GRAVE PIT MODIFICATIONS AND WOODEN STRUCTURES IN THE GREAT MORAVIAN GRAVES AND THEIR INFORMATION POTENTIAL FOR COGNITION OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN SOCIETY (original) (raw)
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Assessing of archaeological features, such as settlement and grave pits, is traditionally a matter of careful and sometimes time-consuming examination by using comparative methods. Despite considered one of fundamentals in archaeology this approach is known to be heavily dependant on a degree of researcher’s erudition and his/her subjective perception of studied issues. Therefore, as alternative, statistics-based methods were suggested as helpful assistance while dealing with unspecified features. This paper re-examines 57 unspecified features from the Southern Suburb of the Great Moravian stronghold Břeclav-Pohansko, whose purpose was previously left unresolved. In order to distinguish grave pits from settlement features we combined the traditional comparative assessment approach with computer-aided techniques featuring univariate and multivariate statistics. The comparison between the set of unspecified features and true grave pit originated from the same archaeological site was carried out on features’ dimensions and orientation.
Praehistorische Zeitschrift, Volume 93, Issue 2, Pages 169–18, 2019
The paper presents the results of two grave exca- vations from the Magnice region in southwestern Poland. Both graves belong to the Corded Ware cultural tradition and provide evidence for two completely different ways of burying the dead practised by the same archaeological „culture“ over a similar time period. The differences are in grave construction and selection of grave goods, demonstrating a variety of attitudes towards the burial process. We focus on grave construction, biological condition of discovered human remains and on use-wear observation of lithic grave goods. We assume funeral patterns were known – learned or sensed – and shared by small local groups. Although a concept of an „idealized grave model(s)“ must have been part of commonly shared social and cultural rules, archaeological evidence shows it was realised in various ways that could be socially negotiated.
On the basis of the characteristics of Neolithic and Early Eneolithic mortuary practices in the area of North Carpathian Basin it can be argued that the existence of graveyards is an isolated phenomenon. Various rituals were involved in disposing of the dead. In this article, we focus on (un)usual burials which are singled out into two major categories: cremation and inhumation. Special emphasis is given to cremation as a mortuary practice: arguments for cremation; interpretation possibilities; examples of the use of fire and noticed phenomenon. IZVLE∞EK -S pomo≠jo zna≠ilnih neolitskih in eneolitskih pogrebnih praks v severnem delu Karpatske kotline sklepamo, da so pokopali∏≠a izoliran pojav. S pokopi so bili povezani razli≠ni rituali. V ≠lanku predstavljamo (ne)obi≠ajne pokope, ki sodijo v dve glavni kategoriji: se∫ig in pokop trupel. Poseben poudarek je namenjen se∫iganju kot pogrebni praksi: argumentom, interpretacijam in izbranim primerom.
Musaica, 2017
The practice of re-opening of graves and the removal of grave goods is well-known from large inhumation cemeteries dating to the Early Bronze Age, primarily from the territory of Austria. These events are generally explained by material/economic motivations. Thus, more recently, the re-opening of Bronze Age graves is interpreted within a complex system of a multi-phase mortuary praxis or rite, including temporary burial depositions and post-funerary activities. In this paper I intend to focus on these particular post-funerary activities which transformed the original, primary depositions of inhumation burials dating to the Early Bronze Age recovered from the case-study region of my forthcoming PhD thesis. The closer study region is situated at the confluence of the Danube the Morava River and the Rába River, between 2000-1600 BC, according to the Hungarian terminology, the end of Early Bronze Age and first half of the Middle Bronze Age.
New burial rites at the end of the Linearbandkeramik in south-west Slovakia
Antiquity, 2020
The recent discovery of several late Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites in Central Europe, including Vráble in southwest Slovakia, has revealed evidence for increasing diversity in Neolithic mortuary practices, which may reflect inter-community war and sociopolitical crisis at the end of the LBK. Here, the authors combine osteological and radiocarbon analyses of inhumations from Vráble. Rather than a straightforward sign of inter-community conflict and war, this development reflects a culmination of internal conflict and a diversification in the ritual treatment of human bodies. The emerging variability in LBK methods of manipulating and depositing dead bodies can be interpreted as an experimental approach in how to negotiate social conflicts and community boundaries.