Theoretical and Quantitative Approaches to the Study of Mortuary Practice

This is the first general synthesis of the major social dimensions of mortuary practice with respect to age, gender, horizontal and vertical dimensions. The study carefully examines quantitative approaches to extracting social information, previews previous work on the subject and offers a novel and systematic assessment of these approaches. The conclusions, which at times dispute conventional judgement, are well documented with the help of a new methodology developed by the author.