Chalcolithic and contemporary cemeteries (see Chapters 9 and 15) were heavily preoccupied with matters related to the lower part of the diagram.

Yet, they were each concerned with another side of the diagram. While the treatment of contemporary cemeteries centred on matters of intra-cemetery discourse, the discussion of Chalcolithic cemeteries was primarily concerned with inter-cemetery variability. In other words, the former was primarily concerned with the left branch of the diagram (“C” and “D”) and the latter with the one on the right (“E” and “F”). is dierence in focus followed for the particular qualities of each, which tended to favour the reading of one realm rather than the other. It was the confrontation of the two that demanded that the previously neglected aspect of each be considered. us, the question of the quality of contemporary inter-cemetery variation had to be reconsidered as well as the nature of internal discourse in Chalcolithic cemeteries. Moreover, setting them up as oppositions encouraged and supported an eort to bring elaborate discussions and characterizations to rest upon concise and focused formulations. us, the detailed and elaborate discussions of the variability among Chalcolithic cemeteries concluded that they vary by kind; and the analysis of contemporary intra-cemetery discourse came to rest on the institutional control of the individual burial.