Taking from the dead: Grave disturbance of Sarmatian cemeteries in the Banat region

Abstract

AbstractThe phenomenon of intensive grave disturbance of the Carpathian Basin graves in the Antiquity is especially associated with the Sarmatian cemeteries, dated to between the first and early fifth centuries CE. In this paper, this phenomenon was investigated in 20 cemeteries (179 graves) from the Banat region (East Serbia and West Romania). Analyses showed that more than half of the graves in the Banat were reopened, without any regional or inter‐site difference, as well as no sex or age preferences. Applying archeothanatological methodology to filed documentation and published reports, we were able to discern three patterns of grave disturbance: displacement of the elements of the upper body; disarticulation and dislodgement of the entire body, and haphazard removal of the body together with the content of the graves. Results showed that grave reopenings heavily damaged skeletal remains by shifting bones, throwing them on the ground surface due to grave shoveling, and leaving the graves reopened without backfilling with skeletal remains being exposed for a longer period, which is confirmed by the traces of subaerial weathering changes on skeletal material. Graves were reopened after the full skeletonization of the corpse, yet in some cases with funerary containers or clothing still present, meaning that graves were opened several years after the burial. Previous theories on Huns and Avars being perpetrators could be confirmed only for later cemeteries, while the earlier ones could be reopened by the Sarmatian contemporaries, local community, or even descendants. Archeological evidence of grave reopening confirmed grave robbery as the most likely motivation, while no special criteria in the selection of removed grave items were confirmed, probably in the turbulent period of Late Antiquity with intensive wars and raids happened in the Carpathian Basin.