Funerary Contexts Research Articles

Archaeological questions and genetic answers: Male paternal kinship in a copper age multiple burial from the eastern Italian Alps

In 2010, a detailed anthropological study regarding two adult individuals and one foetus-newborn buried in a Copper Age (ca. 3000–2700 cal. BC) multiple grave site found in Ora/Auer in the eastern Italian Alps (Alto Adige/ Südtirol) was published. This exceptional archaeological finding provides a rare insight into an inhumation prehistoric ritual discovered within a natural alpine rock shelter.Due to the presence of an infant in the grave, the authors were doubtful of the anthropological male sex assignment given to both adult individuals found there. Additionally, correlation of non-metric traits suggested a possible kinship between them. To determine the biological sex and to investigate genetic relatedness, we performed a paleogenetic investigation (shotgun and enrichment data of ∼2 million SNPs) of the two adults.We successfully analyzed the ancient DNA of these individuals, confirming that biologically, both were males (XY). Moreover, through kinship analyses and data from unilinear-transmitted markers (Y-Chromosome and mitochondrial DNA), we detected a first-degree paternal kinship (most likely father-son).This study underlines the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue between archaeology, anthropology and palaeogenomics, demonstrating how the latter can significantly support the interpretation of funerary contexts.

Banatian DeathMetals: Radiocarbon Dating of Cremation Burials of the Setting Bronze Age and Dawning Iron Age

The lack of radiocarbon measurements of funerary contexts is a major shortcoming of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age of the Eastern Carpathian Basin, especially in the Banat region. The present batch of samples tries to address these drawbacks, by detailing sampling strategies, employed pre-treatment and by providing a robust and coherent dataset of radiocarbon measurements. Implications of the new radiocarbon dates is discussed from a supra-regional perspective, while keeping aspects of typo-chronology, circulation of goods, and social nuances of employment of Bronze Age bronzes in the forefront. Ten burials were selected from four Banatian burial grounds according to the occurrence of metal finds in the funerary inventories. Beyond establishing a broad frame of absolute chronology for these sites of interment, the radiocarbon data provide reliable arguments for the precise attribution of metal discoveries. In addition, the data allow us to challenge some previously stated chronological assignments.

Life and Death of the Macrolithic Tools from the Third-millennium cal. bc Necropolis of La Orden-Seminario in Southwest Spain

Macrolithic tools are linked to daily activities and, fundamentally, to settlements, hence their importance for the study of Late Prehistoric societies. However, these objects are also associated with funerary contexts, but have not often been analysed holistically. This paper studies an assemblage of macrolithic elements from three collective tombs from the third millennium cal. bc at the site of La Orden-Seminario (Huelva, Spain), from a theoretical and methodological perspective based on the biography of the object. Our analysis focuses on typology, raw materials, technology, function and burial context. The results show that the tools can be linked to domestic activities such as the grinding of cereals and the processing of plant materials, as well as for the production and maintenance of the elements used in these activities. The analysed objects display long biographies of use and, in some cases, we have documented intentional breakage for their deposition in the tombs. The patterns of deposition in the funerary contexts reflect social practices related to the ritual and symbolic behaviours surrounding death and the relationship with everyday objects.

Another non-anthropic leporid accumulation in Southwestern Iberia? The case of a leporid sample from Morgado superior (Tomar, Portugal)

ABSTRACT The Morgado Superior Rock Shelter is located near the city of Tomar, in Central Portugal. This site presents important funerary contexts that according to published information encompass the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. Other non-funerary uses have not yet been characterised but were briefly suggested. A faunal sample of the 1988 and 2012 interventions is analysed from a zooarchaeological and taphonomical perspective, focusing on the leporid remains that largely dominate the assemblage. Clear indicators of a human origin are absent, while a configurational approach allows the description of exogenous and intrusive origins. The characteristics of the registered consumption taphonomical indicators are suggestive of scat and non-ingested accumulation by foxes. Furthermore, this study allows us to discuss some aspects of the formation of the stratigraphy of this important cave necropolis, while also serving as an example of the expected results of foxes’ action on leporid remains in an archaeological site.

Keys and Locking Mechanisms Discovered in Graves from the Alburnus Maior and Apulum Cemeteries

The analysis of graves could reveal information regarding the identity of the deceased individuals, the funerary rites that may have taken place, and the beliefs of the mourners. In this study were analysed seven graves: five graves (M53, M137, M222, M264 and M268) from the Alburnus Maior cemeteries, and two graves (G93 and M399) from the “Stația de salvare” and “Profi” zones of the cemetery situated in the northern part of the Municipium Septimium Apulense. Six graves include in their inventory one key and the last grave includes one bolt in the inventory. The keys have been used to secure possessions and public or private spaces by operating a locking mechanism, depending on the shape and pattern of the bit. In funerary contexts, the functionality of the keys may have symbolic meanings that can be related to certain deities which have these objects as attributes, or the keys and locking mechanisms may guard symbolically the possessions of the deceased person in the afterlife.

Zoonotic parasite infection from a funerary context: A Late Antique child case from Cantabrian Spain

ObjectiveTo evaluate the presence of Dicrocoelium sp. in a child from a Late Antique funerary context from Cantabrian Spain and discuss whether the infection is true infection or pseudoparasitosis. MaterialsFour skeletons, including one from a 5–7 year old child, have been analysed from the archaeological site of El Conventón, dated between the sixth and seventh centuries AD. MethodsThe paleoparasitological study was conducted through the analysis of soil samples from different parts of the skeleton and funerary context using the rehydration, homogenization, and micro-sieving method, and visualized through brightfield microscopy. ResultsA soil sample from the pelvic region tested positive for Dicrocoelium sp. (possibly D. dendriticum). ConclusionsThe child was infected with Dicrocoelium dendriticum, which based on archaeological and historical contexts may be related to hygiene or dietary behaviour. SignificanceWe present one of the few cases of the identification of a Dicrocoelidae parasite directly associated with a human skeleton that provides historical knowledge of a zoonotic disease. LimitationsThe diagnosis of a zoonosis through the identification of ancient parasites is complex. In addition, Dicrocoelium sp. in association with skeletal human remains is rare due to the potential low prevalence of this parasite. Suggestions for Further ResearchHighlight the importance of paleoparasitological analysis to link parasitic infection diseases with socioeconomic issues by using funerary contexts with skeletal remains.

The Emergence of the Osiris Cult in the Italian Peninsula and Its Main Features: A Reassessment

In the Roman period, the cult of Osiris, together with other Egyptian deities, reached the Italian peninsula through the sea trade. Here, his watery nature was especially stressed. Following ancient Egyptian beliefs, Osiris was identified with the yearly flooding of the Nile, which renewed nature and fertilized the fields, and was used in lustration rituals to bring the dead to life as well as to satiate the deceased’s thirst. Since Osiris was embodied in this vital fluid, he was perceived as a bearer of life. Far from aiming to collect all the evidence of the cult of Osiris found in the Italian peninsula, the goal of this work is to provide an overview of which forms of Osiris were mainly worshipped there, and what role he held in funerary contexts and beyond, through the analysis of some of the most relevant sources related to his cult and the examinations of the contexts in which he was worshipped.

Everything Has a Role to Play: Reconstruction of Vessel Function From Early Copper Age Graves in the Upper Tisza Region (Eastern Hungary)

Abstract Investigation into the utilitarian function of mortuary vessels is often a neglected aspect of ceramic examination. Since, in most cases, a direct link can be assumed between the vessels’ size, form, and most optimal utilitarian function, morphometry-based ceramic categories – along with ethnoarchaeological examples – can help to understand the role of these vessels in funerary contexts. This article focuses on the relationship between the utilitarian function of ceramics and their roles in graves through the analysis of eight Early Copper Age (4400/4300–4000/3900 BC) burial sites, associated with Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr ceramic styles, from the Upper Tisza Region (Hungary). The deposition of ceramic assemblages in graves became common in this period; however, a systematic analysis of their function has never been carried out before. In this study, a morphometry-based methodology was developed to establish the vessels’ utilitarian function. These functions were considered in the analysis of the composition of mortuary assemblages, and how they may reflect social status or gender roles of the deceased individual. Results indicate that the Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr assemblages cannot be unequivocally distinguished from each other based on morphometric and functional criteria, suggesting similar functional roles in the past funerary contexts.

Middle Neolithic fluorites in Northern France and Belgium: Characterization, sourcing and methodological limitations

Ornaments and fragments of fluorite have been found at sixteen Neolithic sites in Belgium and Northern France, mainly Middle Neolithic sites associated with the Michelsberg culture and the Spiere and Chassean groups. These sites are located in a large geographical area representing different types of sites and various geological backgrounds. One of the aims of this study is to identify where this mineral could have been quarried in the Neolithic and compare the possible source(s) with those used during the Palaeolithic. A survey of some Neolithic fluorite occurrences in Belgium and Northern France was conducted and the origins of this mineral investigated by means of geochemical Rare Earth Elements and Sr-isotopic analysis. We also explore the limitations of isotopic 87Sr/86Sr and REE ratios for analysis of fluorite. Results show that Neolithic fluorite originates from different local and regional sources, mainly the Dinantian limestones/dolostones of the Ardennes Allochthon, in contrast to the use of silicified Givetian limestones of the Calestian Band near Givet (France) during the Magdalenian. The Neolithic fluorite that is studied in this paper is found exclusively at settlement sites whereas elsewhere, fluorite comes exclusively from funerary contexts.

Towards an understanding of the different uses of sheep/goat and hare in Iberian South-Western Bronze Age funerary contexts

Faunal remains associated with human burials are a well-known practice in Southern Portugal during the Middle Bronze Age (end of the third millennium until the first half of the second millennium BC). The funerary architecture is mainly marked by hypogea, where articulated segments of anterior limbs or isolated bones from the front limbs of cattle or sheep/goat are present as grave goods. Along with hypogea, there are also examples of burial contexts in pits with faunal remains associated. This paper presents data on a circular pit from Montinhos 6 (Southern Portugal) with two primary interments, where disarticulated sheep/goat and hare remains are included as grave goods. Some of the bones (both hare and sheep/goat) were included as dry bones, meaning that animal corpses were manipulated earlier. It allows considering the hypothesis that such animal remains have been used in a previous social context. The animal corpses decay, and some bones were chosen, collected, and lastly integrated within the funerary context. This treatment of the bones suggests a well-planned integration of the animals into the funerary rituals. Regarding the meaning of these faunal remains, one may interpret them as “manipulated artefacts” or amulets, invoking graces for hunting and/or herding practices. In addition, sheep/goat front limb bones (humerii and radii) were added as well, probably with fresh tissues attached, suggesting rituals of funerary commensality.

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Intense community dynamics in the pre-Roman frontier site of Fermo (ninth–fifth century BCE, Marche, central Italy) inferred from isotopic data

The Early Iron Age in Italy (end of the tenth to the eighth century BCE) was characterized by profound changes which influenced the subsequent political and cultural scenario in the peninsula. At the end of this period people from the eastern Mediterranean (e.g. Phoenicians and Greek people) settled along the Italian, Sardinian and Sicilian coasts. Among local populations, the so-called Villanovan culture group—mainly located on the Tyrrhenian side of central Italy and in the southern Po plain—stood out since the beginning for the extent of their geographical expansion across the peninsula and their leading position in the interaction with diverse groups. The community of Fermo (ninth–fifth century BCE), related to the Villanovan groups but located in the Picene area (Marche), is a model example of these population dynamics. This study integrates archaeological, osteological, carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) (n = 25 human) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope data (n = 54 human, n = 11 baseline samples) to explore human mobility through Fermo funerary contexts. The combination of these different sources enabled us to confirm the presence of non-local individuals and gain insight into community connectivity dynamics in Early Iron Age Italian frontier sites. This research contributes to one of the leading historical questions of Italian development in the first millennium BCE.

On the traces of lost identities: chronological, anthropological and taphonomic analyses of the Late Neolithic/Early Eneolithic fragmented and commingled human remains from the Farneto rock shelter (Bologna, northern Italy)

The present study examines the prehistoric human skeletal remains retrieved starting from the 1920s in the deposit of the Farneto rock shelter, situated in the area of the ‘Parco dei Gessi Bolognesi e Calanchi dell’Abbadessa’ (San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, northern Italy). An exact dating and a reliable interpretation of the assemblage had not been reached so far because of the lack of contextual data useful for dating purposes, the inaccurate recovery procedures of the remains and their state of preservation. In fact, the skeletal remains from the Farneto rock shelter are highly fragmented and commingled, whereas reliable information about their original position and their recovery procedures are not available. Despite these difficulties, radiocarbon analyses allowed the precise dating of the remains to a final phase of the Neolithic and an early phase of the Eneolithic period in Emilia Romagna (northern Italy). The study of the assemblage enabled to clarify the use of the context for funerary purposes. Moreover, the anthropological and taphonomic analyses of the skeletal remains shed light on the biological profile of the individuals and on some events that occurred after their death. In particular, the analysis of perimortem lesions highlighted the existence of intentional interventions related to corpse treatment, referable to dismembering/disarticulation and scarnification, i.e. cleaning of bones from soft tissues. Finally, the comparison with other Italian and European Neo/Eneolithic funerary contexts enabled a better understanding of these complex ritual practices.

Ecological flexibility and adaptation to past climate change in the Middle Nile Valley: A multiproxy investigation of dietary shifts between the Neolithic and Kerma periods at Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21.

Human responses to climate change have long been at the heart of discussions of past economic, social, and political change in the Nile Valley of northeastern Africa. Following the arrival of Neolithic groups in the 6th millennium BCE, the Northern Dongola Reach of Upper Nubia witnessed a cultural florescence manifested through elaborate funerary traditions. However, despite the wealth of archaeological data available from funerary contexts, including evidence for domesticated animals and plants as grave goods, the paucity of stratified habitation contexts hinders interpretation of local subsistence trajectories. While it is recognised archaeologically that, against the backdrop of increasing environmental deterioration, the importance of agriculture based on Southwest Asian winter cereals increased throughout the Kerma period (2500-1450 BCE), the contribution of domesticated cereals to earlier Neolithic herding economies remains unclear. This paper presents direct dietary data from a total of 55 Middle Neolithic and Kerma period individuals from Kadruka 21 and Kadruka 1. Microbotanical data obtained from human dental calculus and grave sediments are integrated with human and faunal stable isotopes to explore changes in dietary breadth over time. The combined results demonstrate the consumption of wild plant species, including C4 wetland adapted grasses, by Middle Neolithic individuals at Kadruka 1. Despite existing evidence for domesticated barley in associated graves, the results obtained in this study provide no clear evidence for the routine consumption of domesticated cereals by Middle Neolithic individuals. Rather, direct microparticle evidence for the consumption of Triticeae cereals is only associated with a single Kerma period individual and corresponds with an isotopic shift indicating a greater contribution of C3-derived resources to diet. These results provide evidence for Neolithic dietary flexibility in Upper Nubia through the persistence of foraging activities and support existing evidence linking increased agricultural reliance to the development of the Kerma culture.

The Dhāraṇī Coffin from the Nongso Tomb and the Cult of Shattering Hell during the Koryŏ Dynasty

Inscriptions of Buddhist mantras and dhāraṇīs were interred in Chinese tombs on behalf of the deceased from the Tang dynasty onward as the fear of postmortem judgment and punishment in the ten courts of hell became firmly rooted. This notion of the afterlife and the practice of enclosing dhāraṇī inscriptions in tombs seem to have been received by Korean Buddhists by the beginning of the Koryŏ (918–1392). This paper, through a close examination of a wooden inner coffin excavated in 2014 from a tomb in Nongso-myŏn, Ullim-ri, Sunch’ang-gun, North Chŏlla Province of Korea, sheds new light on the use of dhāraṇī on funerary objects and structures during the Koryŏ. The coffin bears, on its lacquered exterior walls, inscriptions of the Mantra of the Six-Syllable King of Great Clarities (Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ) and the Mantra for Shattering Hell (Oṃ karadeya svāhā). While defining the dhāraṇī coffin from Nongso Tomb as one form of funerary dhāraṇī, this paper situates it in the historical trajectory of such practice by comparing it with Liao (916–1125) precedents. The dhāraṇī coffins from Koryŏ and Liao tombs attest that the Buddhists made use of mantras and dhāraṇīs promising salvation of the deceased from hell during their lifetime and beyond. This study shows that two different kinds of dhāraṇīs, which are similarly named and believed to have the power of shattering hell, were practiced by Chinese and Korean Buddhists. It also proposes that the Mantra for Shattering Hell (Oṃ karadeya svāhā) may have been transmitted to the Korean peninsula as part of the food bestowal ritual before its incorporation into the funerary context.

FINAL NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE FUNERARY PRACTICES AND POPULATION DYNAMICS IN BELGIUM, THE IMPACT OF RADIOCARBON DATING CREMATED BONES

ABSTRACTThe Final Neolithic and the Bronze Age (3000–800 BC) are periods of great transformations in the communities inhabiting the area of modern-day Belgium, as testified by archaeological evidence showing an increasing complexity in social structure, technological transformations, and large-scale contacts. By combining 599 available radiocarbon dates with 88 new 14C dates from 23 from funerary sites, this paper uses kernel density estimates to model the temporality in the use of inhumation vs. cremation burials, cremation deposits in barrows vs. flat graves, and cremation grave types. Additionally, by including 78 dates from settlements, changes in population dynamics were reconstructed. The results suggest a phase of demographic contraction around ca. 2200–1800 BC highlighted by a lack of dates from both settlements and funerary contexts, followed by an increase in the Middle Bronze Age, with the coexistence of cremation deposits in barrows and, in a lower number, in flat graves. At the end of the 14th–13th century BC, an episode of cultural change with the almost generalized use of flat graves over barrows is observed. Regional differentiations in the funerary practices and the simultaneous use of different grave types characterize the Late Bronze Age.

The Baby in the Brick: A More-Than-Representational Approach to Architectural Action and Intramural Burial at Çatalhöyük

This article reconsiders the association, common globally and ubiquitous in Neolithic Turkey, between dead bodies and domestic architecture. Residential burial has conventionally been handled in a representational framework. Buildings’ physical and meaningful aspects are analytically separated, so that they can act as ‘containers of meaning’ in funerary contexts and as concrete technologies in others. Here, a provocative dataset challenges this separation: infant bodies and curated remains buried against the bases of unstable Çatalhöyük walls, as if to reinforce them. Rather than asking what such bodies meant, I adopt a more-than-representational approach inspired by Mol’s (2002) ‘enacting ontology’ and Barad’s (2007) ‘agential realism’ that asks what bodies could do. Doing so extracts bodies and walls from separate domains of mortuary and mechanical action, and asks how they were enacted as objects within Neolithic practice. I trace practices that enacted walls and bodies in Neolithic worlds – making walls’ futures responsive to subsurface burial. This example raises broader implications for the way archaeologists investigate spatial aspects of mortuary practice, and mortuary aspects of architecture, and more broadly the way we determine what the objects of our study are.

El ave fénix: imagen simbólica y didáctica de la resurrección en la transición del arte antiguo al altomedieval

The phoenix became one of the most emblematic representations of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It was capable of reviving from its own ashes. This ability to die and be reborn made it an animal widely represented in art, the iconography of which was highly symbolic. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used its image in funerary and political contexts. Early Christians appropriated this symbol, using it from early times as an example of the resurrection. In this article we focus on the representation of the phoenix now of its death and rebirth, focusing on its appearance in funerary contexts (tombs and sarcophagi) as well as the depiction of the moment of its own cremation. We will analyze the reasons why this animal iconography was so successful in ancient and medieval Christian sources. In this way we will be able to understand how the phoenix, which was a powerful image with very ancient origins in the Mediterranean, became with the arrival of Christianity an exemplum of the true existence of the resurrection of Christ and a symbol of hope for humanity in the face of death.

Kinship practices in the early state El Argar society from Bronze Age Iberia

The Early Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by social and genetic transformations, starting in the early 3rd millennium BCE. New settlement and funerary structures, artifacts and techniques indicate times of change with increasing economic asymmetries and political hierarchization. Technological advances in metallurgy also played an important role, facilitating trade and exchange networks, which became tangible in higher levels of mobility and connectedness. Archeogenetic studies have revealed a substantial transformation of the genetic ancestry around this time, ultimately linked to the expansion of steppe- and forest steppe pastoralists from Eastern Europe. Evidence for emerging infectious diseases such as Yersinia pestis adds further complexity to these tumultuous and transformative times. The El Argar complex in southern Iberia marks the genetic turnover in southwestern Europe ~ 2200 BCE that accompanies profound changes in the socio-economic structure of the region. To answer the question of who was buried in the emblematic double burials of the El Argar site La Almoloya, we integrated results from biological relatedness analyses and archaeological funerary contexts and refined radiocarbon-based chronologies from 68 individuals. We find that the El Argar society was virilocally and patrilineally organized and practiced reciprocal female exogamy, supported by pedigrees that extend up to five generations along the paternal line. Synchronously dated adult males and females from double tombs were found to be unrelated mating partners, whereby the incoming females reflect socio-political alliances among El Argar groups. In three cases these unions had common offspring, while paternal half-siblings also indicate serial monogamy or polygyny.

Unilateral Congenital Aural Atresia from an Ychsma Group Burial at the Site of Pachacamac, Peruvian Central Coast

Congenital malformations of the human skeleton are a major area of palaeopathological and bioarchaeological interest, although our understanding of such conditions in the ancient world is hampered by their often extreme rarity, and inconsistent reporting in the field. A cranium from a group burial at the Peruvian site of Pachacamac was found to display almost complete absence of the right external auditory meatus, styloid process, vaginal process and tympanic plate of the right temporal bone. Following a differential diagnosis, it was determined that the skeletal pathology likely represents an instance of congenital aural atresia, a developmental anomaly resulting in the partial or complete aplasia of the external acoustic meatus. This condition is often associated with other congenital abnormalities and syndromes. However, as the postcranial remains of this individual could not be distinguished from other remains in the group burial, no further associated skeletal anomalies could be detected. This is the first instance of congenital aural atresia recovered from a defined funerary context in Peru, complementing other bioarchaeological reports of this rare congenital anomaly. The pathology of the condition is described, and compared with clinical and bioarchaeological data. The potential social implications concerning social attitudes of the Pachacamac population towards this individual are also considered, in reference to both historical and archaeological contexts.