Narrative
In the first longitudinal study of its kind, this collaborative project between the Universities of Manchester and Reading, and the British Museum investigates how archaeologists have used grave goods to interpret past society. The study looks at how grave goods were not just integral to past personhood but part of how people dealt with death itself.Alongside major academic research outputs, the project has:
- Engaged the public, especially schools, with their local heritage: using the past as a lens through which we can ‘talk more of the dead’ via a Schools Pack, featuring the work of poet Michael Rosen and artists Rose Ferraby, Kelvin Wilson, Chie Kutsuwada and Craig Williams.
- Created a temporary exhibition and trail entitled ‘Death and Objects’ at the British Museum (2019-2020).
- Enhanced professional and public end-user access to this research by enhancing Historic Environment Records from our six case study regions, and depositing the archive with the national digital repository ADS.
- Developed engagement tools with partners on the AHRC project 'Continuing Bonds: Creative Dissemination' to open up conversations about death, dying and bereavement (see the published collection The Living and the Dead and teaching materials for collaborative ‘death café’ workshops).