PROBLEMATIC ISSUES AND PROSPECTS FOR STUDYING CHILDREN’S GRAVE GOODS OF ANCIENT RUS (IN THE CONTEXT OF SYNCHRONOUS EUROPEAN BURIAL GROUNDS)

Abstract

This paper discusses topical issues and identifies areas of potential future research in the study of children’s grave goods in the Rus period. Contentious topics include the presence, or absence of grave goods in children’s burials, and their significance in the identification social status, gender, and age of the buried individual. Children’s burials from Eastern, Central, and a Western Europe are cited as examples and analogies. The paper establishes that the presence of burial goods depended on the aspects of the culture’s funeral rite, the age of the buried child and the social status of his/her family. Correlation with parental social status is viewed through the inclusion of weaponry in the grave goods assemblage, particularly for young children. The types of weaponry considered in the study includes axes, arrows, spears, javelins and battle knifes from children’s burials in Central and Eastern Europe. Axes are most the common finds in Rus children’s graves with weapons, whereas swords and protective armaments are unknown in Rus children’s burials. Comparison with neighboring Slavic territories showed that the minimum age threshold for Rus children’s burials with weapons is higher — 6 years.
 Potential area of further research into the Rus children’s burials with weapons is the correlation between the age of the buried child, the type of weapons included in the burial and the geographical location of the burial. Female jewelry and household items, including temple rings and beads, are occasionally found in children’s burials with grave goods typical of male graves. Such items may be indicative of the buried person dying before reaching social adulthood. Items that may be identified as age markers among the assemblages of children’s grave goods include amulets in the shape of miniature axes, gaming dice from astragali and painted ceramic eggs with ceramic ball inside («pisanki»). These objects are predominantly found in cemeteries with high status Rus burials. The research efforts needs to be directed to the identification of marker artifacts for child burials in rural cemeteries, as well as the identification of female child burials.