Mortuary Ritual Network

About the Network

The network initiative was born from the idea that researchers (students and staff) from many different disciplines at the UG and the PThU are working on the many ways in which people deal and dealt with death. We aim to bring together students and scholars working on various aspects of mortuary ritual across disciplinary boundaries, with a broad range of methodologies and data, from different perspectives and from cultures that cross space and time. Bringing these people together fosters interdisciplinary discussion and allows the exchange of ideas and the exploration of collaborations.

Meeting plans

We regularly organize informal 1.5-2h meetings to discuss the work of one of the scholars in the network or a specific theme or topic. Roughly once per semester, we plan to organize a longer meeting on a specific topic, with multiple speakers. Meetings are announced via CRASIS and our mailing list.
Meetings can take varying forms, including structured discussions on key themes surrounding death and mortuary ritual (e.g. 'the good death', self-representation and identity, personhood, bereavement, and meaning-making), the presentation of ongoing research or research ideas, as well as meetings on specific topics (e.g. inequality in death) or around specific materials (e.g. textual strategies of commemoration or Greco-Roman epitaphs). We also plan to invite scholars in the fields of post-antique history, philosophy, and religious studies, as well as to reach out to colleagues in the social sciences, specializing in such disciplines as psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

Upcoming events

• 8 May (18.30-20.00): historical walk with a guide on the nature burial site of Hillig Meer in Eext. Sign up here
• 11 June: discussion meeting with dr Martin Hoondert (Tilburg University) on the Mors Neerlandica Project

Details about the events will be shared via our mailing list and the CRASIS mailing list. 

Organisers

• Dr Tamara M. Dijkstra (t.m.dijkstra rug.nl)
• Caroline van Toor MA (c.j.toor rug.nl)
• Paula Kalkman MA (p.g.kalkman rug.nl)
• Janis Oomen MA (j.oomen rug.nl)

If you have questions, propose a meeting, or if you want to be placed on our mailing list, please send an email to Caroline van Toor (c.j.toor rug.nl).

Past events

• Visit to museum 'Tot Zover' and cemetery De Nieuwe Ooster, 25 January 2025
• Conference 'Gravestones. Marking Death from Antiquity to the Modern Era', 21 November 2024
• Workshop 'Funerary Inscriptions', 11 November 2024
• Visit to the temporary exhibition of Etruscan artefacts in the Wierdenlandmuseum (Ezinge), under the expert guidance of Dr Bert Nijboer (GIA), 8 November 2024

• Visit to stonecarving workshop 'De Schreef', 27 June 2024
• Leonard Rutgers, 'The Third Revolution in Archaeology: aDNA in Ancient and Medieval Jewish Archaeology’, 18 June 2024
• Visit to the UMCG morgue, 2 May 2024
• Gavin Blasdel, 'Consolation and commotion: responding to elite death in the Imperial Greek East' 27 March 2024
• Hannah Malone, 'Fascist Italy and the mortuary rituals for fallen soldiers of WWI', 6 February 2024 (cancelled)
• Bilal Annan & Nicholas Aherne, pitching their AIA talks, 13 December 2023
• Brenda Mathijssen, 'True Nature Burials', 22 November 2023
• Bart Danon, 'Burial Plotting Wealth in Roman Italy?', 13 June 2023
• Network Initiative: 'Mortuary Rituals - Textuality and (Im)Materiality', 22 March 2023