O trabalho duro e precarizado de trabalhadores(as) do serviço público funerário paulistano durante a pandemia de COVID-19 / The hard and precarious work of São Paulo municipal funeral workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Resumo Introdução: o sistema funerário público paulistano é um dos maiores da América Latina. Durante a pandemia de COVID-19, a cidade de São Paulo, particularmente em 2021, bateu recordes de óbitos e sepultamentos. Tal situação repercutiu significativamente no trabalho desenvolvido pelos servidores públicos vinculados à autarquia. Objetivo: esta investigação objetivou conhecer as condições e situações de trabalho de trabalhadores do serviço funerário municipal paulistano no contexto pandêmico, observando suas repercussões na atividade laboral e na saúde de seus(suas) trabalhadores(as). Métodos: a pesquisa, de abordagem qualitativa, exploratória quanto aos objetivos, fez uso de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Contou com 16 participantes, contatados por critério de acessibilidade, vinculados a diferentes atividades laborais, lotados em dois cemitérios e em um polo administrativo, que trabalharam presencialmente durante a pandemia. Resultados: como resultado de pesquisa, observou-se a acentuação de condições e situações de trabalho precarizadas preexistentes, mas agravadas pela pandemia. Constatou-se recorrente indicação de carga emocional relacionada à atividade laboral, assim como sentimento de desvalorização profissional. Conclusão: destaca-se o fato de ser uma atividade laboral complexa, que requer saberes específicos, muitos deles associados ao trabalho de cuidado, ainda que se evidencie, nos depoimentos, a precarização das condições de trabalho e o sentimento de desvalorização profissional.

Abstract Introduction: the São Paulo municipal funeral industry is one of the biggest in Latin America. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the municipality, particularly in 2021, broke record numbers for deaths and burials. This scenario had major repercussions for public servants of the municipal funeral agency. Objective: to understand working conditions and situations in São Paulo municipal funeral workers during the pandemic, observing its repercussions on work activity and occupational health. Methods: this exploratory qualitative research conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 participants who were contacted by accessibility criteria and linked to different work activities from two cemeteries and a funeral agency and labored in-person during the pandemic. Results: the pandemic worsened the existing precarious working conditions and situations. Participants claimed an emotional burden related to working activities and a feeling of being professionally devalued. Conclusions: work in the funeral industry is a complex activity that requires specific knowledge, much of it regarding care work, despite the evinced precarious working conditions and the feelings of professional devaluation.

Animals in Mortuary Practices of Bronze-Age Pastoral Societies: Caprine Use at the Site of Dunping in Northwestern China.

The late second and first millennium BC witnessed extensive economic, cultural, and political exchanges between pastoralists and sedentary farming states in East Asia. Decades of archaeological fieldwork across northern China have revealed a large number of burial sites associated with pastoralists during the first millennium BC. These sites were characterized by the inhumation of specific animal parts in burials, predominantly the skulls and hooves of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. However, the selection preference for these animals and how they were integrated into the mortuary contexts of these pastoral societies remain poorly investigated. Here, we report a preliminary analysis of caprine remains from 70 burials at the site of Dunping in the southern Gansu region of northwestern China, dated to approximately the seventh to fourth centuries BC. Based on an examination of species composition, post-depositional effects, traces of human alteration, skeletal element representation, and age at death, we discussed the selection, slaughtering, and inhumation of caprines concerning the mortuary practices at the site. Comparisons between Dunping and several other contemporaneous burial sites in neighboring regions, specifically in terms of the mortality profiles, further highlight distinct patterns in the selection of caprines for mortuary purposes among pastoral societies. These differences suggest varying degrees of emphasis placed on the economic and social significance attributed to caprines. Our findings provide new insights into the roles that caprines played in both ritual performances and subsistence practices among pastoralists in East Asia during the first millennium BC.

Plano estadual de manejo de óbitos para enfrentamento da Covid-19: a experiência da Bahia / State Darth management plan for combating Covid-19: the Bahia experience / Plan estadual de manejo de muertes para enfrentar el Covid-19: la experiencia de Bahia

Os desafios impostos pela pandemia da Covid-19, relacionados a uma alta de letalidade e mortalidade pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2, alertou os gestores sobre a possibilidade de colapso da rede de serviços de manejo de óbitos no estado da Bahia. Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever a experiência da equipe da vigilância em saúde da Bahia na formulação do Plano de Manejo do Óbito, direcionado a orientar as gestões estadual e municipais e serviços de saúde, públicos e privados, para a implementação de ações adequadas e oportunas frente à ocorrência de óbitos durante a pandemia. Para tanto, utilizou-se de revisão de literatura (em bases de dados internacionais), análise documental, questionários aplicados à gestão municipal e escuta de gestores e trabalhadores de serviços de saúde e afins por meio de webreuniões. O processo de formulação do plano partiu da classificação adotada pela Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde do Ministério da Saúde para definir as fases da pandemia e estabelecer as ações e responsabilidades compartilhadas pelos entes federados. O documento foi aprovado pela Comissão Intergestores Bipartite (CIB) e publicado no site da Secretaria de Saúde do Estado da Bahia (Sesab), com vistas a atender os 417 municípios que compõem o território estadual.

The challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic related to increased lethality and mortality from the SARS-CoV-2 virus alerted managers to the possibility of the collapse of the death management service network in the state of Bahia. Our study aims at describing the experience of the health surveillance team in Bahia in the formulation of the Death Management Plan, aimed at guiding state and municipal management, public and private health services for the implementation of appropriate and timely actions in the face of the occurrence deaths during the pandemic. For such purpose, we used literature review (in international databases), document analysis, questionnaires applied to municipal management and listening to managers and health service workers via web meetings. The process of formulating the Plan started from the classification adopted by the Health Surveillance Department of the Ministry of Health to define the phases of the pandemic and to establish the actions and responsibilities shared by the federated entities. The document was approved by the Bipartite Intergovernmental Commission (CIB) and published on the website of the Department of Health of the State of Bahia (Sesab), to serve the 417 municipalities that make up the state territory.

Los desafíos planteados por la pandemia del covid-19 relacionados con un aumento de la letalidad y mortalidad por el virus SARS-CoV-2 alertaron a los gerentes sobre la posibilidad del colapso de la red de servicios de gestión de muertes en el estado de Bahía. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo describir la experiencia del equipo de vigilancia en salud en Bahía en la formulación del Plan de Manejo de Muertes, destinado a orientar la gestión estadual y municipal, y los servicios de salud públicos y privados para la implementación de acciones adecuadas y oportunas ante las muertes ocurridas durante la pandemia. Para ello, se utilizaron revisión de la literatura (en bases de datos internacionales), análisis de documentos, cuestionarios aplicados a la gestión municipal y escucha a gerentes y trabajadores de servicios de salud y afines por medio de reuniones en línea. El proceso de formulación del Plan partió de la clasificación adoptada por la Secretaría de Vigilancia en Salud del Ministerio de Salud para definir las fases de la pandemia y establecer las acciones y responsabilidades compartidas por las entidades federativas. El documento fue aprobado por la Comisión Intergubernamental Bipartita (CIB) y publicado en el sitio web de la Secretaría de Salud del Estado de Bahía (Sesab), con el objetivo de atender a los 417 municipios que integran el territorio estadual.

Use of Computed Tomography scanning in a 'virtual' bioarchaeology of care analysis of a Central Coast Peruvian mummy bundle.

BACKGROUND: CT scanning was utilized to investigate an intact mummy bundle within the bioarchaeology of care framework. The project sought to ascertain whether a 'virtual' analysis was feasible, thereby avoiding physical disturbance to bundle structure and contents. METHODS: The bundle selected for this study contained an adult male (FA 54), Ichma culture, Peru, displaying evidence for two pathologies: chronic osteomyelitis of the right tibia, and cranial trauma. CT images provided the basis for bioarchaeology of care analysis, which followed Index of Care protocols. RESULTS: CT images enabled description and diagnosis of FA 54, and revealed human neonate remains and material artifacts within the bundle. Probable disease impacts were identified, and likely forms of care provided were inferred. CT scanning was of limited value in identifying characteristics of textile wrapping (a clue to cultural identity) and in resolving questions regarding funerary treatment (primary vs. secondary burial), and this constrained consideration of wider social implications of caregiving. CONCLUSION: 'Virtual' examination of FA 54 achieved an advanced stage of bioarchaeology of care analysis, but building on this would require physical examination of bundle elements. Further investigation of CT imaging potential for bioarchaeology of care research in mummy studies is recommended.

Assembling the Dead, Gathering the Living: Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Modelling for Copper Age Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain).

The great site of Valencina de la Concepción, near Seville in the lower Guadalquivir valley of southwest Spain, is presented in the context of debate about the nature of Copper Age society in southern Iberia as a whole. Many aspects of the layout, use, character and development of Valencina remain unclear, just as there are major unresolved questions about the kind of society represented there and in southern Iberia, from the late fourth to the late third millennium cal BC. This paper discusses 178 radiocarbon dates, from 17 excavated sectors within the c. 450 ha site, making it the best dated in later Iberian prehistory as a whole. Dates are modelled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The resulting formal date estimates provide the basis for both a new epistemological approach to the site and a much more detailed narrative of its development than previously available. Beginning in the 32nd century cal BC, a long-lasting tradition of simple, mainly collective and often successive burial was established at the site. Mud-vaulted tholoi appear to belong to the 29th or 28th centuries cal BC; large stone-vaulted tholoi such as La Pastora appear to date later in the sequence. There is plenty of evidence for a wide range of other activity, but no clear sign of permanent, large-scale residence or public buildings or spaces. Results in general support a model of increasingly competitive but ultimately unstable social relations, through various phases of emergence, social competition, display and hierarchisation, and eventual decline, over a period of c. 900 years.

Changing relationship between the dead and the living in Japanese prehistory.

The aim of this paper is to propose a new insight on the changing burial practice by regarding it as a part of the cognitive system for maintaining complex social relationships. Development of concentrated burials and their transformation in Japanese prehistory are examined to present a specific case of the changing relationship between the dead and the living to highlight the significance of the dead in sociocultural evolution. The essential feature of the burial practices observed at Jomon sites is the centrality of the dead and their continuous presence in the kinship system. The mortuary practices discussed in this paper represent a close relationship between the dead and the living in the non-hierarchical complex society, in which the dead were not detached from the society, but kept at its core, as a materialized reference of kin networks.This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals'.

Open sepulchers and closed boundaries? Biodistance analysis of cemetery structure and postmarital residence in the late prehispanic Andes.

OBJECTIVES: In the Late Intermediate Period Andes (AD 1100-1450), the proliferation of above-ground sepulchers reconfigured social boundaries within and between communities engaged in protracted conflict. However, the biosocial dimensions of these mortuary practices, and their implications for conflict and alliance formation, remain unexplored. This study examines patterns of phenotypic variation to: (1) evaluate if open sepulchers were organized on the basis of biological relatedness, and (2) explore if sex-specific phenotypic variability conforms to models of postmarital residence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cranial nonmetric traits were recorded in five skeletal samples from two cemeteries in the Colca Valley, Peru. Biological distances between burial groups were calculated using the Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) statistic. Postmarital residence was explored by calculating and bootstrapping the ratio of male-to-female mean pairwise differences (MPD) at the within-group level. RESULTS: The MMD analysis yields greater than expected between-group distances for burial groups with a minimum sample size of 20 individuals. In contrast, a prevailing pattern of sex-specific, within-group phenotypic variability is not apparent from the analysis of MPD. The use of 12 or 24 dichotomous traits produces similar results. DISCUSSION: Greater than expected biological distances suggest that above-ground mortuary practices reinforced biosocial boundaries between corporate household groups. Intracemetery heterogeneity persisted even as cranial vault modification, a correlate of social identity, became more homogenous, revealing how corporate group organization was negotiated at multiple scales. Sex-specific variation does not conform to traditional migration models. If migration occurred, it did not have a homogenizing effect on phenotypic variation. These results should be viewed with caution in light of the smaller sample sizes of sex-specific groupings.

An Appraisal of Decomposition Cases Received at the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Service Medico-legal Mortuary During 2010-2011.

Decomposed bodies pose many questions for researchers regarding environmental effects, cause of death, and patterns. This study aimed to observe the factors associated with decomposed bodies autopsied at the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Service Medico-legal Mortuary. A total of 4876 autopsies were conducted from 2010 to 2011, of which 109 were decomposed. Black individuals made up the largest proportion (67%) followed by White (26%). Males comprised 86.2%, while 12.8% were female. The mean age was 42.78 years. Most cases were in the early stages of decomposition (49.5%), with 32.1% bloated, 11.9% in active decay, 2.8% in advanced decay, and 3.7% were skeletal. Insect activity was identified in 25.7% of decomposition cases. Cause of death was determined in 48.6% of cases. Of all the cases, 64% were found indoors and 23% outdoors, while 23% had insufficient information regarding the location. Of considerable interest was the number of cases from hospitals and clinics.

Architectural Renovations of Body-As-Temple.

This paper addresses the Christian religious tradition of understanding the human body as the 'temple of the Holy Spirit' within the context of body modification in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Drawing on ethnographic research in Jerusalem and Kansas City, interviews with artists and Orthodox Christians, and theological discourses on the body and art, this paper seeks to understand how the body is treated by Orthodox Christians and evaluates the ethical commitments and contestations around the human body and religious practice. The paper focuses specifically on tattooing practices, which, though typically prohibited in conservative forms of Christianity, are nonetheless practiced as a means of devotion in specific Eastern Orthodox Christian settings. These modifications to the body are taken in dialogue with ritual and practical concerns exhibited in Eastern Orthodox burial practice. The paper argues that while there are commonalities across Eastern Orthodox practice, the ethical implications of specific actions are highly contextualized and must be interpreted within local regimes of aesthetic behaviour.