Funeral Rites Research Articles

Дерево в погребальной обрядности румын(по материалам из Олтении и долины реки Тимок)

The article is based on the author’s field materials on funeral rituals, collected during ethnolinguistic research on the territory of the historical region of Oltenia (the southwestern part of modern Romania) – in the districts of Vâlcea, Gorj and Mehedinţi, and in the Serbian part of the region in Romanian scientific literature called the Timoc valley (Valea Timocului) – in the Zaječar and Bor districts of Serbia, mainly in those settlements of eastern Serbia where speakers of Oltenian subdialects live. In addition, when writing the article, the works of Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian ad other researchers concerning funeral rituals and related folklore texts from Oltenia, the Timok valley and other regions with Romanian-speaking population were used. Particular attention is paid to the terms used in different regions and settlements to designate a tree as part of the funeral props, as well as folklore texts related to funeral rituals, in which trees are mentioned.

Screen vision of a public funeral ritual before and after the revolution

The subject of research in this work is the so-called "funeral" documentaries, the creation of which was initiated before the revolution. At all times, they carried an important informational and semantic load. They fixed the authority of the deceased in the eyes of the mass public. There were public and private funerals. The ritual was canonical in nature, which was first resonantly violated during the funeral of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, as evidenced by the preserved films. The article examines the features and modification of "funeral" films over time. They underwent a radical transformation with the advent of modern times after the February revolution of 1917 and the Bolsheviks came to power. A new funeral ritual with its own peculiarities and new meanings has been established on the cinema screen. The methodological basis of the research is a system analysis. The work used a cultural-historical method and an art historical analysis of preserved films and film materials. The novelty of this study is due to the fact that it has now become possible to use not only the most general impressions in the analysis, but to take a closer look and describe in sufficient detail the films and film documents being studied. This allows you to avoid annoying mistakes and inaccuracies in understanding and interpreting what you see. And it also reinforces the role of visual evidence in understanding history. This article is devoted to an overview of how the paradigm of the funeral ritual vision has changed since pre-revolutionary times during the transition to a new world after the 1917 revolution, as well as to the identification of meanings. Her conclusions are connected with a fundamental change in the main idea of the funeral ceremony – from saying goodbye to the deceased before sending him on a long journey, a transition was made to the idea of sacrifice and swearing an oath to continue the struggle for a bright future. The results of the research can be useful to professional documentary filmmakers, archivists and can be used in practical work and in training courses.

Dealing with Death (and the Departed): The Changing Face of Funerary Rites among the Bulsa of Northern Ghana

In Ghana, how families and communities across different ethnic groups deal with the dead and the departed has remained unchanged for the past three decades. Presently, however, changes are observable in the increased number of mortuaries, funeral homes, expensive funeral cloths, use of digital technology and big donations. Scholars have attributed these changes to factors such as religion, migration, money economy, mortuary technology, education, and urbanization. Drawing on ethnographic data in the Bulsa area of northern Ghana, this paper examines how a money economy, mortuary technology, and urbanization among other factors have changed the meaning and purpose of funerary rites in the area. The paper concludes that funerary rites will only continue to be meaningful and memorable to the Bulsa when the changes taking place in this cultural practice are well integrated into the way that funerals are celebrated in the families and in the community.

Духовные стихи в рукописных поминальных тетрадях (традиция русско-коми-пермяцкого пограничья)

Folk religious poetry is quite often included in the sphere of funeral and memorial rites. Singers of spiritual verses often write them down in special “memorial” notebooks, which they use during performances. There is a controversial issue that has not yet been resolved. Do written collections existing in different territories display such a noticeable originality that would allow us to assert the presence of special local or regional manuscript traditions? In this article, the author characterizes memorial notebooks that arose in the Middle Urals, in the zone of active Russian-KomiPermyak contacts, where Russian-Yurlinians and Kochev KomiPermyaks live. A collection of 29 manuscripts serves as our material, of which 5 are analyzed in detail. The specificity of memorial notebooks is manifested in a typical set of spiritual poems, accompanying genres, choice of titles, acceptable forms of writing (with or without division into poetic lines), etc. Most of these handwritten notebooks include not only spiritual verses, but also prayers, essentially becoming “vernacular prayer books”. Typical poem titles include a mention of genre; indicate a place in the ritual; name the main characters; repeat the first line or its keyword. In Komi-Permyak notebooks, more often than in Russian ones, the traditional set of poems is expanded by including new verses. The “horizontal” organization of the text here becomes one of two conventional ways of writing spiritual verses. Elements of the written form acquire additional content, they become conventional and are reproduced within the community.

Language and culture of the Greeks of North Ossetia – Alania (based on materials from the ethnolinguistic expedition to the Greeks of Vladikavkaz)

This paper presents an overview of the results of the ethnolinguistic expedition (held in winter 2024) to the Greeks of Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania. The history of the Greek community in North Ossetia begins in the 19th century, when Greek builders from Trebizond moved to the Caucasus. Subsequently, Greeks also resettled from other regions, such as Krasnodar Krai, Kazakhstan, Georgia. The majority of the Greek population of Vladikavkaz speaks the Pontic dialect of Greek language. The main goal of the expedition was to study the Pontic vocabulary related to funeral and memorial rituals. Of particular interest are the memorial rituals of the Greeks of Vladikavkaz, which are distinguished by a regulated procedure. For example, there is a special order for pronouncing three toasts at the wakes. The informants emphasize the brevity of Greek funeral feasts, a certain set of dishes and the way of decorating the traditional ritual dish kokia (the decoration varies depending on the day of the wake). There is also a custom of visiting the family of the deceased to express condolences until 40 days after death. In Pontic dialect the tradition is simply called το χατίρ, which means ‘respect’.

Smallpox and the Choctaw Civil War

Abstract The presence of chilakwa (smallpox) in Choctaw villages between 1747 and 1748 complicated factionalism and civil war. Utilizing Sharla Fett’s approach to health culture—defined as “the social relations of healing”—this article outlines how eighteenth-century Choctaws arrived at acceptable contingency plans when faced with illness and argues that community responses to smallpox helped ease factional tensions. Iksa (moiety) obligations for funeral rites—embodying the notion of iyyi kowa (generosity)—bridged political differences, accounting for a period of collaboration between groups best understood as the “smallpox peace.” Smallpox, therefore, surprisingly did not immediately contribute to political instability, although its indirect consequences proved significant during later stages of the civil war. Choctaw health culture informed individual and communal responses to chilakwa, which in turn shaped Choctaw factionalism.

City of Stones in the Moroccan Middle Atlas: Special Funeral Rites

The Middle Atlas and particularly the Boulmane region is full of pre-Islamic funerary monuments. The overwhelming majority of them are circular tumuli. However, two burials from the “City of Stones” are completely different from this common pattern and are exceptional in many respects. They are an extension of each other. Each is topped by an imposing horizontal sandstone slab which gives it a megalithic appearance although they are natural formations in reality. The underlying cavity was used as a burial chamber. The first CPSI site displayed the incomplete skeleton of 3 individuals. One of them, found in lateral decubitus, is relatively complete in anatomical connection up to the pelvis. The remains of two incomplete skeletons without any anatomical connection are also present. The second burial of the CPSII monument, however, does not contain any anatomically connected skeleton but bones belonging to 4 different individuals. The pre-Islamic populations of the Moroccan Middle Atlas erected tumulus-type funerary monuments to accommodate primary burials which could be single or multiple. And at the same time they could desecrate some by exhuming the skeletons to redeposit them in natural rock cavities which serve as burial chambers for a secondary burial or a deposit.

Theatre, Politics and Dynamics in the Enactment of Funeral Rites in Nsukka Igbo, South-Eastern Nigeria

Theatre, Politics and Dynamics in the Enactment of Funeral Rites in Nsukka Igbo, South-Eastern Nigeria

Похоронная традиция 50–60-х годов XX века в народной речи Воронежской области: этнолингвистический аспект

This article discusses the content of the funeral rite. The aim of the study is to describe, based on the recollections of representatives of the older age group, the tradition that existed in the 50–60s of the last century, reflected in the folk speech and picture of the world of the inhabitants of the village of Vysoky Talovsky District. In the process of writing the work, methods were used: survey, interviewing, observation, comparison, generalization, built on specific facts. The novelty of the scientific work lies in the fact that a rural funeral ceremonial of the family cycle is recorded and shown, which has not been previously recorded in any of the settlements of the Voronezh region in the presented form. It acts as a village mourning action. The ritual is represented through the depiction of the local tradition in the language. The result of the research is the features of the funeral custom, consisting of 23 interrelated stages, reflected in the South Russian dialect. It is concluded that the picture of the world of the villagers combines strong friendship, support in a difficult life situation, mutual assistance, mutual assistance of the villagers, following the traditions of their ancestors, respect for the deceased and his close circle. Collectivism and community act as the fundamental principles of organizing and conducting the ceremony. It is noted that in the 21st century there have been changes in the mournful rite. The practical significance of this study lies in the fact that valuable information can be used in the collection of unique rituals that take place in small rural societies in the 20th century. At the same time, the presented data can enrich the materials of the project “Lexical Atlas of Russian Folk Dialects” (RAS), use the information when teaching special courses “Voronezh Regional Linguistics” and “Local Studies” for students and schoolchildren. The material is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Transitional Meaning and Symbolic Significance of the Funeral Rites of the Yi Pula People—Taking the Yi Pula from Beige Township, Kaiyuan City, Yunnan Province as an Example

Transitional Meaning and Symbolic Significance of the Funeral Rites of the Yi Pula People—Taking the Yi Pula from Beige Township, Kaiyuan City, Yunnan Province as an Example

Reading the Gospel of Luke's Walk to Calvary as a Funeral Procession: A Study of Luke 23.27–8

AbstractThis study offers a fresh explanation for the characterisation of the women in Luke 23.27 as mourning. It argues that the uniquely Lukan material of women mourning on the walk to Calvary subtly fashions that walk into a funeral procession. The phrase μὴ κλαίɛτɛ in the following verse, Luke 23.28, recalls accounts of Jesus bringing the dead to life earlier in the Gospel, thereby evoking the concept of resurrection. Luke 23.27-8 works in conjunction with material later in Chapter 23 about the ritual preparation of Jesus’ body, to portray funerary ritual for Jesus conducted in reverse (the funeral procession precedes rather than follows the preparation of the body). This inverted order of funeral allusions adds extra resonance to the endpoint of the Gospel, casting it as the logical culmination of a reverse funeral—the resurrection of Jesus from death to life. The interpretation in this paper highlights one way that lived ritual experiences among the Gospel's readers, in this case, the paradigm of funeral ritual, informed the narrative technique in the Gospel of Luke, complementing other well-recognised uses of Greco-Roman rhetorical devices and literary themes.

江西都昌县丧葬仪程及其文化探析

江西都昌县丧葬仪程及其文化探析

The Management of Death in Sri Lanka and Potential Solutions for the Future

Death is an inevitable human occurrence, and ancient humans experienced anxiety and apprehension when faced with unnatural deaths. Prehistoric humans valued funeral proceedings and ceremonial rites due to their belief in life after death and reincarnation. Dead bodies can be disposed of legally or illegally. Legal methods include soil burials, entombment, cremation, or donation to medical institutions. Legal disposal requires certification by a medical practitioner and a death certificate. Illegal disposal involves secret burials, such as being thrown into waterways or burnt. Ancient societies used customs like burying corpses in uninhabited jungles or constructing “Towers of Silence” to prevent scavenging by animals. Sea burials are also practiced in some cases. To register a death, authorized individuals confirm its occurrence, transfer the body to undertakers for final disposition, and relatives register it with the registrar of birth, marriage, and death. Various death investigation methods have been implemented in different parts of the world, generally varying based on the investigating authority’s jurisdiction.The death investigation system of Sri Lanka is based partly on the English coroner’s system. The death investigation procedure in Sri Lanka is described in Sections 369 to 373 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) of Sri Lanka 1980. However, the current inquest system has several deficiencies. It is high time to adopt a system. Sri Lanka should contemplate transitioning from the inquest system to the medical examiner system, as the medical examiner system is more efficient, and several countries followed this successfully.

종언기 다뉴세문경 매납방식에 대하여

Most of the latter stages of the Tachukyo-bronze mirrors are distributed one the Korean Peninsula. In particular, the last stage of Tachu-saimonkyo-bronze mirrors are distributed mainly on Chungcheongnam-do to Jeollabuk-do. In recent years, multiple tombs containing last stage of Tachukyo have been excavated in the Jeonju-city area, making it possible to examine the meaning of burial objects used during from a different perspective than before.
 The head position can be estimated from the placement of grave on slope, the width and height of the bottom of the grave. When sorting out types of “grave goods” excavated locations and their conditions, a certain tendency to the placement of “grave goods” can be observed, and some “grave goods” are seen to have undergone significant changes in their handling. “Grave goods” pottery pieces ware placed upright at the feet whether inside or outside the coffin, and bronze swords ware placed inside coffin with the tip facing toward the head. The state of burial of mirrors varies. Some have complete mirrors placed near the head or on the body, while others are propped up inside or outside the coffin. In addition, mirrors with parts missing or broken into large pieces were placed near bodies, and mirrors shattered into smaller pieces were scattered over coffins.
 These “grave goods” can be broadly divided into those that were buried and those that used for funerary rituals, depending on the state in which they were excavated. The act of crushing and scattering, which is thought to be associated with funerary rituals, can also be seen on mirrors, bronze swords, copper glazes, and earthenware. At the final stage of the Tachukyo-bronze mirror, the way mirrors are handled has changed dramatically in the world of Mahan era. It is thought that the value of mirrors has changed significantly. In contrast to the Gyeongsang-do region during the Proto Three Kingdom Period, this may have been one of the reasons why the custom of burial with mirrors disappeared in the Mahan region.

Деревянные предметы из древнекорякского захоронения в нише на мысе Братьев, обнаруженные С. П. Ефимовым в 1976 году (залив Бабушкина, Северное Приохотье)

The relevance of studying the ancient Koryak culture of the Northern Okhotsk region is noted. A difficult problem is the study of its funeral rituals. One of the most promising sites for studying the ancient Koryak burial complexes is Cape Bratyev and Cape Bukhty Malaya Astronomicheskaya. The article discusses wooden items from the burial in the niche under a stone at Cape Bratyev in the area of Babushkin Bay. The wooden objects are identified as parts of a compound bow. The closest to Cape Bratyev bow fragments are ancient Eskimo bows. Information is provided about wooden finds at ancient Koryak sites. The presented data demonstrate the research potential of the ancient Koryak burial complexes in the Northern Priokhotye. The unsatisfactory condition of some burials, as well as natural destruction of the rock cliff and movement of boulders, among which the burials are located, determine the need for immediate research of these archaeological sites.

Ислам и христианство на периферии Золотой Орды в Среднем Подонье

The purpose of the study is to analyze the data from the study of archaeolo­gical sites on the periphery of the Golden Horde in the Middle Don region, along with evidence from written sources about the spread of Islam and Christianity among the population of this area. Research materials: The paper examines the materials of Russian settlements, monuments of the Golden Horde circle (Novokharkovsky and Tagansky burial grounds), mausoleums near Krasnyi Village, and nomadic burials in the barrows. Written sources are involved (“Pimenov’s journey to Tsargrad,” the charters of Metropolitans Theognost and Alexei to the population of the Chervleny Yar). Results and scientific uniqueness: Archaeological materials allow us to talk about the coexistence of different confessional groups in the population on the periphery of the Gol­den Horde in the Middle Don region. The spread of Christianity in this area is associated with the Russian population. The information of the charters of Metropolitans Theognost and Alexei about the Christian population in the Prikhoper region is confirmed by the data of archaeological research. Among the population who left the Novokharkovsky burial ground, one can assume the spread of both Islam and Christianity. The influence of the traditions of Islam can be traced in the funeral rites of the Tagansky burial ground. The most striking evidence of the spread of Islam on the periphery of the Golden Horde in the Middle Don region is the mausoleums near Krasnyi Village. In the tombs studied in and around mausoleums, there are also remnants of paganism. Only a few nomadic burials in the barrows can be considered Muslim burials.

Bacterial Endospores as an Additional Source of Archaeological Knowledge in the Analysis of a Burial Cemetery of the Tarnobrzeg Lusatian Culture in Dębina (SE Poland)

Archaeological studies need to use laboratory techniques, including analytical methods like Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, gas chromatography – mass spectrometry, and high-performance liquid chromatography, as well as genetic methods to resolve and verify scientific hypotheses. However, additional tools are still needed in the case of the cultural practicesand traditions of ancient societies. Archaeological examinations of cultural practices have made significant progress in recent years, but additional tools are still needed to fully understand the complexity and diversity of these practices. In this work, we demonstrate how the genotyping of soil bacteria that can produce endospores is a potentially additional method for discovering past funeral rituals in various human populations who used food during their ceremonies. Endospores were isolated from soil samples taken from inside earthenware cup and pot-type vessels from a burial ground identified with the Tarnobrzeg Lusatian culture (SE Poland). The detected species of spore-forming bacteria strains were mostly environmental (originating from soil and / or water). However, the presence of some of the taxa i.e. (Peanibacillus, Bacillus) may provide a valuable source of archaeological information. We found that a combination of molecular and microbiological analysis can support archaeological studies of burial grounds and – in particular – individual graves, especially when they are characterized by a complete lack of bones.

Manipulations with the Head of those Buried in the Bystrovka Necropolis (the Early Iron Age of the Upper Ob Region)

The article deals with analysis of the material from the Bystrovka necropolis (Bystrovka-1,2,3) of the Early Iron Age in the Upper Ob region. All these precedents were integrated into the context of various types of burial rites: inhumation, secondary burials, and ritual partial burials. On the surface of individual heads there are various traces of violent and industrial influences – stabbing, punching and cutting tools. In accordance with the shape of the holes from the piercing tools on the surface of some of the skulls from Bystrovka-2, kurgan-9, it can be determined that they were made with a chekhan with a subrectangular section. This type of impact weapon of the Early Iron Age is not widely represented in the north of the Upper Ob region. At the same time, most of the iron chasings of the Early Iron Age of the Upper Ob had a predominantly rounded cross-section of their striker. It should also be noted that the holes from the blows of the chekhan on the skull in Altai had a predominantly rounded section. Whereas, on the territory of the Middle Yenisei (Tagar culture), the holes from the chekhan of the coinage also had a predominantly sub-square section. Such a similarity of the entrance holes from the coinage on the Middle Yenisei and the Upper Ob (Bystrovka-2) indirectly indicates that the coinage with which the blows were struck could be of “Tagar” origin. Along with these features, it should be noted that, judging by the tracing features of striking with a coin on one of the skulls from Bystrovka-2 kurgan-9, it was struck on the head when the person was kneeling in front of the attacker. It is this pose that is shown on one of the petroglyphs on Mount Kunya in the Middle Yenisei. The presence of an extensive report of radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating for the Bystrovka necropolis makes it possible, along with various objects of the object complex (arrowheads, ceramic vessels, etc.), to date manipulations with the heads of those buried in the middle – the last third of the 1st millennium BC. In general, all these facts fit into the format of the “archeology of violence” and illustrate not only various variants of injuries from violent actions, but also complex and multi-stage rituals reflected in the funeral rites.

Style and Shape of Bolgar-Tatar Sepulchral Monuments: unity and uniqueness

The installing of sepulchral monuments is not an obligatory element of funeral culture in Islam. However, this phenomenon is widespread among the Tatar people. The tradition, which appeared in ancient times, still exists today. This article discusses the types of sepulchral structures and monuments. A large part of the paper is dedicated to the Bolgar-Tatar gravestones of the 13th– first third of the 20th century in Arabic script. Based on the analysis of the shape, ornament, and stylistic features of writing, a group of epitaphs is distinguished, united by certain parameters and a common area for the 13th–14th, 15th–16th, 17th–18th centuries. For the monuments of the 19th –20th centuries, the gravestone features are associated with the masters of stone carving. Further study of these monuments, including sepulchral structures – mausoleums, on the one hand, and the structure of the text, the language of epitaphs, on the other, will make it possible to identify the peculiarities of the funeral rite external side of certain regions, where Tatar people live.

Harmonisasi Sosial Melalui Pendekatan Religi: Respons Kemanusiaan Bagi Masyarakat Terdampak Letusan Gunung Semeru

Indonesia, known for its geological richness, often experiences natural disasters. One such event was the eruption of Mount Semeru in December 2021 in Lumajang Regency, East Java. The incident posed complex recovery challenges. According to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) report, infrastructure damage reached billions of rupiahs, and thousands of residents were displaced. The challenges extended beyond infrastructure recovery, encompassing the psychological recovery of traumatized residents. Disruptions to the local economy, family separations, and other losses exacerbated the psychosocial burden faced by the affected population. The communities impacted by the eruption of Mount Semeru faced diverse challenges, particularly in religious aspects and the fulfillment of funeral rites (Rukun Kematian). This study highlights the importance of meeting funeral rites needs at every Social Facility (Fasilitas Sosial or Fasos) as a primary foundation for post-disaster recovery. Through collaboration with BNPB, the Social Assistance Program has successfully allocated resources for meeting these needs. Surveys of each Fasos revealed their specific requirements, ranging from funeral equipment to loudspeakers. Technical assistance related to funeral rites was provided by competent practitioners. Although it has shown positive impacts, this research emphasizes the sustainability of assistance as a key factor in the long-term recovery of the affected community. As a recommendation, this assistance should continue, considering the dynamics and changing needs of the community, to ensure ongoing optimal support in facing post-disaster challenges.