How can taphonomy help with burial rituals understanding. Case study based on the children´s graves with grave pit stone lining.
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Abstract Book. 28th EAA Annual Meeting Budapest, Hungary, 31st August - 3rd September |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | Pohansko; early medieval; taphonomy; stone lining; primary hollow space |
| Description | The church graveyard with 152 graves was discovered at the early medieval site Pohansko near Břeclav (CZ). Among these graves were 27 with grave pit stone lining. In more than 59 % of these graves were buried children, in age brackets from Infans Ia to Infans II. Majority of these children´s graves belongs to the category Infans Ib, children between the ages of 1 and 7. We can distinguish three basic forms of the stone adjustment of grave pit´s perimeter: 1) complete stone lining; 2) almost complete or partial stone lining; 3) symbolic (suggestive) stone lining, which belongs to prevailing typ. All these categories incorporate the children's burial. What were these children? What social rank could they be included in? We try to answer these questions on the basis of a complete archaeological assessment of the graves (grave location within the churchyard, grave pit adjustment, presence of grave goods). Archaeological outcomes are compared to results of the tafonomical analysis (presence / absence of the primary hollow space). The results are also supplemented with findings from paleopathology. The outcomes of this research we present on case studies of all mentioned types of grave pit stone lining. |
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