Rethinking face-urns through Heidegger, Lévy-Bruhl and… Jim Carrey

Hitherto archaeologists interpreting face-urns have focused ontheir symbolic aspects. However, the aim of this paper is to examinePomeranian face-urns from a perspective emphasizing artefacts assuch, not what artefacts symbolise but rather what artefacts were forthe prehistoric societies. However, my research does not stand in oppositionto the existing approaches. They should rather be complementary.Only by taking into account both a symbolic perspective andthe approach offered in this paper – what I shall call a thingness perspective– can archaeology take a step closer to grasping the complexityof the face-urns phenomenon. The paper begins with a discussionof Martin Heidegger’s thinking about the differences between thingand object. Then I will try to correlate Heidegger’s reasoning withthe Lévy-Bruhlian concept of dualité et bi-présense, using a film, TheMask (1994) directed by Chuck Russell, to illustrate Heidegger’s andLévy-Bruhl’s thinking about things. Then using some thoughts fromarchaeology of the body I will investigate similarities between the humanbody and face-urns. The paper will conclude with an attempt todraw some aspects of the cultural biography of face-urns.