Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- Introduction : contextualizing cremations / Colin P. Quinn, Ian Kujit and Gabriel Cooney -- Part I : fire and the body : re-framing perspectives on cremation -- Persepctives : complexities of terminologies and intellectual frameworks in cremation studies / Colin P. Quinn, Lynne Goldstein, Gabriel Cooney and Ian Kuijt -- Part II : connecting treatments of the body : cremation and inhumation as social practices -- Perspectives : socially responsible and culturally conscious approaches to cremations in the New and Old World / Liv Nilsson Stutz and David Hurst Thomas (Mini-essay) -- Reconcilable Differences : Cremation, Fragmentation and Inhumation in Mesolithic and Neolithic Sweden / Åsa M Larsson and Liv Nilsson Stutz and David Hurst Thomas -- Reconcilable differences : cremation, fragmentation and inhumantion in Mesolithic and Neolithic Sweden / Åsa M. Larsson and Liv Nilsson Stitz -- The temporal and cultural contexts of the enigmatic cremations from the Yokem Site, Illinois, USA / Mark R. Schurr and Della Collins Cook -- A well-urned rest : cremation and inhumation in early Anglo-Saxon England / Howard Williams -- Cremation, gender and concepts of the self in the British Early Bronze Age / Joanna Brück -- Part III : social impact of cremation : transformation, movement and the body -- Perspectives : reflections on the visibility of cremation as a physical event / Liv Nilsson Stutz and Ian Kuijt -- Pathways to personhood : cremation as a social practice among the Tucson Basin Hohokam / Jessica. I. Cerezo-Román -- Re/turn : cremation, movement and re-collection in the Early Bronze Age of Denmark / Tim Flohr Sørensen -- The role of cremation in mortuary practices in the Irish Neolithic / Gabriel Cooney -- Transformation and metaphors : thoughts on cremation practices in the pre-contact Midwestern United States / Lynne Goldstein and Katy Meyers -- Part IV : reassembling the pieces : future directions -- Reflections : techniques, potential and challenges of cremations / Mark R. Schurr -- Future directions for the archaeology of cremation / Jessica. I. Cerezo-Román and Howard Williams -- References cited -- Contributors -- Index.

"This edited volume explores crematory practices as both an archaeological phenomenon and social practice, within cultural constructs. This exploration aims to illustrate the need to view cremation as a study of not only mortuary practices, but also of a dynamic social process that deals with 'death, movement of the body, and final deposition of remains' (Kuijt)"--Provided by publisher.

"Ash, bone, and memories are all that remains after cremation. Yet for societies and communities, the act of cremation after death is highly symbolic, rich with complex meaning, touching on what it means to be human. In the process of transforming the dead, the family, the community, and society as a whole create and partake in cultural symbolism. Cremation is a key area of archaeological research, but its complexity has been underappreciated and undertheorized. Transformation by Fire offers a fresh assessment of archaeological research on this widespread social practice. Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney's volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body. Indeed, examining why and how people chose to cremate their dead serves as an important means of understanding how people in the past dealt with death, the body, and the social world. The contributors develop new perspectives on cremation as important mortuary practices and social transformations. Varying attitudes and beliefs on cremation and other forms of burial within the same cultural paradigm help us understand what constitutes the body and what occurs during its fiery transformation. In addition, they explore issues and interpretive perspectives in the archaeological study of cremation within and between different cultural contexts. The global and comparative perspectives on cremation render the book a unique contribution to the literature of anthropological and mortuary archaeology"--

This volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body.