{"id":{"repo_id":"vcu","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1574"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vcu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1574","repository":{"repo_id":"vcu","name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","base_url":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Dead Virginians: The Corpse and its uses in Early Virginia","abstract":"The thesis traces the history of colonial Virginia in an attempt to uncover the origins of several peculiarities in Virginia death-ways. Elite Virginians buried at home more often than not (where they could protect the dead from animal desecration), while avoided death’s heads, reapers, and bone based tomb and mourning jewelry iconography even though such was popular throughout the British Atlantic. Research done for this thesis reveals a fear on the part of elite Virginias regarding questions of both corpse desecration and natural putrefaction. The cause of this cultural obsession lie in two facts: The blackening of the early colony’s reputation by warfare with Native Americans and the cannibalism associated with the Starving Times, and later the casual violence inherent in the slave system. Virginia’s elite disregarded images of decay and death and embraced symbols of stability both the legitimize Virginia as a place for Europeans to settle, and to disguise the barbarity of their economic system.","abstract_html":"The thesis traces the history of colonial Virginia in an attempt to uncover the origins of several peculiarities in Virginia death-ways. Elite Virginians buried at home more often than not (where they could protect the dead from animal desecration), while avoided death’s heads, reapers, and bone based tomb and mourning jewelry iconography even though such was popular throughout the British Atlantic. Research done for this thesis reveals a fear on the part of elite Virginias regarding questions of both corpse desecration and natural putrefaction. The cause of this cultural obsession lie in two facts: The blackening of the early colony’s reputation by warfare with Native Americans and the cannibalism associated with the Starving Times, and later the casual violence inherent in the slave system. Virginia’s elite disregarded images of decay and death and embraced symbols of stability both the legitimize Virginia as a place for Europeans to settle, and to disguise the barbarity of their economic system.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roettger, David"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sarah Meacham"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-12-04T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-12-04T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:02Z","subjects":["Death","Colonial","Virginia","Corpses","Body","Arts and Humanities","History"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/575"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/575","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/575","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/KYNW-0635","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sarah Meacham"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roettger, David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-12-17T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Death","Colonial","Virginia","Corpses","Body","Arts and Humanities","History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© The Author"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.25772/KYNW-0635","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/575"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The thesis traces the history of colonial Virginia in an attempt to uncover the origins of several peculiarities in Virginia death-ways. Elite Virginians buried at home more often than not (where they could protect the dead from animal desecration), while avoided death’s heads, reapers, and bone based tomb and mourning jewelry iconography even though such was popular throughout the British Atlantic. Research done for this thesis reveals a fear on the part of elite Virginias regarding questions of both corpse desecration and natural putrefaction. The cause of this cultural obsession lie in two facts: The blackening of the early colony’s reputation by warfare with Native Americans and the cannibalism associated with the Starving Times, and later the casual violence inherent in the slave system. Virginia’s elite disregarded images of decay and death and embraced symbols of stability both the legitimize Virginia as a place for Europeans to settle, and to disguise the barbarity of their economic system."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Dead Virginians: The Corpse and its uses in Early Virginia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sarah Meacham"],"dc:creator":["Roettger, David"],"dc:date.available":["2018-12-17T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The thesis traces the history of colonial Virginia in an attempt to uncover the origins of several peculiarities in Virginia death-ways. Elite Virginians buried at home more often than not (where they could protect the dead from animal desecration), while avoided death’s heads, reapers, and bone based tomb and mourning jewelry iconography even though such was popular throughout the British Atlantic. Research done for this thesis reveals a fear on the part of elite Virginias regarding questions of both corpse desecration and natural putrefaction. The cause of this cultural obsession lie in two facts: The blackening of the early colony’s reputation by warfare with Native Americans and the cannibalism associated with the Starving Times, and later the casual violence inherent in the slave system. Virginia’s elite disregarded images of decay and death and embraced symbols of stability both the legitimize Virginia as a place for Europeans to settle, and to disguise the barbarity of their economic system."],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/KYNW-0635","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/575"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["Death","Colonial","Virginia","Corpses","Body","Arts and Humanities","History"],"dc:title":["Dead Virginians: The Corpse and its uses in Early Virginia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:02Z"}