Anglo-Saxon archaeology has tended to assume kinship was important without considering how or what the kindred’s role was within society or the burial rite Recent studies of burial archaeology have focused on topical issues like age, gender or group identity without the context within which they exist: the family and household This paper will begin to redress this imbalance by comparing the archaeological evidence of two Kentish cemeteries, Mill Hill and Finglesham, with the seventh-century legal sources, also from Kent I will focus on cemetery organisation by considering grave location, burial wealth and grave structures This paper builds on research by Heinrich Harke (1997a) who successfully combined written sources and material evidence to offer an insightful and vivid picture of Anglo-Saxon social structure I will offer the hypothesis that the seventh-century final phase burial rite involved not just a reduction in grave goods but also a transformation in the funerary rite and in the use of cemetery space I will suggest that this is because the emphasis of the funeral changed from expressing the unity of an extended household to emphasising familial relationships This shift took place in a time when wealthy kindreds were increasingly in conflict with a newly powerful system of kingdoms
10 citations
Book Chapter•
09 Jun 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the impact of excavation of human remains within a community and use a double-stranded methodology of collecting quantitative and qualitative social data within a public archaeology project to make that examination.
Abstract: In this paper we confront a dangerous retrenchment that affects field archaeologist who dig the dead. Unchecked skeletal investigation, and cemetery archaeology, may be rendered impotent and unable to engage with the forefront of scientific practice. Archaeology has undergone, and continues to undergo, a process of professionalization and like other professions it operates away from the public gaze. At the same time Government policy – realised though research councils - requires measurable impact, openness and outreach. As a result public archaeology is progressively significant; however, as if to stifle this development the licence to remove human remains requires that all excavation projects must take place behind screens. So how are field projects to consolidate the necessity to engage with a community and the need or desire to use barriers? In 2010 archaeologists working at Oakington obtained permission to excavate the cemetery without screens. This paper outlines the results of a detailed investigation which looked at how the public engaged with the skeletons during excavation. As a result of this research it is our central argument that public perception is more than observation; it is the result of a complex mutable combination of ideas and emotions that evolve alongside a project. This knowledge is valuable and we believe it has the potential to inform professional practice for the benefit of archaeology as a whole.
The excavation of human remains is one of the most pressing and contentious issues facing global archaeologies today. However, while there are numerous discussions of the ethics and politics of displaying the dead in museums, and many academic studies addressing the repatriation and reburial of human remains, there has been little consideration of the practice of digging up human remains itself (but see Kirk & Start 1999; Williams and Williams 2007). In this paper we will investigate the impact of digging the dead within a community and will use a double-stranded methodology of collecting quantitative and qualitative social data within a public archaeology project to make that examination. The excavation we focus on is the 2010 and 2011 sessions at Oakington, an early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery in Cambridgeshire. In this paper we will explore the complexity of local people’s response to the excavation of ancient skeletal material and use this starting point to discuss the wider argument about screening excavation projects. We will argue that those barriers, rather than displaying ‘sensitivity’ to local people’s concerns, impedes the educational and scientific values of excavation to local communities and also fosters alienation and misunderstandings between archaeologists and the public. The professionalization of British archaeology has taken place within protestant modernity, and we will argue that it is this context which drives the desire to screen off human remains from within the industry not the need to protect the public or the dead from one another.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors bring together the evidence from literature and archaeology concerning Anglo-Saxon and Viking-age swords and argue that these strands of evidence converge on the construction of mortuary identities and particular personhoods.
Abstract: In Anglo-Saxon and Viking literature swords form part of a hero’s identity. In addition to being weapons, they represent a material agent for the individual’s actions, a physical expression of identity. In this article we bring together the evidence from literature and archaeology concerning Anglo-Saxon and Viking-age swords and argue that these strands of evidence converge on the construction of mortuary identities and particular personhoods. The placement of the sword in funerary contexts is important because it is worn close to the body, intermingling with the physical person. Swords were not just objects; they were part of people, inseparable, intermeshed, and displayed within an emotive mortuary aesthetic. Swords were embraced, placed next to the head and shoulders, and conveyed their own identities. Literature relates extraordinary events by describing familiar customs and carries part of the mortuary aesthetic. However, there are exceptions: graves like Birka 581 and Prittlewell show sword locations that contrast with the normal placement, locations which would have jarred with an observer’s experience. These exceptions would have emphasized unconventional or nuanced identities.
8 citations
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Book•
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TL;DR: This chapter discusses Traditional, Modern and Neo-Modern Death, as well as Stories and Meta-stories, and Systems for Listening, which addresses expectations and Assumptions of the listening community.
Abstract: Talking about death is now fashionable, but how should we talk? Who should we listen to - priests, doctors, cousellors, or ourselves? Has psychology replaced religion in telling us how to die? This provocative book takes a sociological look at the revival of interest in death, focusing on the hospice movement and bereavement counselling. It will be required reading for anyone interested in the sociology of death and caring for the dying, the dead or bereaved.
456 citations
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, Sultan Qaboos University13, University of Edinburgh14, University of Costa Rica15, University of Antioquia16, Rambam Health Care Campus17, University of Pécs18, Al Akhawayn University19, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart20, University of Oxford21, Belgorod State University22, University of Toronto23, University of Buenos Aires24, University of Bern25, Russian Academy of Sciences26, Paul Sabatier University27, North-Eastern Federal University28, University of Chicago29, University of Arizona30, Stony Brook University31, University of Bergen32, Illumina33, Sofia Medical University34, Bashkir State University35, University of Cambridge36, Vilnius University37, Estonian Biocentre38, University of Strasbourg39, University College London40, Amgen41, Gladstone Institutes42, University of Tartu43, University of Oulu44, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences45, University of Palermo46, University of Chile47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, Armenian National Academy of Sciences50, University of North Texas51, University of Santiago de Compostela52, University of Kharkiv53, Higher University of San Andrés54, Novosibirsk State University55, Leidos56, Lebanese American University57, University of Split58, University of Pennsylvania59, Banaras Hindu University60, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology61, Estonian Academy of Sciences62, Pompeu Fabra University63, Howard Hughes Medical Institute64
TL;DR: The authors showed that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunters-gatherer related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had ∼44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages.
442 citations
Harvard University1, Howard Hughes Medical Institute2, Broad Institute3, University of Zaragoza4, Max Planck Society5, University of Huddersfield6, University of Minho7, Pompeu Fabra University8, University of Vienna9, Pennsylvania State University10, University of Coimbra11, University of Granada12, University of Zurich13, University of the Basque Country14, Rovira i Virgili University15, National University of Distance Education16, University of Málaga17, University of Barcelona18, University of Valencia19, Autonomous University of Barcelona20, University of Lisbon21, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras22, University of Almería23, University of Cádiz24, University of Salamanca25, University of Iowa26, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria27, Mount Mercy University28, Autonomous University of Madrid29, Complutense University of Madrid30, University of Cantabria31, Gibraltar Hardware32, Liverpool John Moores University33, Anglia Ruskin University34, Spanish National Research Council35, University of California, Santa Barbara36, Danube Private University37, University of Basel38, University of Adelaide39
TL;DR: It is revealed that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia, and how the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean is document.
Abstract: J.M.F., F.J.L.-C., J.I.M., F.X.O., J.D., and M.S.B. were supported by HAR2017-86509-P, HAR2017-87695-P, and SGR2017-11 from the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency. C.L.-F. was supported by Obra Social La Caixa and by FEDER-MINECO (BFU2015- 64699-P). L.B.d.L.E. was supported by REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (Plan Nacional I+D+I, MINECO). C.L., P.R., and C.Bl. were supported by MINECO (HAR2016-77600-P). A.Esp., J.V.-V., G.D., and D.C.S.-G. were supported by MINECO (HAR2009-10105 and HAR2013-43851-P). D.J.K. and B.J.C. were supported by NSF BCS-1460367. K.T.L., A.W., and J.M. were supported by NSF BCS-1153568. J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by IT622-13 Gobierno Vasco, Diputacion Foral de Alava, and Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa. We acknowledge support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/EPH-ARQ/4164/2014) and the FEDER-COMPETE 2020 project 016899. P.S. was supported by the FCT Investigator Program (IF/01641/2013), FCT IP, and ERDF (COMPETE2020 – POCI). M.Si. and K.D. were supported by a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship awarded to M.B.R. and M.P. D.R. was supported by an Allen Discovery Center grant from the Paul Allen Foundation, NIH grant GM100233, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. V.V.-M. and W.H. were supported by the Max Planck Society.
287 citations
University of Copenhagen1, Technical University of Denmark2, University of Greenland3, American Museum of Natural History4, Spanish National Research Council5, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences6, University of Tübingen7, North-Eastern Federal University8, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies9, Norwegian University of Science and Technology10, Curtin University11
TL;DR: The observations suggest that the BGISEQ-500 holds the potential to represent a valid and potentially valuable alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation that is worthy of future exploration by those interested in the sequencing and analysis of degraded DNA.
Abstract: Ancient DNA research has been revolutionized following development of next-generation sequencing platforms. Although a number of such platforms have been applied to ancient DNA samples, the Illumina series are the dominant choice today, mainly because of high production capacities and short read production. Recently a potentially attractive alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation has been developed, the BGISEQ-500, whose sequence output are comparable with the Illumina series. In this study, we modified the standard BGISEQ-500 library preparation specifically for use on degraded DNA, then directly compared the sequencing performance and data quality of the BGISEQ-500 to the Illumina HiSeq2500 platform on DNA extracted from 8 historic and ancient dog and wolf samples. The data generated were largely comparable between sequencing platforms, with no statistically significant difference observed for parameters including level (P = 0.371) and average sequence length (P = 0718) of endogenous nuclear DNA, sequence GC content (P = 0.311), double-stranded DNA damage rate (v. 0.309), and sequence clonality (P = 0.093). Small significant differences were found in single-strand DNA damage rate (δS; slightly lower for the BGISEQ-500, P = 0.011) and the background rate of difference from the reference genome (θ; slightly higher for BGISEQ-500, P = 0.012). This may result from the differences in amplification cycles used to polymerase chain reaction-amplify the libraries. A significant difference was also observed in the mitochondrial DNA percentages recovered (P = 0.018), although we believe this is likely a stochastic effect relating to the extremely low levels of mitochondria that were sequenced from 3 of the samples with overall very low levels of endogenous DNA. Although we acknowledge that our analyses were limited to animal material, our observations suggest that the BGISEQ-500 holds the potential to represent a valid and potentially valuable alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation that is worthy of future exploration by those interested in the sequencing and analysis of degraded DNA.
282 citations
University of Copenhagen1, University of Cambridge2, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute3, Leiden University4, Harvard University5, Technical University of Denmark6, Al-Farabi University7, University of Chicago8, Karagandy State University9, University of Alaska Fairbanks10, Istanbul University11, Hazara University12, University of Gothenburg13, Russian Academy of Sciences14, Gazi University15, Islamia College University16, University of Exeter17, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa18, Irkutsk State University19, University of Alberta20, Paul Sabatier University21, University of California, Berkeley22
TL;DR: Analysis of ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia shows that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya, and suggests distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after, but not at the time of, YamNaya culture.
Abstract: The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyze 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after but not at the time of Yamnaya culture. We find no evidence of steppe ancestry in Bronze Age Anatolia from when Indo-European languages are attested there. Thus, in contrast to Europe, Early Bronze Age Yamnaya-related migrations had limited direct genetic impact in Asia.
273 citations