Papers by Shaheen Christie
Normative, Atypical or Deviant? Interpreting Prehistoric and Protohistoric Child Burial Practices, 2023
Archaeological investigations of Romano-British burials have revealed a range of diverse forms of... more Archaeological investigations of Romano-British burials have revealed a range of diverse forms of burial treatments. Previous studies show decapitation was enforced, both pre-and post-mortem, on individuals of all ages, sex, origin, and health for diverse reasons (infanticide, judicial execution, trophy taking, fear of the dead, veneration, or an ‘outsider’ status) as part of a sub-class of mortuary treatment expressing communal membership rather than deviant identities. Mortuary analysis of Late Roman period (3rd-5th century AD) decapitation burials in central and southern Britain revealed a continuation of Late Iron Age (100 BC-AD 43) fragmentation rites, namely intentional breaking and scattering of human remains in burials or deposits. This paper explores the intersecting relationships between violence, ritual and bodies, by presenting a contextual mortuary analysis of 12 subadult decapitation burials from ten sites in western Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. The aim is to use a life course approach to determine if those communities utilised specialised mortuary rituals for decapitated subadults, whether those practices may be classified as normative, atypical, or deviant, and, whether the social life course of subadult bodies served to construct specialised identities or conceptions of time in Late Roman society.
The Roman conquest in Britain (AD 43) led to significant changes in indigenous settlements and ag... more The Roman conquest in Britain (AD 43) led to significant changes in indigenous settlements and agricultural systems, population diversity, social organization, economic activities, and funerary traditions. Archaeological investigations of burials from the first to fifth centuries AD in Britain have revealed a complex array of burial treatments and attitudes toward the dead, including decapitation burials, which are the most common form of differential burial represented in this period. Traditional interpretations of these burials have included infanticide, punitive execution, trophy taking, fear of the dead, and veneration practices. This project investigates a sample of decapitation burials from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire dating to the Late Roman Period (3rd-5th c. AD) using quantitative and qualitative comparisons of skeletal remains, grave goods and other associated materials. The multi-scalar analysis of bioarchaeological and mortuary treatments demonstrated that no specific variable automatically distinguished a decapitated individual as an outlier or social deviant, reinforcing the need for the systematic application of contextual analysis, including osteological profiles, in our methodological assessments of lived experiences and the expression of identity in Late Romano-British society. This project contributes to the growing cross-disciplinary literature on how ancient populations utilized the body as an instrument in the performance of ritual violence, allowing a more nuanced interpretation of the culturally constructed body as a salient material object category in the Roman Iron Age.
This commentary discusses graduate student perspectives on the disjuncture between the neoliberal... more This commentary discusses graduate student perspectives on the disjuncture between the neoliberal framing of value as pursuit of economic profit and the academic community’s pursuit of knowledge. Declining opportunities and the devaluing of different frames of knowledge and practice in the academy suppress graduate students’ ability to contribute to their chosen fields of study and to create value in novel ways. Our participation as graduate students in the academic community, including organizations such as American Association of University Professors, has been instrumental in articulating the interconnectedness of the systemic consequences that the neoliberal constitution of value has on the campus and community.
Questo Forum prosegue il dibattito aperto da un precedente Forum di Anuac (vol. 5, n. 1, giugno 2... more Questo Forum prosegue il dibattito aperto da un precedente Forum di Anuac (vol. 5, n. 1, giugno 2016) sulle trasformazioni dell’accademia al tempo del neoliberismo e le relative conseguenze sul futuro dell’antropologia. Auspichiamo che queste ulteriori testimonianze e commenti inducano chi lavora e studia all’universita a formare una coalizione transnazionale capace di immaginare nuove visioni di universita. Il Forum presenta contributi di Virginia R. Dominguez, Sam Beck, Carl A. Maida, Martin A. Mills, Berardino Palumbo, Alan Smart, Ger Duijzings, Alexis M. Jordan & Shaheen M. Christie, Boone W. Shear, Alexander Koensler & Cristina Papa, e del Reclaiming Our University Movement.
Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology - Volume 10, 2019
Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology recognizes that the research conducted by stude... more Field Notes: A Journal of Collegiate Anthropology recognizes that the research conducted by students throughout the course of their undergraduate and graduate education is a valuable resource. Therefore, Field Notes exists to give students of anthropology a forum to showcase original, high quality scholarship. The journal is reviewed, edited, and published entirely by anthropology students and is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's Anthropology Student Union (ASU). The ASU serves anthropology students by encouraging interaction across the four subfields of anthropology in both social and professional environments.
The Call for Submissions to Field Notes Volume 9. The information contained in this document pert... more The Call for Submissions to Field Notes Volume 9. The information contained in this document pertains to this year's (2016-2017) volume submission guidelines. Feel free to contact the Field Notes editors for more information ([email protected]).
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Papers by Shaheen Christie