This is a book about life and death over 8,500 years in Ireland. It explores the richness of the mortuary record that we have for Irish prehistory (8000 BC to AD 500) as a highlight of the archaeological record for that long period of time. Because we are dealing with how people coped with death, this rich and diverse record of mortuary practice is also relevant to understanding how we deal with death today, which is just as central a social issue as it always was.

'This well-written and beautifully illustrated book is a valuable and extensive presentation of death in prehistoric Ireland and beyond. The way Cooney explores long-term patterns by moving between the past and the present is inspirational.'- Anna Wessman, Professor of Iron Age Archaeology, Department of Cultural History, University Museum of Bergen'Our humanity and our history share the same rich humus - the soil out of which our cities, civilizations, and we ourselves all rise and to which we humans return, whether earth to earth, ashes to ashes or dust to dust. It is what distinguishes us from the other sentient and mortal beings and Cooney's erudition sheds a welcome light on the darker districts of our human being and ceasing to be.'- Thomas Lynch - poet, essayist, undertaker.