“I wish my grave to be dug in the doorway of my fire hall.“ 'Unusual' burial practices in Old Germanic traditions
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The present paper deals with 'unusual' phenomena connected with burials of human and animal remains during the Roman Imperial Period in Central Europe, with parallels throughout the whole Nordic Iron Age attributable to Germanic tribes, and the review of their previous interpretations. Human and animal graves found inside residential objects on Germanic settlements or the presence of animals and/or 'unusual' structures on burial grounds are often being connected with 'religious' or 'ritual' (the two often being confused together without further explanation or definition) activities. Their interpretations by archaeologists however often draw from outdated and oversimplifying models of Old Germanic religion, seeing it as a single integrated system directly reflected in and extractable from contemporary foreign (Greek and Roman) or later (Old Norse) sources. Therefore a brief overview of our current knowledge of Old Germanic religious traditions and practices, in regards to archaeological (as well as other) evidence, is offered. More attention is paid to views on death, the dead and afterlife and how these might have been reflected in everyday life and consequently in archaeological record as well. For this purpose, a general approach to archaeology of prehistoric religions, partially inspired by current trends in Cognitive Studies of Religions, is also discussed. The links between cultural identity, religious beliefs and funeral practices are then considered within this framework in an attempt to reinterpret these phenomena in a, hopefully, more comprehensive way. |
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