Funerary Traditions Research Articles

O umieraniu ciała i obumieraniu ducha. „Jak nie zabiłem swojego ojca i jak bardzo tego żałuję” Mateusza Pakuły

The study focuses on the problem of corporeality and spirituality in relation to Mateusz Pakuła’s prose debut How I Didn’t Kill My Father and How Much I Regret It. The author of the article presents the analysed work against the background of the contemporary funeral tradition and makes genre determinations in an attempt to show the specificity of Pakuła’s literary expression. He shows the drama of a father and a son presented in the funeral diary, pointing on the one hand to the dying of the body (father), and on the other to the deep spiritual crisis of both protagonists (father, son). In the case of the father, it concerns the inability to bear his own pain and a request for euthanasia, and in the case of the son, it is a drama of choice, i.e. accelerating the death of the father or passivity and accompanying his father in a painful and long dying.

Christian and Indigenous: Multiple “Religions” in Contemporary Toraja Funerals

The theoretical framework of “religion” is problematic, especially in studying non-Western realities. In the field, I often encountered its Indonesian and Toraja most common equivalents—agama and aluk. There were also categories assigned to the realm of “culture” rather than “religion”. Toraja funeral ceremonies, which originated from the indigenous religion and became predominantly Christianized, are defined in religious and/or cultural categories. How do these related categories manifest in the utterances of the ritual actors of Toraja funerals? This article is based primarily on interviews; it refers to statements from 34 purposively chosen research participants. The attitudes towards the Toraja funeral tradition vary based on religious affiliation. The lines between different perspectives and categorization characteristics of Christianities and the minority indigenous religion are blurred but distinguishable.

Strontium isotopes and cremation: Investigating mobility patterns in the Roman city of Mutina (north-eastern Italy)

Cremation was a very common ritual in ancient Roman funerary traditions. However, the study of cremated human remains has always been complex and challenging, which has often led to an imbalance in data recording between inhumations and cremations. In this work, we study 14 cremation burials from two different urban cemeteries in the Roman city of Mutina (Modena, Emilia-Romagna, north-eastern Italy). The use of strontium isotope analysis provides insights into the mobility pattern and provenance of individuals cremated and buried at Mutina. The isotopic results suggest that nine samples fall outside the local bioavailable strontium range of the city of Modena, given their different 87Sr/86Sr values compared to the ratio compatible with alluvial deposits in the Po Valley. Both the isotopic results and the manufacture of some funerary objects suggest that the probable provenance of some individuals is compatible with western (Pre)Alpine areas. The values of 87Sr/86Sr also complement the results obtained from the osteological analysis increasing the minimum number of individuals buried in at least one grave. Our study revealed key insights about cremated individuals from Italy, highlighting variations of the mobility patterns within Roman funerary contexts of Mutina.

God, love, and death of Trunyan Village

Backgrund: Trunyan Village is a traditional village on the shores of Lake Batur in Bali, Indonesia. The village has unique funeral traditions and religious beliefs. The "Death Penalty Society'' is a specialized burial system where bodies are placed on the ground and surrounded by bamboo. The adore and fondness we appear to others can moreover bring meaning and bliss to our lives, indeed as we persevere melancholy and loss. It is critical to keep in mind that seeing God, adoration and passing are intensely impacted by one's culture, religion, traditions and individual views. Method: The method used is qualitative content analysis, interpreted using Goffman's Framing theory. This approach examines how structured narratives in documents and previous research about Trunyan Village influence perceptions of god, love, and death. Findings: In the context of Trunyan Village, the concepts of God, love and death can have unique meanings and are influenced by local traditions and beliefs..God and love from Trunyan village can be seen in their family relationships with the living and the dead, as they still believe in their ancestors..The love and death of the Terunyan people can be seen from their very unique funeral practices, where they say that the corpse or human body that has died will not emit odour and by doing 'mepasah' is the only way for humans to get a good place in the afterlife..Why there is no ngaben tradition in Trunyan, only ‘mapasah and mendem sawa’, is because their culture and traditions have been passed down from generation to generation, and their understanding of the funeral process is better than the ngaben tradition. Conclusion: Back to the traditions and culture that influence why Trunyan village prefers to carry out 'mepasah' and 'mendem sawa' funerals. It can be concluded that the funeral tradition of mepasah or mendem sawa carried out in Trunyan village is a tradition carried out from generation to generation from their ancestors, which is a funeral activity that thinks about the concept of humanity where they have an understanding that if the human body has died it will not smell and with the taru menyan tree that grows in the setra or grave that protects the corpse from pungent odours and by covering the corpse with bamboo to protect it from wild animals. Novelty/Originality in this Study: Through qualitative content analysis and Goffman's Framing theory, this study explores the meaning of God, love, and death in the context of local traditions. The proposed model includes a digital interactive platform and mobile application to preserve and disseminate knowledge about these cultural practices.

Socio-Cultural Changes in the Everyday Life of the Rural Population of Naddniprianshchyna

The changes those have taken place in the everyday life and culture of the Ukrainian village of Kyshchentsi of Cherkasy region in the 21st century are analysed in the article. The source base of the research includes field materials collected by the authoress in June-August 2023 using the method of participant observation. The peculiarities of private economic activity, changes in the life support system are considered and the migration processes that have taken place and are taking place in connection with the war are recorded. Globalization and information influences on the communication system of community residents, their socio-cultural needs and preferences are studied. The existing agricultural holding and farms provide employment for the villagers. A high level of self-employment is fixed. The changes that have taken place over the 23 years of this century in the everyday life of the village include greater mechanization of labour processes, the formation and expansion of the internal market for the exchange of goods and services through digital applications. The number of Internet users has grown, and the number of houses with a bathroom and a bath inside has increased. The war has changed the direction of migration. People from the occupied territories and the area of active hostilities have moved to the countryside. Modern rural culture retains only a few traditional elements, which is manifested in the preservation of some calendar, wedding and funeral traditions. There is further standardisation of family cycle rituals, such as weddings and funerals, which are organised by individuals and institutions. The expansion of the range of products has affected the nutrition and ration. New dishes are being introduced to the household via the Internet. The confessional situation has changed: patriotic believers have left the church, which has links with the aggressor state, and the question of further Ukrainianization of Protestant communities has arisen. New ideological attitudes are formed about the peculiarity of the period being lived, understanding it as the time of the end of the world because of the existence of constant threats to life. Volunteer actions and initiatives have become a common feature of rural life: collecting food for the front and for hospitals, raising funds for a car or drones for fellow villagers and residents of the district who are at the front.

Relevansi Pilar Moderasi Beragama Quraish Shihab pada Upacara Rambu Solo’ Toraja di Kelurahan Ratte Buttu, Tana Toraja

Indonesia, a country with a rich cultural tapestry, is not immune to the challenges posed by cultural conflicts. These conflicts are often rooted in historical tensions between tribes and religions, which continue to manifest in the form of respect, mutual respect, and the acceptance of differences. A solution is required to cultivate an attitude of religious moderation as a way of life in order to maintain harmony by upholding the pillars of justice, balance and tolerance. These pillars were initiated by Quriash Shihab using qualitative methods. It was found that the pillar of religious moderation has relevance to the traditions of the Tana Toraja people in the Rambu Solo event. The funeral tradition of Rambu Solo teaches about unity and social balance between people in ceremonial traditions, justice between followers of one religion and tolerance between adherents of Christianity as the majority and Islam as a minority religion.

Kurgan Phenomenon in the Southern Caucasus: Results of an Interdisciplinary Multi‐Method Remote Sensing Survey Along the Kurekçay Valley (Goranboy Province, Western Azerbaijan)

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the results of a pilot study that combines findings from satellite remote sensing analyses and an intensive interdisciplinary survey conducted in November 2021 on kurgans along the Kurekçay Valley, in western Azerbaijan. Through the integration of various methods, including historical and contemporary satellite and aerial imagery analysis, topographic mapping and geophysical prospections, this research remotely maps and quantifies the density, size, morphology and distribution of the burial mounds in the area. Unlike previous studies focusing solely on individual burial mounds, this investigation adopts a broader approach by contextualizing the kurgans within their respective landscapes. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of the physical and symbolic aspects and relationships of these structures, providing valuable insights into the enduring burial practices that shaped the funerary traditions of the Southern Caucasus during the 4th and 1st millennium BCE. Furthermore, this approach supports an assessment of the condition of the individual kurgans, thereby opening new perspectives to develop innovative plans to protect these burial mounds and their settings.

Resilience and Vulnerability in the Syrian Desert in the First Millennium CE: The Case of the Oasis City Tadmor (Palmyra)

Urban resilience in past societies is challenging to measure given the nature of our data, which, for the most part, gives insight into past processes only through their archaeological and historical outcomes. We, therefore, suggest approaching the issue in conjunction with vulnerability, which was only too familiar to ancient societies, and outcomes, which represent suitable proxies of whether societies were capable of dealing with their vulnerabilities, i.e. if they were resilient. The city of Tadmor (Palmyra), situated in a marginal desert landscape on the border between large empires, constitutes a pertinent test case with a clear set of vulnerabilities and a record of historical and archaeological outcomes spanning the best part of a millennium. Using urban development as our measure of urban resilience, we discuss the case of Palmyra in relation to its geopolitical situation, climate change and subsistence, funerary tradition and long-distance trade, arguing that resilience and vulnerability play out on different scales and on various levels.

The Old Believers’ Churchyard: Semiotics of Cultural Space (The Case of the Ust-Tsilma Old Believers-Bespopovtsy in the Komi Republic)

This study addresses the structure of cemeteries and types of tombstones in the funerary tradition of the Russian Priestless Old Believers (known as Bespopovtsy) living in the Ust-Tsilma District of the Komi Republic. For the first time, a description of their graveyards, known as “mogilniki”, or “mogily”, is provided, and their history and preservation are outlined. Traditional beliefs concerning cemeteries and their arrangement are cited. The symbolism of the forms of tomb structures, reproducing not only canonical prescriptions and requirements, but also certain pre-Christian beliefs, is analyzed in detail. Folk terms relating to the dead and the afterlife are included. The degree and nature of post-revolutionary transformations, profoundly affecting the foundations of the Old Believers’culture, are explored. Despite the attempts to preserve traditions, modern lifestyles took root in the 1960s and 1970s. Elements of local specificity in funerary rites have nonetheless survived and can be seen in the symbolism of tombstones, synthesizing Christian and pre-Christian traditions. Findings of ethnographic, linguistic, and archival studies are presented.

The Great Tibetan Funerary Tradition: Tibetan Deathscapes in the Past, Present, and the Future

The Great Tibetan Funerary Tradition: Tibetan Deathscapes in the Past, Present, and the Future

Autotu Nimoe: Funeral Tradition of the Deceased of the Nuaulu Tribe in Seram Island, Central Maluku

Death is a phase that everyone must go through in the process of life, when death comes that's where life ends. Various community cultures are related to the death process because it is something sacred so a special ceremony is needed to honor the dead. This research discusses the Autotu Nimoe Tradition of the Nuaulu tribe in the funeral process of the dead which has been maintained from generation to generation until now. This research uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. Data collection through in-depth interviews with informants and observation to see the Autotu Nimoe ritual process of the Nuaulu tribe. The results of the study that the Nualu tribe's Autotu Nimoe ritual process is different between men and women, not based on social strata. For the Nuaulu people, death is the time to return to Upuku Kua Nahatane (God Almighty). The way the Nuaulu people funeral, the body is not buried or cremated, but taken to a special place far from the village, the body is placed on "bamboo para-para" and fenced with bamboo trees so that it is protected from wild animals. The process of taking the body to the forest is not attended by everyone, only 4-6 people to take the body to Nimoa Noniane (the village of the dead). The delivery group must pioneer their own road (not the village road) and when returning pioneer a new road again, because of the belief of the Nuaulu people so that the spirits of the dead do not return to their village.

Подбойные детские погребения IV в. н. э. из могильника Фронтовое 3

Children’s graves were discovered in numerous burial grounds of Roman times in the South-Western and Central Crimea. Despite the large number of excavated graves, there are no special investigations on the peculiarities of the children’s funerary tradition. The paper provides a brief description of specific features identified in the spread of children’s burials at Frontovoe 3 cemetery and focuses on a number of graves dating back to the 4 th century AD. All of them were made in separate niches. They have a typical set of grave goods for the chronological period under consideration. Special attention is paid to the specific location of children’s burials in the cemetery. In conclusion, the author offers a review of published children’s burials from synchronous sites.

Могильник XI–XIII вв. Зуун хярын дэнж 1 на северном побережье озера Хубсугул (Монголия)

The article presents the results of a study of three burials of the Zuun hyaryn denzh 1 burial ground. It is located in Mongolia, on the northern shore of Lake Khubsugul, in the northeastern part of the village of Turt. The burial materials allow us to outline some stages of the cultural and chronological scheme of the history of the coast of Lake Khubsugul. When creating it, the features of the grave structure, the position of the deceased and the accompanying inventory were taken into account, which correlated with a certain time period. The materials of complexes 1, 2 and 9, the last of which was destroyed in ancient times, are considered. Information is given about the funerary structures, the position of the human skeleton, accompanying inventory and animal bones in them. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for two undisturbed burials. Mid-11th – mid-12th centuries is the construction time of complex 1, whereas late 12th – mid-13th is construction period of complex 2 which are the pre-imperial and the beginning of the imperial period of the history of Mongolia. It should be noted that these burials represent two funeral traditions, replacing one another. They are characterized by the location of the deceased elongated, on their backs in grave pits, which were overlapped from above with flat round-shaped masonry. Fragments of wooden boards and birch bark were found under and above the bones. Together with the deceased, parts of the carcass of a ram were placed in the grave. Most often it was the shin and loin of an animal. In complex 1, an iron arrowhead and a weapon tip with a shaft “palma” were found; in complex 2, iron stirrups, a quiver hook, a buckle, and a birch bark tuesok were found. It is concluded that in earlier burials, the deceased are oriented with their heads to the north and northeast, in later ones – to the northwest.

Three Elite Burials of the Northern Zhou Period from Guyuan in Ningxia, China

The materials of elite burial complexes of the Northern Zhou period (557–581) discovered in the 1980–1990s in the vicinity of Guyuan City in the Ningxia-Hui Autonomous Region of China are analyzed in this article. Due to the epitaphs engraved on stone slabs found inside the tombs, the names of the buried individuals and the exact dates of the complexes are known: the tombs belong to high-ranking officials of Northern Zhou: Yuwen Meng (565), Li Xian (569) and Tian Hong (574). The complexes under consideration demonstrate a high degree of unification of the funeral rite, which is manifested in the similarity of tomb structures, decor and accompanying grave goods. The features of architectural structures and grave goods of these burials continue the traditions of the previous periods of the Sixteen Barbarian States and the Northern Wei. With a general similarity to the synchronous complexes of the Northern Qi (550– 577), the materials of these tombs allow to distinguish specific features of the Northern Zhou funerary practice: the absence of porcelain items, the use of ritual nephrites, and the secular nature of mural paintings. Against the background of the prevailing influence of the Chinese-Han funerary tradition, there are signs of the influence of the steppe (probably Xianbei) funeral and memorial rituals. Prestigious items imported from Iran, Central Asia, Byzantium testify to the significant role of contacts along the Silk Road in the economical and cultural development of Northern Zhou. Despite the available data from written and epigraphic sources, the problem of identifying the ethnicity of the buried has not yet been resolved. However, the version of their non-Chinese origin seems to be the most probable.

Use of Parts of Ram Carcasses in the Funerary Practices of the Baikal Region Population in the 13th–14th Centuries

In the 13th and 14th centuries, there was a custom of placing parts of a ram/sheep carcass in the grave as an offering in the Baikal region. Materials from three areas, which were then parts of the Mongol Empire, are described: southeastern Trans-Baikal, northern Khövsgöl, and southern Angara. Graves are described with a focus on sheep bones, their composition, and location in the grave. In the southern Trans-Baikal, the shank was usually placed near the buried person’s head. Scapulae and vertebrae are much less frequent than shank bones. The latter are most often found under the human pelvic bones or under the upper femur. In the Khövsgöl area, a ram’s shank was placed near the deceased person’s arm or leg. On the Angara, a ram’s head—or the entire dorsal part—was placed near the deceased’s legs. In the Sayantui type burials, located south of Lake Baikal and representing the Mongols’ funerary tradition of the imperial period, the most common offering was a ram’s shank, placed upright. Elsewhere in the Baikal region, other ways of arranging parts of a ram carcass are observed, apparently because of the absence of the Mongol population and its elite in those areas.

Tradisi Pemakaman Keturunan Karaeng (Puang) Di Desa Biring Ere Kecamatan Bungoro Kabupaten Pangkep

The aims of the study were to find out 1) the existence of the funeral tradition for the descendants of the karaeng (puang) in the people of Biring Ere Village, Bungoro District, Pangkep Regency. 2) The traditional values of the burial of the descendants of the karaeng (puang) in Biring Ere Village, Bungoro District, Pangkep Regency. The type of research used is a qualitative description. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews, involved observation and documentation. Data analysis used in research is data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions or verification. The results of the study show that: 1) the existence of tradition is maintained because the existence of tradition is maintained by the community through the involvement of the younger generation in carrying out the tradition. The people's belief in the tradition of honoring the deceased. 2) the values contained in the funeral tradition are the values of life that create harmony in society, social values that create mutual cooperation values within the community, psychological values that create inner peace because they have carried out their final obligations and spiritual values that increase faith in the creator

Kinship practices in Early Iron Age South-east Europe: genetic and isotopic analysis of burials from the Dolge njive barrow cemetery, Dolenjska, Slovenia

The burial of multiple individuals within a single funerary monument invites speculation about the relationships between the deceased: were they chosen on the basis of status, gender or relatedness, for example? Here, the authors present the results of aDNA and isotope analyses conducted on seven individuals from an Early Iron Age barrow at Dolge njive, south-eastern Slovenia. All seven individuals are close biological relatives. While the group composition suggests strict adherence to neither patrilineal nor matrilineal structures, the funerary tradition appears highly gendered, and family links through both the male and female lines seem important in structuring of the community. The results have implications for understanding of kinship and funerary practices in late prehistoric Europe.

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.

Funerary Rites and Rights of the Dead: Jurisprudence on covid-19 Deaths in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka

Abstract Pandemics are associated with exponential mortality rates, creating heavy burdens on communities. The high death rates affect how societies traditionally conduct funerary practices as governments impose regulations on the preparation of bodies and the conduct of the funerals to stem the transmission of the virus. In societies associated with deeply entrenched customary funerary practices, such limitative measures attract defiance. The tensions between public health objectives and funerary traditions have played out in a number of societies resulting in litigation. At the core of the disputes is whether the right to manifest religion or belief can be upheld, and relatedly, whether the dead have rights to dignified burials irrespective of pandemics. During the covid-19 pandemic, some courts had to grapple with these difficult questions. In this paper, I take a jurisprudential excursion on some disputes in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka to assess the adjudication of conflicts which arose from covid-19 pandemic deaths.

Social Portrait of the Christian Elite of Western Alania According to the Materials of the Excavations of the Middle Zelenchuk Church

From 2018 on, the Nizhny Arkhyz Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and the U. D. Aliev Karachay-Cherkessia State University has been conducting comprehensive interdisciplinary research at the ancient Nizhny Arkhyz (Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia), located on the site of a mediaeval town which was the capital of Western Alania from the tenth to early thirteen century. One of the main objects of the research is the tenth-century Middle Zelenchuk Church and its cemetery from the tenth to thirteen centuries. The works of the expedition resulted in the unique archaeological and paleoanthropological materials, particularly from all the burial assemblages that survived in the inner space of the church; these undoubtedly belonged to the representatives of the nobility of this mediaeval Christian polity. First time in the history of studying the capital of mediaeval Alania, the analysis of these materials by methods of archaeology, anthropology, and natural sciences complex provided an opportunity for a closer examination of the daily life of its population, the social, demographic, professional composition of various urban strata, and the private life of the residents of Nizhny Arkhyz. This article reflects the most striking results of researches of the social portrait of the secular elite of Western Alania, which concern the ethno-cultural composition of this social stratum of the urban population, the quality of its life, funeral traditions, and the reconstruction of individual episodes of the life of a representative of the tenth-century professional military class, who was honoured with the burial in one of the most venerated churches of Alania.