New observations of the burial rite: Traces of fire exposure in Early Medieval inhumation burials -examples from the Slavic cemetery of Wusterhausen/Dosse (North-Eastern Germany).

Abstract

Inhumation burials gradually replaced the tradition of cremating the deceased from the 10th century AD onwards and have been dominating the North-Western Slavic regions since the 11th/12th century AD. However, excavated human remains, as well as funerary containers, from the Late Slavic period (11th to 12th century AD) show evidence of fire exposure. A few inhumation burials from the Wusterhausen/Dosse burial ground - a typical burial site from the latest pagan times - show signs of a partial cremation. Although normally a rare finding in Late Slavic inhumation burials, such traces of an impact of fire were detected on several burials from various locations. The character and purpose of these burns (cremations?) has already been under investigation for a long time. They might be related to religiously motivated cremation rituals, the result of "grave fires" or the continuity of pagan traditions. Within the scope of this paper, with the Wusterhausen examples, we are taking a closer look at the different implementations of cremation and fire exposure during burial practices in Slavic regions from the 10th to 12th century AD and their characteristics. It seems probable that, even if diverse in their nature, the traces of fire exposure are linked to the atmosphere of religious changes that was omnipresent during this period.