BEYOND
DEATH
Beliefs, Practice, and Material Expression
EDITED BY PATRICK RYAN WILLIAMS, GARY M. FEINMAN, AND
LUIS MURO YNOÑÁN
In association with the exhibition Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs, Practice, and Material Expression.
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Published in 2022 by
BAR Publishing, Oxford, UK
BAR International Series 3104
Fieldiana: Anthropology, volume 47
Beyond Death
ISBN 978 1 4073 6043 0 paperback
ISBN 978 1 4073 6044 7 e-format
doi https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
© the editors and contributors severally, 2022
Cover image Ceramic skeleton figure from Mexico (FM 355626).
Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum
The Authors’ moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored,
sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted
in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.
Links to third party websites are provided by BAR Publishing in good faith
and for information only. BAR Publishing disclaims any responsibility for the
materials contained in any third-party website referenced in this work.
This is an open access work distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Users can redistribute the work for noncommercial purposes, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, as detailed in
the License. BAR Publishing must be clearly credited as the rights holder for publication of
the original work and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. Any translation or
adaptation of the original content requires the written authorization of BAR Publishing.
This book is available in printed format at http://www.barpublishing.com.
BAR titles are available from:
BAR Publishing
122 Banbury Rd, Oxford, ox2 7bp, uk
info@barpublishing.com
www.barpublishing.com
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs, Practice, and Material Expression.
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Contents
List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................................................v
1. Introduction
Patrick Ryan Williams and Gary M. Feinman ..........................................................................................................................1
1A Big Questions: A Framework for Exploring Death:
Benjamin Miller and Meredith Whitfield............................................................................................................................5
2. The Journey from Life to Death: Biology of the Human Life Cycle and Our
Attempt to Control It
Robert D. Martin ..............................................................................................................................................................13
2A Sekishinsai Okada Tadaharu ৼࡊԮీனཆ: Nine Stages of Bodily Decay (Kusōzu)
Chelsea Foxwell.................................................................................................................................................................18
2B Daoist Immortals, the Lingzhi Fungus, and the Search for Immortality
Deborah Bekken................................................................................................................................................................24
2C On Health Disparities and Motherless Children
Kimberly Mutcherson........................................................................................................................................................29
2D Response to the Pandemic: Creativity in the Face of Precarity
Alaka Wali ........................................................................................................................................................................33
3. Soul and Vital Force: Vibrant Life Matters and Mortuary Arts in Africana Religions and Beyond
Kyrah Malika Daniels .......................................................................................................................................................39
3A Mesoamerican Cosmologies: Death, Maize, and the Ballgame
Gary M. Feinman .............................................................................................................................................................47
3B The Inca Capac Hucha
Patrick Ryan Williams ......................................................................................................................................................53
3C The Yorùbá Ere Ibeji: Reincarnation of Twins
Foreman Bandama ...........................................................................................................................................................57
3D Sex, Death, and Life Regeneration in the Moche World, 200–900 ce
Luis Muro Ynoñán ............................................................................................................................................................61
4. Performing Death
Luis Muro Ynoñán ............................................................................................................................................................65
4A Chancay Burials
Nicole M. Slovak ...............................................................................................................................................................73
4B Egyptian Mummification
Emily Teeter ......................................................................................................................................................................79
4C The Ghanaian Fantasy Canoe Coffin: A Box with Proverbs
Foreman Bandama ...........................................................................................................................................................85
4D Tsavo Shrines
Chapurukha M. Kusimba .................................................................................................................................................89
5. Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Death
William Schweiker ............................................................................................................................................................93
5A The Chevra Kadisha
Laurie Zoloth ....................................................................................................................................................................99
5B The Guna, Molas, and Religious Syncretism
Alaka Wali ......................................................................................................................................................................103
5C Death and the Reclining Buddha
Mitch Hendrickson .........................................................................................................................................................107
iii Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Beyond Death
5D Day of the Dead
Álvaro Amat ...................................................................................................................................................................112
6. Social Endurance beyond Human Death
Gary M. Feinman and Patrick Ryan Williams ...............................................................................................................117
6A The Magdalenian Skeleton from Cap Blanc
Robert D. Martin, J. P. Brown, Stacy Drake, William Pestle, and William Parkinson .....................................................119
6B The Mortuary and Commemorative Poles from Skidegate, British Columbia, Canada
Luis Muro Ynoñán and Gary M. Feinman......................................................................................................................122
6C The Hopewell Collective
Brad Lepper ....................................................................................................................................................................130
6D Pyramids and Standing Stones: Monuments for the Dead
Donna J. Nash.................................................................................................................................................................137
Appendix A: Spanish Translation of the Introduction
Introducción
Patrick Ryan Williams y Gary M. Feinman .........................................................................................................................145
iv Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
List of Figures
Figure 1.1. World map of the peoples, places, and stories in this volume. Map by Jill Seagard,
© 2022 Field Museum ................................................................................................................................................................2
Figure 1.2. Schematic floorplan of Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery at the Field Museum. © 2022 Field Museum ..........4
Figure 1.3. The life-sized whale fall diorama. Blue Rhino Studios, © 2022 Field Museum ..............................................7
Figure 2.1. Comparative lifespans and offspring for humans and other species. © 2022 Field Museum .....................14
Figure 2.2. Kusōzu watercolors representing a sequence of bodily decomposition: the first three images
represent the living woman, the newly deceased, and the distension of the body (FM 125807.1, .2,
.3-A115292d_003, 5, 6). Photos by John Weinstein, © Field Museum .............................................................................16
Figure 2.3. The fourth and fifth images of the Kusōzu series represent rupture of the body and exudation
of blood (FM 125807.4, .5-A115292d_009, 10). Photos by John Weinstein, © Field Museum .....................................17
Figure 2.4. The putrefaction stage is followed by consumption by animals in the sixth and seventh images of
the Kusōzu paintings (FM 125807.6, .7-A115292d_013, 4). Photos by John Weinstein, © Field Museum .................20
Figure 2.5. The final stages of the Kusōzu paintings represent the skeleton, the disjunction of the bones,
and the final resting place of the body (FM 125807.8, .9, .10- A115292d_017, 8, 21). Photos by John
Weinstein, © Field Museum....................................................................................................................................................21
Figure 2.6. Roman basin (reproduction) with representation of immortal gods Mars and Venus
(FM 24010). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................22
Figure 2.7. Lead pewter plate with brass rim design including examples of animals holding the lingzhi
(fungus of immortality) in the mouth. Consuming the lingzhi was thought to convey energy and immortality
(FM 110086). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...........................................................................................23
Figure 2.8. Rhinoceros horn cup with stylized lingzhi fungus on the body of the cup (FM 110574). Photo by
Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................................................................................................................25
Figure 2.9. Daoist immortal holding a fly whisk and lingzhi fungus (FM 126823). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................26
Figure 2.10. Black Mamas Matter onesie that advocates for building awareness about Black maternal health,
rights, and justice. Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...................................................................................28
Figure 3.1. Drapo ritual flag showing ancestral spirits (lwa) protecting people from disaster in the 2010 Haiti
earthquake (FM 362683). Made by Ronald Edmond artisans; photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .........40
Figure 3.2. Drapo flag of Haitian Vodou practitioners making an offering to ancestors (FM 362685).
Made by Ronald Edmond artisans; photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ......................................................41
Figure 3.3. Drapo ritual flag depicting Bawon Kowona, an ancestral spirit who protects Haitian people from
COVID-19/coronavirus (FM 362686). Made by Ronald Edmond artisans; photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................42
Figure 3.4. Vodou tradition kanari and govi pots which the deceased’s soul returns to inhabit (FM 362680,
362681, 326682). Made by Ronald Edmond artisans; photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum........................44
v Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Beyond Death
Figure 3.5. Huastec stone yoke, a representation of ballgame attire (FM 48101). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ............................................................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 3.6. Colima dog, likely from a funerary context, side view (FM 95615). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................46
Figure 3.7. Colima dog, likely from a funerary context, front view (FM 95615). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................48
Figure 3.8. Classic-period Zapotec (Oaxaca, Mexico) effigy vessel (FM 51884), generally recovered from
funerary contexts. Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...................................................................................49
Figure 3.9. Incense burner from the pre-Hispanic valley of Oaxaca (FM 191593). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................50
Figure 3.10. Inca capac hucha assemblage from Isla de la Plata, Ecuador: miniature ceramic jar (FM 4459);
ceramic pedestal-base pot (FM 4460); miniature ceramic plate (FM 4367); gold figurine (FM 4450); and silver
figurine (FM 4354). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ................................................................................52
Figure 3.11. Yorùbá ere ibeji: twin figures in wood (FM 303438, 9-A114395d). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................56
Figure 3.12. Moche vessel featuring ancestor-like figures engaged in an activity of sexual stimulation
(FM 288074). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...........................................................................................60
Figure 3.13. Moche vessel depicting a simultaneous scene of breastfeeding and coitus (FM 100140).
Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................................................................................................63
Figure 4.1. Nasca bird whistle, which produces a high-pitched sound reminiscent of the sounds made by native
desert hummingbirds (FM 171064). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................................66
Figure 4.2. Nasca ceramic antara (panpipes) created haunting melodies when played (FM 170214).
Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................................................................................................66
Figure 4.3. Wari/Tiwanaku replica ceramic trumpet from Moquegua, Peru. Original dates to ca. 800–1000 ce
and was from a cist burial (FM 359535). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................67
Figure 4.4. Lambayeque whistling vessel, where a whistling sound is created as liquid moving from one chamber
to the other forces air to pass through the tube (FM 169918). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .........67
Figure 4.5. Moche drummer representation with a deformity which may have made them a ritual mediator
between the living and the dead (FM 100153). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..................................68
Figure 4.6. Chancay chicha vessels with paired figures holding cups (FM 1416, 5802). Photos by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................71
Figure 4.7. Cuchimilco figurine, perhaps representing an ancestor, that accompanied the Chancay dead to
the grave (FM 5803). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................72
Figure 4.8. Canopic jars used to contain and preserve the viscera of the mummified individual (FM 31380, 81,
82, 83-A115240d_001A), and embalming hook used to remove the brain from the nose (FM 30368). Photos
by John Weinstein and Michelle Kuo, © Field Museum .....................................................................................................76
Figure 4.9. Egyptian Book of the Dead, detailing how the heart of the dead will be weighed against the feather
of truth in view of the gods (FM 3132-A115261d_027d). Photo by John Weinstein, © Field Museum ......................77
Figure 4.10. Egyptian model house, also called “soul house” (FM 31594), and leather sandals belonging to
an elite Egyptian individual (FM 110847). Photos by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ........................................78
vi Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
List of Figures
Figure 4.11. Shabti figure of individual placed in burial (FM 31605.A and .B), and scarab amulet (FM 238009),
symbolizing immortality and resurrection, top and bottom. Photos by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .........81
Figure 4.12. Mummified remains of an Egyptian cat (late first millennium bce), perhaps an offering to the
cat-headed goddess Bast or a revered pet (FM 111505). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...................82
Figure 4.13. Shabtis: figures of individuals placed in the burials to act as servants for the deceased in the
afterlife (FM 31024, 31029, 24423.1, 31031). Photos by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................83
Figure 4.14. Ghanaian wood coffin of a canoe with rowers by Seth Kane Kwei, ca. 1981 (FM 361842.1-.12).
Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ....................................................................................................................87
Figure 4.15. Ancestral shrine at Bungule, Kasigau, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya. Photo by Chapurukha
Kusimba, © C. Kusimba ..........................................................................................................................................................88
Figure 5.1. Hinduism teaches that each living thing goes through a cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth
until one attains enlightenment (moksha). Hindu goddess, Shiva (FM 150384). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................................94
Figure 5.2. Devotion to a Hindu deity is one way to travel the path to moksha. Deities Shiva and Parvati
(FM 89225). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................95
Figure 5.3. The Hindu deity Vishnu (FM 150432). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ............................96
Figure 5.4. Chevra kadisha silver ritual ewer, for water to clean the body of the deceased (TJM-f3589_1).
Photo by Coxe-Goldberg Photography, Inc ..........................................................................................................................98
Figure 5.5. Chevra kadisha silver ritual comb and nail pick, used to groom the deceased individual
(TJM 2012-91_1-2). Photo by Richard Goodbody, Inc.....................................................................................................102
Figure 5.6. Guna mola textile of the original sin: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (FM 190472).
Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..................................................................................................................105
Figure 5.7. Parinirvana Buddha sculpted in soapstone by students from the Royal University of Fine Arts in
Phnom Penh ca. 2015 (courtesy Mitch Hendrickson). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ...................106
Figure 5.8. Calaca, or skeleton figure, made of ceramic from Central Mexico (FM 343416). Photo by
Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..................................................................................................................................110
Figure 5.9. Skeleton figure from Capula, Mexico (FM 343421). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ......111
Figure 5.10. Skeleton figure of ceramic from Oaxaca, Mexico (FM 343441). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ............................................................................................................................................................113
Figure 5.11. Ceramic skeleton figure from Mexico (FM 355626). Photo by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ............................................................................................................................................................114
Figure 5.12. Ceramic skeleton figure from Central Mexico (FM 341964). Photos by Michelle Kuo,
© 2022 Field Museum ............................................................................................................................................................115
Figure 6.1. Magdalenian woman, a human skeleton from Dordogne, France, dated to the Upper Paleolithic
(FM 42943). © Field Museum ..............................................................................................................................................121
Figure 6.2. Haida Gwaii model: Wiiganaad’s mortuary pole from Skidegate (FM 17839). Photo
by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................................................124
Figure 6.3. Haida Gwaii model: Hungo Dass’s memorial pole from Skidegate (FM 17842). Photo
by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................................................125
vii Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Beyond Death
Figure 6.4. Artist reconstruction of the Hopewell Mounds site with Mound 25 in the foreground.
Artwork by K. L. Murphy, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................................128
Figure 6.5. A set of Hopewell objects found together on Altar 2, Mound 25: obsidian biface (FM 56774.B);
kneeling figure made of animal bone (FM 56747); head figure made of animal bone (FM 56735);
and shark tooth from the Atlantic coast (FM 56538.1). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..................129
Figure 6.6. Hopewell large obsidian bifaces; obsidian sourced from Yellowstone National Park (FM 56805,
56772.C). Photos by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum ..............................................................................................130
Figure 6.7. A pair of copper fish cut-outs from Hopewell Mounds site, Chillicothe, Ohio (FM 56176
and 56177). Photos by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum...........................................................................................132
Figure 6.8. Hopewell necklace with copper pendants from Hopewell mounds (FM 56235, 56602,
T2001.6.5). Photo by Michelle Kuo, © 2022 Field Museum .............................................................................................133
Figure 6.9. Great Pyramid at Giza. Photo by Diego Delso/CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ....................................................................................................................134
Figure 6.10. Taj Mahal, royal tomb of the Mughal ruler of India, Shah Jahan. Photo by Yann
Forget/CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ........................ 135
Figure 6.11. Temple I at Tikal, started by Jasaw Chan K’awiil and completed by his son Yik’in Chan K’awiil
between 734 and 746 ce, reflects the power of Maya rulers. Photo by Arian Zwegers/CC BY 2.0,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via flickr.com .......................................................................................... 136
Figure 6.12. Göbekli Tepe’s (Turkey) megalithic pillars framed communal monuments for commemorating
the dead in the tenth millennium bce. Photo by Kerimbesler/CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ....................................................................................................................139
Figure 6.13. Stonehenge (Great Britain), built between 3000 and 1500 bce, contained cremation burials
in addition to the famous standing stones and represents communal labor and commemoration. Photo
by Dbauer271/CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ............140
viii Practice, and Material Expression.
Williams, Patrick Ryan, Gary M Feinman, and Luis Muro Ynoñán. Beyond Death: Beliefs,
E-book, Oxford, UK: BAR Publishing, 2022, https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407360430.
Downloaded on behalf of Unknown Institution
Luis A . Muro Ynoñán
Gary Feinman