Burial Offerings Research Articles

Lead figurines of scythian horsemen from Olbia

In the article, the author aims to examine a specific category of lead artefacts discovered in Olbia, with a focus on investigating the technological features of their production and Olbia’s connections with its barbarian surroundings. The research employs an interdisciplinary approach utilising methods of analysis, synthesis, and socialisation, particularly emphasising the comparative-historical method. Against the backdrop of extensive studies on metalworking in Olbia, especially in foundries and blacksmithing, the processing of lead and the production of artefacts from it remain relatively under-explored. Therefore, this article delves into one category of items made of this metal. A distinct group of composite figurines and their fragments — statuettes of riders on stationary standing horses is explored in the article. Based on the details of their attire, they can be identified as Scythian horsemen, raising questions about Olbia’s connection with its barbarian environment. According to the classification of K. I. Zaitseva, in addition to riders on stationary standing horses, there is a small number of figurines depicting horsemen on galloping horses. All examined lead figurines are cast in the technique of either single- or double-sided relief, indicating their different usage. If double-sided statuettes could be used autonomously, single-sided ones may have needed to be attached to some surface. The presented depictions of Scythian riders not only provide insights into the production of various lead items in Olbia, but also raise questions about Greek-barbarian contacts, possibly indicating the residence of local inhabitants in Olbia and their status in both the city and barbarian interactions. They also expand our understanding of Scythian attire and horsemen. Lead items originating from Olbia can be categorised into several groups depending on their purpose. Primarily, these are household items (clamps, spindle whorls, fishing weights). During the Hellenistic period, handles (clamps) for wooden coffins (biers) were manufactured. However, the most interesting group comprises votive items, with around 350 known examples to date. These include bucrania, stylised sheep heads, and labryses. A smaller group consists of anthropomorphic figurines of gods, warriors, chariots, plaques with narrative scenes (sacrifices) and riders. Such votive figurines are found in mounds and tombs as burial offerings. Less frequently, they are found directly within burials. Additionally, they may have been used in religious rituals and in decorating household altars. The question of the ownership of such statuettes remains unanswered. However, Herodotus wrote about a barbarian population known as Callipidae or Hellenes-Scythians in the territory of the Olbian state. It is essential to note that in the 4th century BC, coins were minted in Olbia bearing the image of the Scythian king Ateas, and Scythian weaponry was commonly depicted on the Bosporus, indicating traditional Scythian-Hellenic relations that likely solidified after the Scythians defeated Zopyrion’s army under the walls of Olbia. Thus, the presence of residents in the city cannot be denied.

Burial offerings in intramural tombs at Middle Bronze Age Megiddo

AbstractTel Megiddo is a major type‐site for the Middle Bronze in the Levant. During this period a new burial custom appeared in which the dead were interred beneath occupied houses. This tradition is well attested in Area K at the site. Area H, near the palatial complex, revealed a monumental masonry‐constructed chamber tomb. This article presents the results of residue analysis conducted on ceramic vessels placed in these tombs as burial offerings. Hundreds of intramural Middle Bronze tombs with ceramic offerings were excavated in the Levant, but this is the first time the content of the vessels is revealed.

An Elite Middle Bronze IIA Warrior Tomb from Yehud, Central Coastal Plain, Israel

A salvage excavation held at the city of Yehud (Israel) revealed an unusual burial of the Middle Bronze (MB) IIA period. The grave was isolated from other MB burials in the Yehud area and was exceptionally large and rich in terms of the types and diversity of burial offerings, which included pottery vessels, metal objects, and animal bones. An outstanding find among the burial goods was an anthropomorphic jug whose neck was shaped in the form of a seated figure supporting its head with the right hand, evoking the image of Rodin’s “Le Penseur.” This paper presents the grave and offerings uncovered in the excavation and an interpretation of these finds, along with a discussion of the grave within the wider context of Middle Bronze Age burials in Yehud and beyond, suggesting it was associated with an elite warrior, who served most likely as a local leader.

Становление погребальной практики на востоке Евразии: пещера Чжоукоудянь

This paper examines characteristic features of the Zhoukoudian cave. This site is rather well known to specialists, but mainly from the work of anthropologists, but not as a funerary complex. Therefore, there is every reason to consider its records from this point of view to understand how they fit into the general line of burial practice development in the eastern part of Asia. New carbon dates determine the cave age in the range of 33.5–38.4 thousand years cal. BP and turn it into the earliest burial complex of the region. However, in this case, there appears a gap of ten to fifteen thousand years between it and other Upper Paleolithic burials known in estern part of Asia. Besides Zhoukoudian, there were only two burial traditions in the Upper Paleolithic there. The first, in the north, is associated with the ritual burials of children (Mal’ta, Ushki, Upward Sun River) and suggested to be originated in the Eastern Europe, but seems was not inherited by the regular burial activity arose later in the Early Neolithic. The second, in the south, came up immediately as a regular burial practice being connected with cave interments, crouched position of the dead, after-death manipulations with their bodies, including cremation, and poor burial offerings (Xom Trai, Doi Pha Kan, Tron Bon Lei, Niah cave, Liang Nabulei Lisa, Liang Lembudu, etc.). The origin of this tradition is under question, but all Neolithic cultures to the south of Pearl River followed and abided it up to the agriculture spreading. Although ritual rites of the Zhoukoudian burials cannot be reconstructed because of the data dearth, ornaments assemblage definitely associates this site with north areas of Eurasia. Moreover, the distribution of the main jewelry types, found in the eastern part of Eurasia, has shown that those of Zhoukoudian cave (perforated animal teeth and bone tubes) are met to the sites located to the north, west and south-west of Baikal and absent to the east of it where eggshell beads were popular. This looks like that of the single area of two former kinds of ornaments was split into two parts by the eggshell bead bearers. From this, the Zhoukoudian cave has seemed culturally more associated with areas to the west of Baikal and the earliest waves of Homo sapiens intrusion into East Asia.

The Enigma of the Hyksos, Volume 1: ASOR Conference Boston 2017—ICAANE Conference Munich 2018—Collected Papers

The Enigma of the Hyksos, Volume 1: ASOR Conference Boston 2017—ICAANE Conference Munich 2018—Collected Papers

Heated beeswax usage in mortuary practices: The case of Ḥorvat Tevet (Jezreel Valley, Israel) ca. 1000 BCE

The article presents and discusses the results of Residue Analysis performed on 27 pottery vessels, placed as offerings in burials dating to the Iron I period (ca. 1050–900 BCE) at the site Ḥorvat Tevet (Israel). The results show that heated beeswax was used during the burial ceremonies and placed in variety of vessels. These results shed new light on burial practices of South Levantine rural communities. They also contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding bee-product economy in the Southern Levant during the beginning of the Iron IIA.

Miniatures as Ritual Objects: Exploring the Role of Small-Sized Vessels among the Complex Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers from the Paraná River Lowlands in South America

This study is the first systematic approach to ceramic miniatures from the lowlands of the Paraná River (northeastern Argentina), which have received marginal attention from regional archaeology. This paper presents an analysis of 24 pottery miniatures recovered from archaeological sites generated by complex Late Holocene hunter-gatherers, dating from between 460±50 and 1056±47 yearsbp. Morphological and decorative data, errors of manufacture, traces of use and the context of the pieces’ deposition are recorded in order to explore aspects of their variability and functionality. The miniatures correspond to bowls, basins, cups and ‘bell’ artefacts, all of which are commonly found in the regional record. The data obtained suggest that at least some of the sample were used in the symbolic sphere, such as burial offerings.

WHAT DO CERAMICS TELL US ABOUT THE CONTACTS BETWEEN THE MAYA AND TEOTIHUACAN? THE MEANING AND SOCIAL CONTEXT OF TEOTIHUACAN-LIKE CERAMICS IN THE MAYA AREA AND MAYA-LIKE CERAMICS AT TEOTIHUACAN IN THE EARLY CLASSIC PERIOD

A long-lived debate within Early Classic Mesoamerican studies concerns the nature of the social, cultural and political interaction between the city of Teotihuacan and the Maya area. Considerable evidence of these contacts is known from epigraphy, iconography and architecture, but we know less from the artefacts, especially ceramics, that point to these relationships. Typical Teotihuacan ceramic forms – like cylinder tripods, Thin Orange pottery, candeleros, cream pitchers and floreros appear in many Maya sites from several regions: the Central Zone, the South-eastern Zone, the Belize Zone, the Guatemalan Highlands and also Northern Yucatan. Teotihuacan-like vessels usually form a predominant component of elite or royal burial offerings. Additionally, Maya-style vessels have been found in a few of Teotihuacan’s apartment compounds. There seems to be much diversity among these sites regarding the chronology of ceramic vessels, their quality and quantity, as well as their depositional contexts. All of these factors may reveal significant aspects of the nature and extent of these long-distance relationships.

CvStudy Concerning the King QAj-a of the 1st Dynasty

According to the archaeological documents and historical resources, on which Ancient Egyptian history depended that the king QAj-a is the 8th and the last king of the 1st Dynasty. He may reign 26 years. The parents of the king QAj-a are unknown, but it is thought that either his predecessor aD-ib or smr-xt was his father, since it was tradition to leave the throne to the eldest son.The architectural buildings of the king were numerous in contemporary tombs, whether his tomb in Abydos, his tomb in Saqqara, tombs and monuments of the noble of his period. several stone vessel inscriptions and numerous ivory tablets dating to his reign also mention only typical arrangements, such as depicting and counting burial offerings and personal possessions of the king. Despite QAj-a’s long and prosperous reign, evidence shows that after his death, a dynastic war between different royal houses began over the newly empty throne. The research aims to study the most important works of the king QAj-ain Ancient Egypt; study his most important monuments; shed light on the end of the first dynasty.

Early Iron Age Pyramidal Kurgans in Western Siberia

Ditches encircling the Early Iron Age Sargatka kurgans in the Western Siberian forest-steppe are described. Most of them are nonagonal, decagonal, and dodecagonal, but hexagonal, heptagonal, octogonal and those with 14 angles occur as well. Kurgan shape does not correlate with size, platform diameter, or number of burials. The analysis of data regarding the micro-relief of the kurgan surface and of sources relevant to early nomadic religion enables us to interpret various types of ditches. Those of the hexaand heptagonal type encircled a wooden and earthen pyramid, presumably symbolizing the World Mountain. Those with 9, 12, and 14 angles result from a proportionally larger size of elite kurgans. Indeed, inside such kurgans, hexa- and heptagonal wooden platforms are found. Unclosed ditches likely indicate unfi nished kurgans, and those with 11 and 13 angles result from a distortion of the initial layout by secondary burials. Ditches are associated only with male burials and were apparently meant to protect the dead against evil forces and against the possible intrusion of potentially hostile ancestors, whose cult was reconstructed on the basis of offerings in elite burials. The architecture of the Sargatka kurgans evidences remnants of Indo-European myths transformed by inter-ethnic contacts and cultural innovations on the periphery of the Scytho-Siberian world.

A Glimpse into Burial Practices of Medieval (10th to 13th c. AD) Elites in the Horqin Region, Northeast China

Cette étude a pour but de présenter deux tombes à chambre en brique des périodes Liao et Jin (Xe-XIIIe s.) fouillées récemment dans la region du Ke’erqin (à Dongmengyi dans le district de Shuangliao et à Hamaqin dans le district de Changling), dans l’ouest de la province du Jilin, dans le nord-est de la Chine. La description de ces découvertes, réalisée de la manière la plus détaillée possible, met en relief les éléments architecturaux, ceux du mobilier funéraire, et les restes humains. Dans un deuxième temps, les auteurs proposent de mettre en perspective ces découvertes en les comparant aux sépultures publiées pour cette région. 246 tombes du Ke’erqin et des alentours ont été intégrées à une base de données et permettent de mener des analyses quantitatives sur les coutumes funéraires. Ces informations, visualisées au sein d’un Système d’information géographique (SIG), sont analysées pour connaître les configurations spatiales de la distribution des divers types de tombes, de leurs formes, et même des objets les plus proches de ceux découverts à Dongmengyi et Hamaqin.

New Bioarchaeological Evidence and Radiocarbon Dates from the Lambayeque/Sicán Culture Camelids from the El Brujo Complex (Northern Coast of Peru): Implications for Funerary and Herd Management Practices

ABSTRACT Pastoralism and camelid management have been essential to all aspects of pre-Hispanic Andean societies. Here, we present zooarchaeological and isotopic data on domestic camelid remains from Huaca Cao Viejo (El Brujo archaeological complex) on the northern coast of Peru, and dated to the Lambayeque/Sicán period—to characterise their biological age, diet, life history, possible geographic origin and ritual use. Domestic camelids, representing a wide range of biological ages and a high rate of polydactyly, were found as burial offerings in direct association with human funerary bundles (fardos). Direct AMS dates indicated that camelids were buried over a short period of time (AD 1022–1176) confirming the Lambayeque presence in the Chicama Valley during the first half of the Late Intermediate Period. Stable isotopic analyses were carried out on both bone collagen and hair keratin, including incremental analysis. A considerable variability in δ13C values at both the intra-individual and the intra-group level and a large contribution of C4 resources to diet are shown. This clearly supports local management and camelids originating from various herds. Zooarchaeological and isotopic evidences suggest diversity in herding practices and suggest the importance of the herds in fulfilling the transportation demands for trade in goods.

Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East

AbstractIn this paper I will present the assemblage of pottery vessels and objects of luxury dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods discovered in the Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel. The context in which this assemblage was found is strongly reminiscent of other proto-historic depositions found in Israel. As determent of objects of value found in the deep and dark caves cannot be explained by means of burial offerings or regular hoards one most provide this remarkable phenomenon by a different theory. In this paper, I claim that these depositions were ritual in nature. They bear physical evidence for rituals performed by specially chosen members of the society, which we call today shamans. These caves were chosen due to their physical properties to become scenes for rituals of rites of passage in the course of which they experienced altered states of consciousness. In the course of time these caves have accumulated considerable social power becoming liminal monuments on the fringes of social landscapes in the local cultures. We may understand deep and dark caves as an element of pre-urban cosmology embedded into the local landscape, traces of which can be detected in much later traditions.

Basalt vessels in Chalcolithic burial caves: Variations in prestige burial offerings during the Chalcolithic period of the southern Levant and their social significance

The Late Chalcolithic of the southern Levant is in part characterized by increased formalized ritual behavior, specifically in the form of burial caves. These caves feature a high variety of utilitarian and prestige grave goods. One of the notable finds in some of the burial caves are basalt vessels, which are considered a hallmark of the Chalcolithic period. Despite their ubiquity in domestic context and likely status as prestige goods produced at specialized production sites, basalt vessels are absent from most burial caves, and the overall frequency of basalt vessels in the caves is highly variable. This paper reviews the phenomenon of basalt vessels in Chalcolithic burial caves and discusses the variability noted. The fact that these labor-intensive prestige goods were found in caves used as arenas for rich symbolic and ritualistic mortuary behavior suggests that while basalt vessels had an important role in Chalcolithic mundane context, the cultic significance of these vessels also entered the spectrum of beliefs concerning death and the afterlife. Moreover, the discrepancies noted in their presence in burial caves suggest that this significance was probably not shared among all Chalcolithic communities in the southern Levant.

Lithic Production and Consumption Patterns from the Great Platform at Late Postclassic (A.D. 1350–1525) Tzintzuntzan, Mexico

ABSTRACTLate Postclassic period (a.d. 1350–1525) Tarascan economic activities often included higher degrees of political involvement and territorial control compared with other ancient Mesoamerican societies. Here I examine Tarascan obsidian economies through an analysis of lithic production and consumption patterns from structures excavated on and near the Great Platform at the imperial capital of Tzintzuntzan. Four spatially distinct patterns are evident. Great Platform residents used high-quality obsidian blades as ceremonial items or burial offerings and scrapers for craft production. Lower elite residents of Structure F, outside the Great Platform, produced their own blade tools and consumed a higher percentage of green obsidian than residents of the Great Platform. Excavations at Yacata 3 recovered bifacial arrowheads and obsidian bloodletters associated with disturbed offerings. The spatial distributions of lapidary preforms and highly polished fragments combined with accounts from the Relación de Michoacán (a.d. 1541) suggest that lower elites produced obsidian jewelry near the Great Platform.

Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the Sam Kaufman Site (41RR16) in the R. K. Harris Collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Over the years, R. King Harris and his Dallas Archeological Society colleagues excavated a number of ancestral Caddo burials (Burials 1-19) from cemeteries exposed along the eroding bank of the Red River at the Sam Kaufman site (41RR16) and have published their findings. These burials are from upper and lower cemeteries of McCurtain phase and Historic Caddo age both north and east of the principal mound at the Sam Kaufman site on the Red River. During a 2005 documentation visit to the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution (NMNH), I had the opportunity, along with Bo Nelson, Mark Walters, Robert Cast, and Bobby Gonzalez, to examine vessels from the Sam Kaufman site in the R. King Harris collections. His collections included vessels from Burials 20, 21, 22, and 25 at the Sam Kaufman site, and information and images of these vessels (or for that matter, information about the burial excavations) have not been previously put on record. This article provides the available information on the eight vessels known to have been included as funerary offerings with these four burials; no information could be found for any vessels or other funerary offerings in Burials 23 and 24.

Non-destructive in situ spectroscopic analysis of greenstone objects from royal burial offerings of the Mayan site of Palenque, Mexico

One of the most important Mayan cities of the Classic period (A.D. 200–900) of Mesoamerica is Palenque, in Chiapas. The Mayan civilization attributed great importance to greenstone minerals, in particular jadeite. This study covers the analysis of greenstones found in royal tombs of several temples corresponding to the Classic period: the Temple of the Skull, Temple of the Cross and Temples XVIII and XVIII-A. The aim of this research is to determine the use of greenstone minerals and the raw materials’ sources as a first step in understanding the development of Palenque and its relationships to other sites in the Maya region. Here, we present a non-destructive in situ study of lithic objects carried out by means of a several spectroscopic techniques, such as Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and color measurements, at the Palenque site museum. FTIR and Raman allowed for the identification of minerals including jadeite, omphacite, amazonite, albite, muscovite and green quartz. Moreover, XRF was effective for in situ analysis of the elemental composition of the artifacts. This information was essential for sourcing the raw materials, in particular, jadeite. It was possible to infer the exploitation of an unknown source of jadeite for the earlier burial (A.D. 250–450). During this period the exploitation of the Verapaz and Motagua jadeite deposits also began. These sources were the primary deposits used for the manufacture of the artifacts studied from the period of A.D. 600–850. Also, a greater diversity of minerals is observed during the zenith of Palenque during this period, corresponding to the reign of Pakal. Although, between burials, the color of the artifacts is diverse, the color measurements indicated similarity in color among artifacts within individual burials.

The Peterson Ranch Site (41HS253), A Late 17th to Early 18th Century Ancestral Caddo Cemetery in the Little Cypress Creek Basin, Harrison County, Texas

The Peterson Ranch site (41HS253) is a late 17th to early 18th century Caddo cemetery in the Little Cypress Creek basin in the East Texas Pineywoods. The cemetery, on Gray’s Creek, was found and excavated in 1962 by a number of collectors from the Marshall, Texas, area. In 1963 the cemetery area was destroyed by the construction of an oil well pad. Most of the collectors kept cursory notes on their excavations at the site, which consisted of plan maps showing the orientation of the burial pits, the human remains in the graves, and the location and kinds of some of the funerary offerings placed in the grave to accompany the deceased to the House of Death in the Sky. Fray Casanas commented in 1691 that the Caddo buried “their dead with all their arms and utensils which each possesses.” The kinds of items placed in Caddo burials, especially the vessels—since they are by far the most common burial offerings—can provide unique insights into how different Caddo groups treated the dead, and what such differences may mean regarding diverse view on life and death among contemporaneous Caddo groups. The information on the cemetery excavations and burial offerings from the Peterson Ranch site has been reconstructed from notes and drawings on file at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL). To my knowledge, the funerary offerings from the burials at the site have not been documented by a professional archaeologist, and it is presently unknown what the current provenience(s) of the collections are.

Proceedings of the 16th conference of the International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany, Thessaloniki 2013

This volume of Vegetation History and Archaeobotany comprises a collection of papers presented at the 16th conference of the International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany, held at the Research Dissemination Centre (KEDEA) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) between June 16th and 22nd 2013. The conference was organised under the auspices of the School of History and Archaeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports and the Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food. The Museum of Byzantine Culture hosted the official dinner of the conference. The following institutions financially supported the conference: the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, Foglip-ERC, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, and Piraeus Bank. Various other sponsors supported the conference with donations in kind (gifts and food/drink): Agrino, Apivita, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Babatzim wines, Claudia Papagianni wines, Creta Carob, Gerovassileiou wines, Haitoglou, Holomon herbs, Ianos, I Kathimerini, Korres, Kyr Yianni wines, Ligas wines, Masticha Shop, MIET (National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation), Mylelia, Pantopoleion tis Thessalonikis, Psichalos publications, Rayan Foods, Tea-Routes, Thessaloniki Chef’s Association, Thessaloniki Hotels Association, University Studio Press, Vaeni wines, Vivlia Chora wines, Yiam. In times of financial hardship their help has been invaluable. This is the first time an IWGP conference has been organised in Greece, where archaeobotany was initiated by German, Dutch and British colleagues, like Maria Hopf, Helmut Kroll, Willem van Zeist, Sytze Bottema, Glynis Jones, Jane Renfrew and James Greig, most of whom were among the pioneers of archaeobotany worldwide. These people sowed the seeds of archaeobotany in Greece as members of national archaeological school missions in various parts of the country, in those early days when archaeology was ‘losing its innocence’ as David Clarke epitomised the arrival of New Archaeology (Clarke 1973). Among the pioneers, colleagues such as Glynis Jones and Helmut Kroll not only ‘saved seeds’ (Jones et al. 1982) and broadened the horizons of Greek archaeobotany but, perhaps most significantly trained indigenous archaeologists into becoming the first native archaeobotanists. Thus, the 16th IWGP held in Thessaloniki (the second Mediterranean city to host an IWGP after Girona in Spain 2004) would simply not have happened without the work of these teachers and practitioners of archaeobotany. The conference went officially global this time, providing a podium to papers from regions not traditionally represented in the preceding IWGP meetings. Presentations on Inuit archaeobotany, South African hunter-gatherer survival strategies, Chinese burial offerings, Japanese prehistoric rice growing and consumption, and Argentinian early cultivation and food processing demonstrate the wide geographical range represented by the current IWGP. Various challenges had to be dealt with during the organisation of the conference including a large number of submitted oral presentations and posters, and a host country in deep financial S. M. Valamoti Department of Archaeology, School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail: sval@hist.auth.gr

Death, gender, and sea shells in Carthage

Sea shells were typical offerings in Carthaginian burials, yet archaeologists have rarely paid any attention to them and have therefore written very little about them. Given the Phoenician adoption of various Egyptian funerary customs and motifs, moreover, sea shells in Carthaginian burials are typically attributed the same meaning as those in Egyptian burials. Given our understanding of the Phoenician association with the sea and our understanding about specifically Carthaginian funerary customs and offerings, however, it is likely that there are distinctively Carthaginian reasons for the inclusion of sea shells in their burials.