From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa

The funerary practices of a human group often tell us more about the living than about the dead. Analysing the funerary practices of a society is therefore key to understanding what dynamics marked not only death but also the life of a human group. The arrival of Islam in the Horn of Africa planted...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cornax Gómez, Carolina, Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/395114
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/395114
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105001068592
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Change
Funerary practices
Horn of Africa
Islam
Sultanates
Thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD
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spelling From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of AfricaCornax Gómez, CarolinaTorres Rodríguez, Jorge deChangeFunerary practicesHorn of AfricaIslamSultanatesThirteenth to sixteenth centuries ADThe funerary practices of a human group often tell us more about the living than about the dead. Analysing the funerary practices of a society is therefore key to understanding what dynamics marked not only death but also the life of a human group. The arrival of Islam in the Horn of Africa planted the seeds for a series of changes that would alter the social, religious and cultural dynamics of the region, especially during the period of its two main sultanates: Ifat and Barr Sa’ad ad-din or Adal (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD). These changes were reflected in material culture, introducing transformations and innovations, especially in architecture. This paper focuses on analysing medieval funerary structures and practices, describing their main modifications relative to previous periods and relating them to the process of Islamisation that the region underwent in medieval times. In addition, it proposes a typology for the new burial forms that appeared in the region during this period. This typology will be used by the StateHorn Project to study and document the necropolises associated with medieval urban sites in Somaliland, Djibouti and Ethiopia.This work was supported by the European Union through the European Union Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, through the European Research Council (ERC StG 853390-StateHorn) and the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) through their Oportunius and predoctoral grants schemes (PhD founding reference n° IN606A-2021/013); The research of the Incipit Archaeological Project in Somaliland has been funded by Grants HAR2013– 48495-C2-1-P and PGC2018-099932-B-I00 by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, “ERDF A way of making Europe”, and the Palarq Foundation.Peer reviewedTaylor & FrancisEuropean CommissionXunta de GaliciaMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Cornax Gómez, Carolina [0000-0002-6972-5347]Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de [0000-0001-8687-9332]Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/395114https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105001068592reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/853390info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO//HAR2013-48495-C2-1-Pinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PGC2018-099932-B-I00The underlying dataset has been published as supplementary material of the article in the publisher platform at DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2025.2455899https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2025.2455899Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3951142026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
title From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
spellingShingle From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
Cornax Gómez, Carolina
Change
Funerary practices
Horn of Africa
Islam
Sultanates
Thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD
title_short From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
title_full From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
title_fullStr From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
title_full_unstemmed From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
title_sort From cairns to graves: funerary transformations in medieval sedentary communities in the Islamic Horn of Africa
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Cornax Gómez, Carolina
Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de
author Cornax Gómez, Carolina
author_facet Cornax Gómez, Carolina
Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de
author_role author
author2 Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de
author2_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv European Commission
Xunta de Galicia
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Cornax Gómez, Carolina [0000-0002-6972-5347]
Torres Rodríguez, Jorge de [0000-0001-8687-9332]
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Change
Funerary practices
Horn of Africa
Islam
Sultanates
Thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD
topic Change
Funerary practices
Horn of Africa
Islam
Sultanates
Thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD
description The funerary practices of a human group often tell us more about the living than about the dead. Analysing the funerary practices of a society is therefore key to understanding what dynamics marked not only death but also the life of a human group. The arrival of Islam in the Horn of Africa planted the seeds for a series of changes that would alter the social, religious and cultural dynamics of the region, especially during the period of its two main sultanates: Ifat and Barr Sa’ad ad-din or Adal (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries AD). These changes were reflected in material culture, introducing transformations and innovations, especially in architecture. This paper focuses on analysing medieval funerary structures and practices, describing their main modifications relative to previous periods and relating them to the process of Islamisation that the region underwent in medieval times. In addition, it proposes a typology for the new burial forms that appeared in the region during this period. This typology will be used by the StateHorn Project to study and document the necropolises associated with medieval urban sites in Somaliland, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/395114
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105001068592
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/395114
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105001068592
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
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#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/853390
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO//HAR2013-48495-C2-1-P
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PGC2018-099932-B-I00
The underlying dataset has been published as supplementary material of the article in the publisher platform at DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2025.2455899
https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2025.2455899
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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