ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the treatment of the body in Bronze Age (BA) Britain, exploring varied, complex and protracted processes that involved the fragmentation, curation, circulation and redeposition of human bone. Drawing on radiocarbon, histo-taphonomic and contextual evidence, it considers finds from both funerary and non-funerary sites to investigate how the trajectories of fragmented human bones changed over the course of the BA. The discussion explores the meanings of such fragments and what they might tell us about attitudes towards the human body and concepts of the self during this period, addressing the relationship between fragmentation, value and identity. The implications of these practices for the interpretation of other fragmentary things, such as broken bronze objects from hoards, are also considered.
