Life beyond life: Repair, reuse, and recycle—the many lives of wooden objects and the mutability of trees.

An invitation by the editorial team of this special edition is the genesis of this paper. It considers how actions such repair, reuse, adaption, and recycling are identified, and understood, with respect to wooden things found in the archaeological record. An exhaustive review is not possible in a paper of this size, so instead a range of examples, across time and space, are selected to discuss these themes and to act as a catalyst for further thought. Woodland, and its entangled relationships with people, inevitably provides a background rhythm, allowing for a reflection on how we consider trees, their mutability, and the many lives of wooden things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]