Welcome to the website of mortuary archaeologist, death historian and best-selling author Lorraine Evans. Focusing on new research and finds in the world of archaeology and history, this website will act as a hub for all of Lorraine's archaeological passions, namely non-conformist burial sites, deviant burial practices, graveyards, historical death rituals, and anything out of the ordinary. It will also act as a repository for all of her published works to date. The accompanying sister site, entitled Morte Photography and Research, focuses on surveying and recording of burial grounds and cemeteries throughout Scotland.

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Symbols of Mortality - Exploring Orkney's Funerary Art and

Architecture Exhibition

After seven long years of continual up and downs, bizarres twists and turns, medical turmoil, hospitalisation, strife, Uncle Covid, raging storms and an exhibition curse that plagued everyone involved, I am delighted to say that my exhibition, entitled Symbols of Mortality - Exploring Orkney’s Funerary Art and Architecture, finally opened in Orkney Museum last weekend. Talk about a labour of love - and pain! I have so many people to thank for not only believing in me, but who stayed with the course throughout those seven years. Therefore, I would like to express my eternal gratitude to both Tom Muir, Orkney Museum and Fran Flett Hollinrake, St Magnus Cathedral, without whose support and kindness I no doubt would have failed. The exhibition is comprised of a significant number of graveyard/cemetery images together with some stunning funerary artefacts, the exhibition runs from 8th February until the 1st March. Events included a gallery tour on the 8th February, followed by the Symbols of Mortality Conference on the 22nd February, and a special guided tour of the gravestones in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall with Cathedral Curator Fran Flett Hollinrake. Other events will be announced in due course. Exhibition merchandise is available via the official Symbols of Mortality Shop.

For further information regarding any aspect of the exhibition, please feel free to drop me a line in person, or contact Orkney Museum.

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Boneyards of Steel - Exploring The

World's Aircraft Graveyards

Inkeeping with new book releases, I am also delighted to announce that coming in July 2026 is my third book with Pen and Sword, namely Boneyards of Steel - Exploring The World's Aircraft Graveyards.

 

The study of aviation graveyards is a much maligned area of death research. The final resting place of sizeable non-organic beasts is routinely overlooked, yet it is still, in every respect, a graveyard and deserves to be recognised as such. From an extensive desert necropoli to a war-torn underwater mausoleum, very little of the world remains untouched by the boneyard phenomenon, and less has been written about these remarkable cemeteries. With a significant percentage still languishing in ‘Top Secret’ facilities, hidden behind barbed wire-fences and gated perimeters, it is hardly surprising. Nonetheless, advancements in technology has enabled those with an adventurous spirit, armchair or otherwise, to peel back these layers of secrecy and take a sneaky peak at the skeletal remains of once aeronautic marvels, the findings of which are truly astonishing.

 

Boneyards of Steel - Exploring the World’s Aircraft Graveyards aims to take the reader on a flight of discovery, a mechanical odyssey of detection, unearthing the remains of aircraft in some of the planets most inhospitable regions, breathing new life into a wide-ranging collection of machine-driven detritus, metaphorically speaking, and, more significantly, to bring awareness to an often forgotten yet invaluable heritage

 

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to drop me a line via the CONTACT form.

 

 

 

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