Death Happened, What Now?

A Multisensory Approach to Funerary Practices in Late Iron Age Mallorca

Abstract

The end of the Iron Age in Mallorca, known as the Post-Talayotic period (ca. 550–123 bc), was a time of significant change among the island’s indigenous population, including in their funerary world. The topic of funerary practices most usually has been examined through studies that focus predominantly on burial types, grave goods and funerary spaces. With this article, however, I suggest a new direction: sensory archaeology, here used to explore individual experiences and to identify the activities surrounding the death of a group member. Sixteen burial sites across Mallorca show that Post-Talayotic funerary practices extend beyond variations in body treatment to include a series of activities shaped by multisensory experiences that have hitherto been overlooked or underexamined. These activities comprise body ornamentation, ritual consumption, funerary music and ritual movement, and encounters between different groups likely played a pivotal role in shaping changes and continuities of funerary practices at this time. The nuanced perspective of sensory archaeology offers valuable insights into understanding the social dynamics of the period, with broad implications for our comprehension of this transformative era. The research reevaluates the archaeological narrative of the Post-Talayotic funerary world, emphasizing a groundbreaking, dynamic and multisensory approach that moves beyond static archaeological documentation.