Date of Award
Spring 4-27-2026
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Department Chair or Program Director
Julia DeLancey
First Advisor
Laura Mentore
Second Advisor
Jason James
Third Advisor
Eric Gable
Major or Concentration
Anthropology
Abstract
Absence describes something that is "expected, wanted, or looked for [but] is not present or does not exist," (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2026). The archaeological discipline interacts with absence in many profound ways, largely in its study of the past dead. This paper focuses on the ways in which the medicalization of death has influenced, limited, and misaligned archaeological methodology, and how the result of those methodologies produces archaeological analysis that is absent of or misrepresents our understanding of life, personhood, and our position within a greater, interconnected biosphere. Thus, I present an anthropological critique of the ways in which death and dying are conceptualized and applied across the institutions of medicine, archaeology, and museums as a means of demonstrating the cyclical reinforcement of conceptualizations of mortality on how we study the dead in archaeological contexts. Further, the Western medicalization of death–through the clinical gaze, biological determinism, institutional control, and human exceptionalism–has shaped how death is experienced in the social and thus influenced the ways in which archaeology approaches human remains, privileging scientific and metric-driven analysis over interpretive, humanistic, and cultural understanding, with ethical consequences for excavation, display, and interpretation. The re-evaluation and reinterpretation of the archaeological discipline through a cultural and interpretive-focused anthropological lens will work to counteract the harmful effects of Cartesian dualism, human exceptionalism, and the medicalization of death; all of which have hindered archaeological analysis and supported systems of knowledge-genesis that harm both humans and our greater biosphere.
Recommended Citation
Bowman, Makayla J., "An Alignment of Absences: the Medicalization of Death and its Implications on Archaeological Methodology" (2026). Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects. 718.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/718
Rights
Included in
Applied Ethics Commons, Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Collection Development and Management Commons, Cultural History Commons, Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Public History Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons