Burial Pits Research Articles

Preliminary Results of the Study of Kuraily-Asar Necropolis

The article deals with the introduction into scientific discourse new data on the burial structures of the Dzhetyasar culture of Eastern Aral Sea region. In 2023, archaeological work was carried out on the necropolis of one of the Dzhetyasar monuments – the Kuraily-asar fortified settlement. The research was carried out by the “Aral Sea detachment” of the Margulan Institute of Archeology an under the leadership of A. Ongarruly and A.A. Tazhekeyev. The four underground burial sites were uncovered, as a result of the excavations. All the mounds have an identical design and burial rite. The mounds are surrounded by a moat with an entrance on the north and south sides, in the center of which there is a burial pit. Burials: three of them were women, and one was a child, were located on the dorsal surface and the head was oriented to the north. The anthropological characteristics of the burials show that the ontological constitution of post cranium is generally characterized by a morphological variant of the addition allocated to the Dzhetyasar population. The burial inventory included ceramic vessels and spindle whorl, buckles, a mirror and an amulet, the analysis of which allowed these mounds to be attributed to the Dzhetyasar II stage and dated to the II-IV centuries AD.

Drug supply management at first-level public health facilities: Case of Pyay District, Myanmar.

First-level public health facilities (PHFs) serve as primary providers of essential medicines, necessitating critical attention to drug availability and quality assurance. This study aimed to examine the status of functional areas within the drug supply chain management framework and assess the overall capability maturity at first-level PHFs. The cross-sectional study was conducted among 183 drug store sites from six townships of Pyay District. Only situational analysis was exercised to determine the existing situations. The overall capability maturity was determined according to the definitions of levels of the Capability Maturity Module Tool. 58.47% lacked formal drug supply management training, with 23.5% not undergoing performance reviews. Drug forecasting predominantly relied on a pen-paper system (91.6%) and factors like patient load (87.39%), drug consumption (85.71%), and disease prevalence (64.71%). Store site analysis revealed that 65.03% exhibited marginal capability, lacking standardized drugstores and employing unstandardized procedures. Storage practices varied, with 48.69% storing drugs conveniently and others categorizing them by drug type (32.79%) or using the first-expired-first-out system (40.98%). Approximately 42.69% reported having expired drugs. Concerning transportation costs, 37.16% incurred expenses exceeding 20,000 Kyats per time, with management staff often covering the costs. Waste management methods included burial pits (49.18%), incineration (62.84%), and sharp pits (55.19%). A majority (78.14%) used safety boxes, and 57.38% implemented a color-coded system for waste bins. The logistics management information system was entirely paper-based (100%). On average, assessments of drug quality conditions and physical damages scored 46.51% and 48.20%, respectively. The overall supply chain maturity at first-level public health facilities is at a marginal capability level (36.35%). While some basic drug supply chain management procedures were in place, they were not consistently followed, and many systems remain manual. The findings underscored significant inconsistencies in the management functions of supplied drugs, with poor adherence to Standard Operating Procedure guidelines.

Identification of the 18 World War II executed citizens of Adele, Rethymnon, Crete using an ancient DNA approach and low coverage genomes

In the Battle of Crete during the World War II occupation of Greece, the German forces faced substantial civilian resistance. To retribute the numerous German losses, a series of mass executions took place in numerous places in Crete; a common practice reported from Greece and elsewhere. In Adele, a village in the regional unit of Rethymnon, 18 male civilians were executed and buried in a burial pit at the Sarakina site. In this study, the first one conducted for a conflict that occurred in Greece, we identified for humanitarian purposes the 18 skulls of the Sarakina victims, following a request from the local community of Adele. The molecular identification of historical human remains via ancient DNA approaches and low coverage whole genome sequencing has only recently been introduced. Here, we performed genome skimming on the living relatives of the victims, as well as high throughput historical DNA analysis on the skulls to infer the kinship degrees among the victims via genetic relatedness analyses. We also conducted targeted anthropological analysis to successfully complete the identification of all Sarakina victims. We demonstrate that our methodological approach constitutes a potentially highly informative forensic tool to identify war victims. It can hence be applied to analogous studies on degraded DNA, thus, paving the path for systematic war victim identification in Greece and beyond.

Double feature: First genetic evidence of a mother-daughter double burial in Roman period Austria

A human double burial combined with a horse interment, discovered in 2004 in the eastern cemetery of the Roman town of Ovilava (today Wels/AUT), has been the subject of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study. This burial was remarkable for two reasons: firstly, the arrangement of the two individuals, with individual 1 having an arm around individual 2, and secondly, the presence of equine skeletal remains in the same burial pit directly below the human remains. Based on this finding, an initial assessment suggested a mixed-sex pair buried together with a horse. The horse burial was interpreted as an indicator of an early medieval date. The position of the two human skeletons suggested that a male and female individual had been buried together. A thorough examination of both the human and horse skeletons disproved these initial interpretations. Radiocarbon dating of the human and horse skeletons dated them to the Roman period. In addition, ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the human remains corrected the earlier sex assumption, revealing that the individuals were two biological females who were first-degree relatives. The age difference of 15 to 25 years between the two suggests a probable mother-daughter relationship. Thus, the application of scientific methods confirmed a rare, combined human-horse burial from Roman antiquity and established the first genetically documented mother-daughter burial from this period in present-day Austria.

THE EARLY BRONZE AGE CEMETERY AT ÇEŞME–BOYALIK IN COASTAL WESTERN ANATOLIA

Early Bronze Age burial practices in western Anatolia have been much discussed, and the general developmental stages of these traditions have been defined by scholars over the course of years. The first half of the third millennium sees the use of a variety of grave types, namely, stone cist, pithos and simple pit burials; meanwhile, during the second half of the millennium, pithos burials seem to predominate. Short-term rescue excavations at Boyalık, in Çeşme District, Izmir Province, reveal the presence of a new type of burial tradition in coastal western Anatolia dating to the middle of the third millennium BC. The cemetery revealed the use of rock-cut chamber tombs for the first time in this region. This paper presents the unique graves and their finds from Boyalık cemetery and discusses the implications of this new tradition for the third-millennium archaeology of the wider Aegeo-Anatolian region.

Microbial diversity in earthen site of exhibition Hall of pit no. 1 at the terracotta warriors Museum in Emperor Qinshihuang's mausoleum site museum and its correlation with environmental factors.

Earthen sites are essential cultural relic resources, and site museums are a fundamental component of China's cultural heritage protection. The mausoleum of the Qin Shi Huang Emperor is one of the largest, most peculiar, and richest imperial tombs in the world. The exhibition hall of the burial pit No. 1 of the Terra Cotta Warriors is the earliest exhibition hall built and opened to the public. However, after years of excavation and open exhibitions, the earthen site of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum has deteriorated to varying degrees due to changes in the modern environment. There is an urgent need to control microbial diseases and protect the earthen site. We analyzed the physical and chemical properties and bioindicators of the collected soil samples. We also established a metagenomic library and conducted a correlation analysis between microbial community composition and environmental factors. Cultivable fungi obtained from air and soil samples were identified, and allicin volatile gas fungistasis test was conducted. Research has found that four different areas of the exhibition hall have different types of microbial diseases owing to their different environments. The main pathogenic fungi in earthen site may lead to potential microbial diseases that affect important cultural relics such as the Terra Cotta Warriors. Penicillium, Aspergillus and Talaromyces showed relatively specific growth in relation to environmental factors and showed a better raw growth advantage.Allicin gas had a inhibitory effect on 12 types of fungi, therefore allicin gas had a potent inhibitory effect on the growth of the most culturable fungal hyphae. This study provides basic data for the study of microbial diversity in the exhibition hall of Pit No. 1 at the Terracotta Warriors Museum in Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. It provides a reference for future protection work, which is of great significance.

Barrow Cemetery in Zbudza in the Eastern Slovak Lowland

The barrow site in Zbudza is located in the East Slovak Lowland. In 1980, Elena Miroššayová carried out excavations on the burial mound (no. 1) located behind th old Jewish cemetery. The central burial pit and clusters of pottery and traces of hearths were discovered. Some potsherds the possess ornamentation typical for the Corded Ware culture. The charcoal found near the burial pit were radiocarbon dated to 4140±35 BP (Poz-151727), which can be correlated to the years 2866–2632 BC. At the site in Zbudza and the neighbouring Trnava pri Laborci, thanks to the LIDAR data, about 20 burial mounds in various states of preservation and different chronological positions were registered. Some of them should be associated with the presence of the Corded Ware and Yamna cultures from the 3rd millennium BC. Geophysical prospection of burial no. 2 located in the part of the village called “Imrička” was conducted in 2021.

The sacrificial area at the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan

Abstract Since May 2022, six newly-discovered sacrificial pits have been excavated at the Sanxingdui site, revealing 13,000 cataloged artifacts. Over 3000 of them are intact, well-preserved artifacts made of ivory and other materials. Considering the discoveries from these six pits and the two previously excavated pits, we propose that pits K5 and K6 were used as sacrificial pits for sacrificial activities, while the other pits served as burial pits for ritual objects. The excavations detailed in this article hold great significance for understanding the sacrificial activities, the sacrificial systems of the ancient Shu state, and the shifting settlement patterns at the Sanxingdui site.

The sacrificial record in burial pits of the late Shang Dynasty: evidences from the chroma and magnetic properties of the Sanxingdui site, Sichuan, China

The Sanxingdui site (4.4–2.9 ka B.P.) in southwestern China is considered one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century, which contains numerous codes for interpreting the origin and development of the Yangtze River civilization. Remains found in Sanxingdui burial pits are keys to deciphering some of these codes. From the characters of the charcoal fragments, ashes and jades in the Sanxingdui buried pits, at the same time, comprehensively analyzing archaeological evidence and previous research results, we speculate that the temperature of ancient Shu people burning sacrifices could be 600–800 ℃. However, the values of magnetic properties and chroma of soils near the ash layers in the pits, and Guanghan Clay near the pits, do not show obvious changes caused by such high-temperature annealing. Combined with the geographical location of the pits and the accumulation characteristics of ash layers and artifacts in the pits, we consider that the Sanxingdui burial pits were not trash pits but sacrificial pits, and they were used for burying sacrifice after burning sacrifice. Although the ritual of burying sacrifice after burning sacrifice dates back to the Longshan period (4.3–4.0 ka B.P.) in China’s Central Plain, the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits, which began to occur in the late Shang Dynasty (~ 3.0 ka B.P.) with such a large scale, and the sacrifices unearthed from the pits, are unique. So, we believe that although influenced by the Central Plain culture, the ancient Shu people in the late Shang Dynasty have unique characteristics of culture and religion.

‘Houses of Graves’ of Central-East Europe: Archaeology about Jewish Funeral Rituals

This article presents the state of archaeological research on Jewish cemeteries in Central-East Europe, mainly on the basis of excavations conducted in Poland, Czechia, and Lithuania). It presents the possibilities of reconstructing funerary rituals on the basis of archaeological findings: the organisation of the burial space, the dress and equipment of the deceased, the layout of the corpse and the arrangement of the interior of the burial pit. Possibilities for interdisciplinary studies of the funerary customs of the Central European diaspora were studied and further research needs were identified.

How Cooperation between Archaeologists and Art Conservators helps us discover more Information: Archaeological Investigations at the Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street in Warsaw

The article concerns archaeological research in plot 1 at the Jewish cemetery at 49/51 Okopowa Street in Warsaw (Wola necropolis). Thanks to simultaneous archaeological works and tombstone conservation, it is possible to examine the underground parts of the matzevot. Archaeologists present at the removal of matzevot for conservation have the opportunity to document the profiles of burial pits created during the demolition of tombstones. The information obtained in this way is very valuable in reconstructing the ways in which tombstones were made and decorated. Traces of polychromies are often preserved in the lower part of the matzevot covered with soil. Such observations are not possible during archaeological research, which is carried out at shallow depths, as recommended by the Rabbinical Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland.

Jernlænken fra Fæsted

Jernlænken fra Fæsted

«Сарматские» элементы в вооружении черняховской культуры? (Некоторые дискуссионные вопросы в изучении оружия позднеримского времени и начала эпохи переселения народов в Восточной Европе)

The paper deals with issues related to the spread of weapons of “nomadic” origin among population of the Сhernyakhov culture. The features of the funeral rite of this community have been considered. Burials with weapons are absolutely not characteristic of the Wielbark culture foundation. The majority of the cremations can be attributed to the Przeworsk element, especially those with ritual damage to weapons. In the burials of the Chernyakhov culture, according to the burial rite, the following finds are known: swords, “cut-out blades”, spears, darts, arrows, bow parts, axes, umbo, fragments of chain mail and helmets. Usually, the finds are single in the burial. The burial grounds with catacomb burials in Budzhak, burials in pits with a southern orientation of the head, individual burials in catacombs along the border of the forest-steppe and steppe zones on the left bank of the Dnieper, accompanied by Chernyakhiv imports, can be considered Sarmatian. A number of burials with weapons made in pits with a northern orientation of the head are possibly associated with the Late Scythian tradition. The swords in the inhumations known to us belong to the Eastern European tradition, i.e. they do not contain a metal pommel of type 3 according to A.M. Khazanov. Distinguishing between locally produced type 2 swords and Roman Germanic swords requires additional extensive research. In the two burials on the territory of Romania, the remains of plates were found, possibly related to the plate helmets well known among the Sarmatians. Apparently, the so-called “blades with cutouts” can be attributed to ritual weapons. Simultaneously, in the zone of the Przeworsk culture and on the Sarmatian monuments, “sword-shaped” spearheads appear. On the territory of the Chernyakhov culture, they are recorded in the zone bordering the steppe, but so far only in the form of random finds. Both types of weapons are possibly associated with the cult of the sword known among the nomadic Scythian-Sarmatian population. At the same time, the designs and decor of spearheads in some cases are possibly related to Roman ceremonial spearheads. Judging by the available archaeological data, the development of weapons among the forest-steppe tribes of Eastern Europe in the first half of the 1st millennium AD was largely associated with Central European and the Roman Empire influence, and to a lesser extent, with the steppe nomadic population, which begins to play an important role closer to the end of the Chernyakhov culture. But the presence of various nomadic groups and the influence of their traditions on the military environment are undoubted.

Раннесредневековые детские погребения из нового грунтового могильника в с. Старая Ладога

The article introduces scientific data regarding a multi-layered ground burial discovered in 2022 in Staraya Ladoga. Most of the necropolis’ burials are west-facing inhumations without grave goods. On this background, two children’s burials in rounded pits with the accompanying grave goods, dated by the last quarter of 9 th — second quarter of 10 th centuries, are of particular interest. Hence, they are the main focus of the publication. A detailed description of the burials’ details and an analysis of ware complexes are given. The text is supported by illustrations, which contain all of the items from the burials. The burials are some of the earliest inhumations in the early medieval Ladoga, along with the chamber burials of the kurgan burial ground and the sopka-like mound at the Plakun tract. Central position in the burial pit, uniformity of its filling, absence of violent actions evidence, as well as careful placement of the accompanying grave goods, all make it possible to exclude the ritual or sacrificial purpose of the children’s burials and to consider them a part of the “ordinary” ceremonial burial tradition, applicable to any member of the community that the necropolis belonged to. The new ground burial expands the developed zone of the early medieval Ladoga in the last quarter of 9 th — second quarter of 10 th centuries and increases the variety of different funerary sites.

Slaughtered like animals. Revealing the atrocities committed by the Nazis on captives at Treblinka I by skeletal trauma analysis

The infamous Treblinka camp was one of numerous extermination camps throughout Poland, where Germans carried out mass killings of Jews. There were two camps in Treblinka, AL Treblinka I, a forced labor camp, and KL Treblinka II, the site of the extermination camp. Treblinka I held captives of various origins and ethnic backgrounds who were serving their sentences by working in a pre-existing gravel pit. Many of those prisoners perished in the camp, and it was believed that the principal causes of their death were attributed to the horrific sanitary conditions in the camp as well as the strenuous hard work of daily life. In 2019, archaeologists uncovered a clandestine mass burial pit that contained commingled human skeleton remains at the Execution Site of the former Treblinka I camp. It was estimated that there were a minimum of forty-nine people in the pit. Within months, an anthropologist performed biological profile assessments and detailed trauma analysis on the recovered skeletal parts. The main goal was to study perimortem trauma patterns to infer the cause and manner of death of the victims. We hypothesized that the victims did not die solely because of the camps’ conditions but were brutally slaughtered by the camp guards. Our results were later compared with the survivors’ written testimonies. As a result of our research, we were able to show that the Treblinka I captives’ death was extremely brutal and that the killing methods were varied. This led us to conclude that multiple assailants were involved in the killing spree. All of our results were consistent with the written witness testimonies, which concurs with our skeletal material analysis that proves the atrocities committed by the Nazis on their civilian prisoners during the war took place.

Macrolithic flint products from inventories of adult male graves of the Lublin-Volhynian culture – prestige goods or everyday use items – by the example of grave No. 2/1987 from site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów District (Poland)

Abstract A research project aiming to determine the functional aspects of flint-knapping of the Lublin-Volhynian culture (ca. 4200–3650/3600 BC) has been conducted for several years in the Institute of Archaeology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. This article presents deliberations on the functions of tools discovered in a rich male grave, at site 1C in Gródek. The subject of the functional research are nine artefacts deposited near the buried person. Among them, noteworthy are two retouched blade daggers found on the buried man’s rib cage. Other items – blades and tools – were discovered in different parts of the burial pit. When conducting microscopic analyses, attention was paid to the fact that the discovered forms represent two categories – used artefacts and those that do not have marks of utilisation on their edges. Spectrometric analyses (SEM-EDS) of residual substances recorded on the surfaces of certain artefacts supplemented the performed research.

An Archaeological look into simple pit burials at Tepe Qara Hasanlu, Namin, Ardabil

Excavations at the historical mound of Qara Hasanlu, in the Namin County of Ardabil Province of northwestern Iran, brought to light several pit graves set on a massive mudbrick artificial platform. Cut into the uppermost courses of the mud bricks forming this platform, the graves were associated with scores of burial gifts of varied types such as arrowheads, daggers, scissors, mirrors, earrings, and necklaces. As a descriptive-analytical work drawing upon both field and library research, the present paper is set to characterize the recorded grave types and their relative chronology in quest of tenable answer to these questions: 1. What were the grave types and mortuary customs at Qara Hasanlu? 2. Where do they find parallels, and to which period do they belong to? Within the graves, the bodies were laid out in two supine and squatting positions. Based on the available circumstantial evidence, they were made sometime after the platform was constructed. The documented cultural material including sherd assemblages, the burial methods and the burial gifts suggested a date in the Parthian period for the site.

Environmental Study for the Conservation of the Simawang Megalitic Site, Lake Singkarak, West Sumatera

The Menhir Simawang site is located in the northeastern part of Lake Singkarak on a hillside with residential areas in the valley. The uniqueness of the Menhir Simawang site is located on a hill facing northeast, where Mount Sago is located. This mountain is one of the mountains that was considered sacred in the minds of the Minang people in the past. The aim is to find out in advance the local wisdom of the Simawang people in the past in adapting to their environment. The second utilizes environmental studies for site conservation. This study uses qualitative methods, using inductive reasoning. To sharpen environmental analysis in conservation, primary data (field) and secondary data analysis is carried out through maps. The excavation results show that the menhirs are related to the burial pits which are oriented northeast-southwest. The selection of a burial site on the top of a hill and the division of its terraced space is one of the implementations of the concept and social structure, as well as the beliefs of the Simawang people. The belief that when someone dies, the spirit will return to the top, so to bring it closer to the upper world, it must be placed in a higher place than their settlement. Local wisdom in choosing land as a grave or settlement is a form of human adaptation to the environment. This local wisdom can be a lesson for us today.

A supervised machine learning approach to discriminate the effect of carcass leachate on shallow groundwater quality around on-farm livestock mortality burial sites

The evaluation of leachate leakage at livestock mortality burial sites is challenging, particularly when groundwater is previously contaminated by agro-livestock farming. Supervised machine learning was applied to discriminate the impacts of carcass leachate from pervasive groundwater contamination in the following order: data labeling, feature selection, synthetic data generation, and classification. Physicochemical data of 359 water samples were collected from burial pits (LC), monitoring wells near pits (MW), pre-existing shallow household wells (HW), and background wells with pervasive contamination (BG). A linear classification model was built using two representative groups (LC and BG) affected by different pollution sources as labeled data. A classifier was then applied to assess the impact of leachate leakage in MW and HW. As a result, leachate impacts were observed in 40% of MW samples, which indicates improper construction and management of some burial pits. Leachate impacts were also detected in six HW samples, up to 120 m downgradient, within one year. The quantitative decision-making tool to diagnose groundwater contamination with leachate leakage can contribute to ensuring timely responses to leakage. The proposed machine learning approach can also be used to improve the environmental impact assessment of water pollution by improper disposal of organic waste.

Viability of African Swine Fever Virus with the Shallow Burial with Carbon Carcass Disposal Method.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious swine disease with high mortality. In many countries, culling pigs infected and exposed to the ASF virus is mandatory to control the disease, which poses a real challenge in the disposal of large numbers of carcasses during ASF outbreaks. Shallow burial with carbon (SBC) Thanks ew mortality disposal method developed from deep burial and composting. The present study investigates the effectiveness of SBC in disposing of ASF virus-infected pigs. The real-time PCR results showed that DNA of the ASF virus was still detected in bone marrow samples on day 56, while the virus isolation test revealed that the infectious ASF virus was destroyed in both spleen and bone marrow samples on day 5. Interestingly, decomposition was found to occur rapidly in these shallow burial pits. On day 144, only large bones were found in the burial pit. In general, the results of this study indicated that SBC is a potential method for the disposal of ASF-infected carcasses; however, further studies are needed to provide more scientific evidence for the efficacy of SBC in different environment conditions.