Funerary Rites and Rituals in Southwestern Transylvania at the End of the Early Iron Age (original) (raw)
Related papers
Among the finds from the Late Iron Age in Transylvania, there are some objects that, on the one hand, due to their location, and on the other hand, due to their characteristics, can be linked to cultic activities. Such finds are the stone sculpture from Prundu Bârgăului or the linchpin from Gălăoaia in northeastern Transylvania, or the brooch from Ohaba Ponor and the bracelet from Bănița, in southwestern Transylvania; both are mountainous regions that are covered with forests. The study examines the natural environment of these objects, outlining the characteristics of the landscape use of Late Iron Age communities and the role of nature in various ceremonies.
The examination of burial customs in the 10th-11th centuries in Transylvania, Crişana and Banat has almost no tradition. Beside the works of Gyula László written during World War II (in which he could only examine the phenomena of the Cluj-Napoca-Zápolya Street cemetery), no one has dealt with burial customs extensively. The Hungarian scientific literature slowly lost interest in the problem of the Transylvanian conquest, and consequently no one treated burial customs to any great depth. Romanian archaeology has pursued two goals: to prove the Daco-Romanic continuity and the existence of the Romanian, pre-Hungarian knezates in Transylvania, Banat and Crişana. Therefore, the presentation and the analysis of burial customs in the 10th-11th centuries in Transylvania, Banat and Crişana have not been the subject of any study to date. We will analyse these phenomena in a territory referred to by these names: Transylvania, Banat and Crişana. Our purpose is to compare the burial customs of these well individuated regions. The latter two show very similar elements in the 10th-11th centuries, contrasted with Transylvania, which, as we will see, possesses markedly different burial features and elements. We might say that in this period in Transylvania the different burial customs co-existed, which emphasises the polycultural character of this region.
Acta Archaeologica Carpathica, 2022
In the Late Iron Age biritual cemetery from Fântânele-Dealul Iuşului / La Gâţa the remains of 43 individuals from 41 graves have been excavated to this day. The analysis of inhumation and cremation burials allowed for a paleodemographic study of this community settled on the fringes of the Celtic world. In addition to data on the sex and age or intravital body height of the deceased, pathological changes and epigenetic traits were also observed in some cases. Furthermore, analyses of the cremated human remains also brought to light different characteristics of burial habits, such as burning temperature or the rate of collection of the remains from the pyre.
South-eastern Transylvania during the Late Roman period (3rd-4th centuries AD)
2020
The aim of the paper is to summarize our knowledge regarding the 3rd and 4th centuries AD in South-eastern Transylvania, based on the older and new research. After the roman withdrawal in 271 the area was inhabited by the Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov culture. In this period the area is characterized by dense settlement network, villages located on flood-free terraces, made of several houses. Even though cemeteries of great extent haven’t been yet discovered, their existence is suggested by several grave finds. In areas rich of bog-iron a main component of the economy was iron smelting. It looks like at the end of the 4th century AD the Gothic tribes moved westward, probably because of the pressure by the Huns. This moving seems supported by radiocarbon datings too.