Houses for the dead​…what about the living?

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Sanctuary S
Sanctuary Sep 6, 2010 07:54:08

I was giving thought to Long Barrows such as the WKLB and how chambered tombs such as this are regarded as 'houses for the dead', but I wonder if there has ever been evidence to show that initially they were actually built as houses for the living before taking on another role?
If you conside the original ground plans for these chambered tombs they are very practical for daily use having in the main a 'living area' coupled with the 'side chambers/rooms' for storage or in fact 'bedroom' space etc. Before being capped with stone they may have been roofed with thatch as in a proper house/hut type construction of the time. Thoughts?

T tiompan
tiompan Sep 6, 2010 08:25:37
Replying to Sanctuary

Sanctuary wrote:
I was giving thought to Long Barrows such as the WKLB and how chambered tombs such as this are regarded as 'houses for the dead', but I wonder if there has ever been evidence to show that initially they were actually built as houses for the living before taking on another role?
If you conside the original ground plans for these chambered tombs they are very practical for daily use having in the main a 'living area' coupled with the 'side chambers/rooms' for storage or in fact 'bedroom' space etc. Before being capped with stone they may have been roofed with thatch as in a proper house/hut type construction of the time. Thoughts?
Can't think of any such evidence and pretty difficult to imagine what it would comprise of to distinguish it from barrow activity .A hearth and rubbish would both be seen as being related to funerary rites /deposits etc . Mesolithic middens were found under Ascott & Hazleton and signs of cultivation e.g. ard marks (previously considered "ritual " ) have been found under some Long Barrows . The little we do know in relation to time for build show that they were done quite quickly and in use for only 1-3 generations .

F faerygirl
faerygirl Sep 6, 2010 13:41:04
Replying to Sanctuary

How about the use of barrows as tripping chambers. There is a reasonable amount of evidence that caves were used to experiment with mushrooms and psycadelic plants, but what if there arn't any caves close by??? MAKE SOME!

It makes sense that barrows and things would be used before they became houses for the dead. This is why I have a problem with the dates put on burial chambers and stone monuments. Basing the age of something on the age of the corpse inside seems a bit silly to me; you could bury me in my house, it wouldnt make this Victorian house 28years old!

B BuckyE
BuckyE Sep 7, 2010 13:25:21
Replying to Sanctuary

As Devil's Advocate, I'd say the resemblances could be, maybe not coincidental, exactly, but possibly the result of what might be called "habit of mind"?

As in, "This is the way 'houses' are built." For the living people, the dead ancestors, the animals, the tools, whatever.

E Evergreen Dazed
Evergreen Dazed Nov 21, 2017 07:51:19
Replying to Sanctuary

Sanctuary, looking for the bit where you claim you got laughed off the forum. Can’t see it?