The Dawn of the Early Bronze Age in South-Western Slovakia. A Re-Evaluation of the Social Structure and Chronology of Výčapy-Opatovce (original) (raw)
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Documenta Praehistorica, 2021
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THE ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY OF COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
Radiocarbon, 2021
This article discusses the absolute chronology of collective burials of the Trzciniec Cultural Circle communities of the Middle Bronze Age in East Central Europe. Based on Bayesian modeling of 91 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates from 18 cemeteries, the practice of collective burying of individuals was linked to a period of 400–640 (95.4%) years, between 1830–1690 (95.4%) and 1320–1160 (95.4%) BC. Collective burials in mounds with both cremation and inhumation rites were found earliest in the upland zone regardless of grave structure type (mounded or flat). Bayesian modeling of 14C determinations suggests that this practice was being transmitted generally from the southeast to the northwest direction. Bayesian modeling of the dates from the largest cemetery in Z· erniki Górne, Lesser Poland Upland, confirmed the duration of use of the necropolis as ca. 140–310 (95.4%) years. Further results show the partial contemporaneity of burials and allow formulation of a spatial and temporal development model of the necropolis. Based on the investigation, some graves were used over just a couple of years and others over nearly 200, with up to 30 individuals found in a single grave.
The 11th cent. BC in the southern Carpathian Basin was marked by the Urnfield culture. The typological and chronological analysis of the ceramic and metal finds collected in the Late Bronze Age cemetery in Slatina, excavated in 2009, date the cemetery to the Ha A2 phase according to the periodization of H. Müller-Karpe. Absolute radiocarbon dating from the Slatina graves suggests the period of the 11th cent. BC. The analyzed 38 graves give the opportunity to reconstruct the burial practices on the central Drava, while the geographic location of Slatina makes it possible to relate the observed burial practices with the wider communication network of the researched contemporary cemeteries in the wider area of the southern Carpathian Basin.
Evidence of Social Structure of a Neolithic Community in Svodín , Southwest Slovakia
2015
The period after initial development of Neolithic society in Central Europe, known as the Post-LBK era, is marked by an influx of new cultural stimuli from the South and the emergence of formalization in monumental architecture, resulting in a cultural diversification while maintaining significant common traits across different regions. An important part of understanding the process of this change is understanding the development of social complexity during the transition. This study addresses this question by examining variations in burial rite coinciding with the age or sex of the deceased or the spatial distribution of 106 graves from the Lengyel Culture settlement in Svodín, dated around 4800 cal BC. The concept of exceptionality rather than richness of burials is introduced. It is based on the composition and spatial distribution of inventories within graves and contrary to the traditional deductive approach does not depend on prior selection of attributes of prestige. Principa...
COMPLEX ANALYSES OF THE LATE COPPER AGE BURIALS IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN
Hungarian Archaeology 2018 Autumn, 2018
In the framework of our four year research we will examine the burials of the so-called Baden Culture that inhabited the major part of the Carpathian Basin from 3600/3000 BC until 2800 BC. Heterogenous burial practices are characteristic to the Baden Culture; one can find burial grounds with several hundred graves, minor graveyards with 10-30 graves as well as lonely burials. Burials reminiscent of mass graves and the interment of animals are also common. Both cremation and skeletal burial rites are present and symbolic graves contaning no human remains also occur. During the centuries of the Baden Culture major changes occurred in the life of societies who had no literary records of their own; many innovations were made that had lasting effects on the history of humanity. These novities spread fast and wide and further deepened economic and social disparities within communities that were reflected in burials. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BURIAL GROUNDS The archaeology of burial grounds, studies on funerary rites, i.e. the "archaeology of death", has received particularly great attention in international research, reflected by the immense number of studies that alone would fill a smaller library. Although first applied in the research of ancient high civilisations, the chronological and spatial boundaries of this field of research have been greatly expanded to include also prehistoric periods for which written sources are entirely lacking. 1 The interpretation of cemeteries as "ritual spaces" only gained ground in Hungarian research during the past few years. The funerary symbols and cultural codes used by prehistoric communities were a perfectly intelligible set of symbols that encoded customs and social relations transmitted from one generation to the next. However, the identification and interpretation of these codes is no simple task after several millennia have passed. One of the difficulties encountered when attempting to decode these symbols is that various liminal rites were performed from the onset of death to the funeral and the community's final farewell to the deceased. 2 Inquiries into these all but forgotten practices have been largely neglected by scholarship, which has begun to show an interest in these issues only more recently. While cemeteries are certainly not the direct continuation of one-time life, they are ritual, mystical spaces that have preserved various imprints of former beliefs, ceremonies and rites. Traditional archaeological assessments focus on the grave goods, their position in the grave and their analogies. The goal of complex cemetery analyses is to identify the elements of mortuary traditions preserved and passed on in mortuary rites alongside possible changes in these practices, as well as to identify the archaeological imprints of how a community related to its dead, and to draw meaningful conclusions 1
The Late Migration Period Cemetery at Drnholec (Břeclav District, Czech Republic)
Památky archeologické, 2022
The authors present part of a burial ground of the Late Migration Period in Drnholec-Pod sýpkou (Břeclav district, Czech Republic), where seven graves were discovered in 2016 and 2017. The grave goods were identified, by typological analysis, as Langobardian/Lombardian. The authors argue that even a small part of a cemetery with a limited number of graves can bring important new data and open strategic questions, challenging traditional interpretations. The paper aims to present the results of excavation in the light of archaeological, anthropological and zooarchaeological perspectives. Archaeological part is focused on presenting the grave units and the cemetery as a contextual unit. Stylistic and typological analysis of grave goods, radiocarbon dates and probability modeling were used to establish the chronology of the cemetery. Anthropological and palaeopathological examinations were accompanied with buccal dental microwear analysis and tooth cementum annulation (TCA) which provide information about diet and age-at-death estimation. Zooarchaeological analysis was mainly driven by the find of a mule skeleton. In addition to skeletal expertise, Nitrogen and Carbon stable isotopes analyses were also applied. The authors set out their thoughts, based on material and bibliographical study, on the problem of classifying and understanding the cultural and ethnic identity of the Migration Period populations.