Archaeology of death

The identification of deviant burials as those of ‘vampires’ is a feature of excavated skeletons from sites across Eastern, Central and Southern Europe as well as the Balkans. Based on a close reading of historic and folkloric sources researchers have sought to match features of excavated sites with narrative descriptions drawn from vampire legend and myth. This study critically reviews the recent claims based on sites in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland and Slovakia. Whilst it is found that there was a widespread belief in vampires across Europe, it is argued that it is difficult to make absolute claims for ‘vampire’ burials on archaeological grounds as in most cases there are alternate and equally compelling interpretations of the data.

KEYWORDS
ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, SIXTEENTH CENTURY, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, VAMPIRE, DEVIANT BURIAL, PLAGUE, BLACK DEATH, FOLKLORE, PAGAN, BURIAL, WITCH, BALKANS, EASTERN EUROPE, CENTRAL EUROPE, SOUTHERN EUROPE, BULGARIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, POLAND, GREECE, ITALY, SLOVAKIA, LESBOS, VENICE, APOTROPAIC, VAMPIRIDZHIJA, PERPERIKON, SOZOPOL, PROSTEJOV, CELAKOVICE, DRAWSKO, GLIWICI, SOUTHWELL, KILTEASHEEN, LAZZARETTO NUOVO, NACHTZEHRER, KAMIEN POMORSKI

This article is a response to W. Meacham's comment on the coin-on--eye/coin-in-skull burial custom as published in R. Hachlili and A.E. Killebrew 1983 "Was the Coin-on-Eye Custom a Jewish Burial Practice in the Second Temple Period?" that appeared in Biblical Archaeologist 46 (1983).

This article makes use of recently published graves to offer the first synthetic analysis of the typology and topography of Spartan burials that is founded on archaeological evidence. Our knowledge of Spartan burial practices has long been based almost entirely on textual sources – excavations conducted in Sparta between 1906 and 1994 uncovered fewer than 20 pre-Roman graves. The absence of pre-Roman cemeteries led scholars to conclude that, as long as the Lycurgan customs were in effect, all burials in Sparta were intracommunal and that few tombs had been found because they had been destroyed by later building activity. Burial practices have, as a result, been seen as one of many ways in which Sparta was an outlier. The aforementioned recently published graves offer a different picture of Spartan burial practices. It is now clear that there was at least one extracommunal cemetery in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. What would normally be described as extramural burials did, therefore, take place, but intracommunal burials of adults continued to be made in Sparta throughout the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. Those burials were concentrated along important roads and on the slopes of hills. The emergent understanding of Spartan burial practices takes on added significance when placed in a wider context. Burial practices in Sparta align closely with those found in Argos and Corinth. Indeed, burial practices in Sparta, rather than being exceptional, are notably similar to those of its most important Peloponnesian neighbours; a key issue is that in all three poleis intracommunal burials continued to take place through the Hellenistic period. The finding that adults were buried both extracommunally and intracommunally in Sparta, Argos and Corinth after the Geometric period calls into question the standard narrative of the development of Greek burial practices in the post-Mycenaean period.

Note: This article has two parts: main text and supplementary materials (appendices listing of burials in Sparta, available here and on the ABSA website).

More than a hundred years of excavations at Tell es-Sultan, the ancient Jericho in Palestine, in addition to bringing to light the remains of one of the most ancient cities of the Levant in the Bronze and Iron Ages, contributed in an extraordinary way to the knowledge of the Neolithic period, when the human communities in the Fertile Crescent developed a new social and economic model with the introduction of agriculture and animal breeding. Jericho was, in particular in Pre-Pottery Neolithic (10.500-6000 BC), a guiding site not only for cultural growth, but also for the ideological conception that supported the achievements of the "agricultural revolution". Among the most representative testimonies of this period are 45 skulls, fourteen of them modeled in plaster, and some anthropomorphic statues found by the two British expeditions that succeeded one another in the twentieth century and by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition of Sapienza University and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for twenty years (1997-2017). The article focuses on the contexts of discovery of these first images, as well as on the rituals related to their production, use and their possible meanings.

Burials of the late Neolithic in north Mesopotamia (here taken as from about 6,000 uncal BC to 4,500 uncal BC and covering the full range of the Hassuna and the Halaf) exhibit a wide range of types. Although there is a considerable variety in the quantities of grave goods, their interpretation is more problematic. The Binford/Saxe interpretation in terms of the social status of the deceased person does not seem completely convincing on the basis of this data. A particular study is presented based on the large group of published and rich graves from Tell es-Sawwan level I. Using this, together with material from elsewhere, different interpretations are suggested emphasising the role these burial goods may have played for those who deposited them.

Live burials constitute a point of departure and centre of this study, where the use of multidisciplinary approaches is emphasized, highlighting the importance of combining forensic and archaeological science with other areas of research while investigating such a complex phenomenon. Particularly important is the collaboration between pathologists and archaeologists. A live burial takes place in a specific place at a specific time, mirroring notions connected with fear of death and dying, feelings originating from the mind, causing specific impacts in and on a body, which is influenced by, as well as affecting the context.
The study approaches the mind through descriptions of attitudes influencing customs and notions behind deviant and live burials, burial practices and concepts like liminality, sacrifice and punishment. The body becomes the centre of an account of causes and mechanisms of death and how these can be detected and described by meticulous examinations of the inside and outside of a corpse and be connected to assumed live burials. Features such as internal soil compaction, positions of human remains and marks on both them and their immediate environment have to be considered as well, realised through careful investigations of the context of a burial.
The thesis argues that combining insights from both forensic and archaeological disciplines and applying them to live burials, it will be possible not only to reveal vital information about behaviour, ideas and convictions of people who are no longer with us, but also become more conscious about what happens to victims confined in sealed, tiny spaces and thus increase the chances of survival for individuals affected by such emergencies. Several feasible methodologies to asses assumed live burials, both ancient and current, are presented, detailing benefits that may be gained from multidisciplinary and comparative investigations. However, the theories presented must be experimentally verified, since the topic is to a certain extent still under-researched.

Dans la lignée des anciens Travaux du Centre Camille Jullian, la Bibliothèque d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne et Africaine (BiAMA) regroupe des travaux (monographie, actes de colloques, ouvrages collectifs) en relation avec les programmes scientifiques du Centre Camille Jullian, sur l'histoire et l'archéologie de la Gaule méridionale, de l'Afrique du Nord et du bassin méditerranéen. La BiAMA peut comprendre des sous-séries, comme la collection Études massaliètes (EtMassa).

Abstract

Every culture has its own philosophical explanation about the afterlife or about death. All such explanations express death as meaningful and need to be expressive. Grief and other concepts in these expressions can be read tangibly from material culture and intangibly from the peoples of existing cultures. Tombstones and memorial tablets can consider the main material culture of death. The present article discusses the information revealed from the tombstones of Holy Trinity Church of Nuwaraeliya. These records belong to the deceased European residents of 19th the cemetery. All the inscriptions on the tombstones and tablets were recorded and only the unrecorded 29 tombstones are subjected to focus in discussion in special reference to the concepts of the death, grief and afterlife in that society. Also the biblical quotations mentioned on tombs are discussed with reference to the Holy Bible. The genealogy of the families could create by using the interrelations of the tombstones and tablets as well as other sources.

Key words: Tombstones, Inscriptions, Death, Christianity

This dissertation focuses on Early Medieval and Medieval (c. AD 900–1400) inhumation burial customs in Upper Satakunta and Häme regions in Finland. The aim is to clarify the find contexts of Early Medieval inhumation burials in Finland, and to explore the research potential of studying the variations in burial customs. The methodology is based on archaeothanatological analysis which aims at distinguishing the human and natural taphonomic processes in burials. Although some of the burials have been considered atypical in previous research, the studies on the contexts of all the graves in the area reveal that there has been significant variation in Early Medieval inhumation burial customs. This variation is likely explained by individual choices at different stages of the burial ritual. These choices may have been influenced by different social motives, beliefs, and local events. Therefore, the variations in burial practices emphasize the impact of individual agency. In addition to general variation, a possible slight increase in double and multiple burials around AD 1200 was observed. This is also a period when “antique” spearheads were occasionally struck into the coffin structures – a habit previously considered dramatic and unusual. Based on environmental studies and recent molecular studies in the Baltic countries and Scandinavia, it is possible that crop failure and epidemic outbreaks caused a mortality crisis at the time, leading to an increase in double and multiple burials. However, the political instability of the
period could also have also provoked local power struggles, which could have emphasized the ritual meaning of ancestors. This could explain the various usage of “antique” objects and older cremated bones in the inhumation burials. When the graves are studied in detail, it will become possible to raise new questions on gender roles and identities, local rituals, commemoration, and the meanings of objects and sites. In general, the contextualization of graves widens the possibilities to study and interpret Finnish archaeological material and help integrate this material in wider geographical, temporal, and theoretical discussion.

This article explores the use and meaning of belts within four cultural regions with several centres of population in central Tyrrhenian Italy: the Etruscan, the Latin, the Faliscan and the Capenate regions. The main focus is on the Iron Age and the Archaic period. In these regions, lozenge-shaped and rectangular bronze belts and textile or leather belts with bronze clasps have been used. The belt has been an important item of attire, and there are clear differences in models and manners of use through time and between cultures. This article discusses the meaning of the belt in relation to status, gender, age, and ethnicity, conceptualises the issue of dress in archaeology, and explores important facts related to trade and marriage agreements.

When invited to write a keynote article on the contemporary archaeol- ogy of death and burial, I admit that I struggled to find the focus for such a potentially broad and complex theme. The archaeology of death and burial is a dynamic field that long has held, and probably will continue to hold, a central place within archaeology more broadly. This position is demonstrated by the steady stream of large and/or significant volumes on the topic across different academic traditions since the 1970s (e.g. Saxe 1970; Brown 1971; Chapman et al. 1981; O’Shea 1984; Duday & Masset 1987; Anderson Beck 1995; Jensen & Høilund Nielsen 1997; Parker Pearson 1999; Crubézy et al. 2000, Knüsel & Gowland 2009; Tarlow & Stutz 2013). It is also girded by the emergence of bioarchaeology, which studies human remains most commonly from burial contexts (e.g. Buikstra & Anderson Beck 2006; Argawal & Glencross 2011). Despite its prominent role within the wider discipline, burial archaeology faces a series of interesting conceptual challenges, most of which reflect very general intellectual trends in this contemporary moment. When deconstructing the archaeology of death and burial in its current state I note three broad categories of problematic and interesting challenges.

Más allá de las evidentes semejanzas formales que presentan los registros funerarios de la Meseta y del
Bronce Argárico, subyacen una serie de diferencias que en muchas ocasiones no han sido debidamente
reconocidas. En este estudio se analizan ambas, mediante una recopilación sistemática de las características
de sus componentes materiales: la estructura, los ajuares y los restos óseos. Se ha tomado como referencia
del interior peninsular la cuenca media y alta del Tajo, al ser una zona con un importante número de
evidencias funerarias. La comparación nos indica dos distintas respuestas sociales ante la muerte, aunque
con algunos puntos en común.

Through an analysis of the ninth- to eighth-century B.C.E. mortuary assemblages from the Queens’ Tombs of Nimrud’s Northwest Palace in Iraq, this paper interprets dress elements and ensembles in terms of identity and ideology. The Queens’ Tombs offer the only in situ evidence for royal Neo-Assyrian female dress. The finds, which have never before been studied as comprehensive ensembles, correspond to the few surviving images of Neo-Assyrian queens and greatly expand our evidence for the manner in which a queen’s ideal appearance was constructed and embodied. Considering dress in death, as well as in life and the afterlife, this paper proposes a standard, but flexible, queenly ensemble. To facilitate analyses, I present a figural model, based on an aggregation of archaeological, art historical, and literary evidence for ideal royal women. I then analyze the dress elements and ensembles as expressions of courtly, queenly, and individual identity. Finally, I interpret queenly dress as an ideological mechanism that manifested imperial power through its materials, style, and iconography. Overall, this article aims to provide a new foundation for more thoroughly integrating the visual and material presence of queens into interpretations of the Neo-Assyrian court and its eternally conceived universe.

This monograph is the final report of a series of salvage excavations which were conducted in the Jericho area from 1975 to 1979. The rescue work was concentrated along the lower slopes of the Judean hills west of the modem city of Jericho, where tombs from the Hellenistic and Roman periods were being systematically robbed. In spite of the modest scale of these excavations, this proves to be one of the most significant cemeteries excavated from this period. Due to the excellent state of preservation of many of the organic remains, the tombs have greatly enriched our acquaintance with Jewish burial customs of the period and many aspects of late Second Temple period material culture.

In the summer of 1966 Austrian excavations started at Tell el-Dab'a in the north-eastern Nile Deltaat first under the auspices of the University of Vienna and from 1973 onwards by the newly founded Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo, in co-operation with the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In toto about 80 excavation campaigns revealed a city, which was most likely the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean at its time. Soon it became clear that this town was Avaris, the ancient capital of the then little known Hyksos dynasty. Founded as a planned Egyptian settlement at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, this place gained importance at the end of the 12 th dynasty when a large group of people from the Near East settled there and controlled the sea trade between Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean. They established themselves in this town by creating their own mixture of Egyptian and Near Eastern Middle Bronze Age cultures. While the domestic architecture was adopted from the host country, temples, palaces and burial customs were distinctly Near Eastern, showing architectural traditions rooted in northern Syria and Mesopotamia.

Organisé dans la foulée de l'exposition du même nom, le colloque « Du Bûcher à la Tombe » a réuni une petite centaine de participants les 17 et 18 novembre 2014 dans l'ancien Palais de Justice d'Arlon. Des chercheurs français, luxembourgeois, allemands et belges ont présenté les résultats de travaux récents en matière d'archéologie funéraire du Haut-Empire. Les études portent sur la Gaule septentrionale, une région réduite à l'échelle du vaste empire de Rome mais qui pourtant révèle une étonnante diversité dans les pratiques et les structures funéraires des cimetières à incinération des différentes Cités qui la constituent. Ce colloque fut l'occasion de mettre en perspective les nombreuses avancées réalisées ces dernières années dans notre connaissances des nécropoles du Haut-Empire, dans l'interprétation des vestiges (tombes, dépôts annexes, bûchers) mis au jour en contexte funéraire, dans l'implantation de ces sites au sein des paysages antiques et leur relation avec les habitats environnants. Un des objectifs du colloque était d'aborder au travers de la thématique des rites et des gestes funéraires liés à la crémation des problématiques plus transversales comme la romanisation, l'évolution des croyances et des représentations sociales au sein des différentes couches de la société gallo-romaine. Plusieurs articles traitent des phénomènes observés au cours des siècles qui précèdent directement la conquête de la Gaule. D'autres donnent un éclairage sur l'Antiquité tardive, période au cours de laquelle la crémation est abandonnée au profit de l'inhumation. Ces visions diachroniques mettent en exergue les continuités et les changements d'une période à l'autre et nous incitent à décloisonner nos approches de l'archéologie de la mort.
                                                                                                                                                                     
Held in the wake of the eponymous exhibition, the Du Bûcher à la Tombe (From the Pyre to the Grave) colloquium gathered over a hundred participants on 17 and 18 November 2014 at the old Courthouse in Arlon (Belgium). French, Luxembourg, German and Belgian researchers presented the results of recent studies into the funerary archaeology of the Early Roman Empire. The studies cover Northern Gaul, a small region by comparison to the vast scale of the Roman Empire as a whole, but nonetheless one that holds an astonishing level of diversity in terms of the funerary practices and the burial structures seen in the cremation cemeteries of the different Civitates that make up the region. This colloquium was the perfect occasion to bring into focus the numerous advances we have seen in recent years in our understanding of the burial sites of the Early Roman Empire, in the interpretation of the specific types of cremation-related remains (graves, associated deposits, funeral pyres) updated in a funerary context, in the siting of these sites in the ancient landscapes and their relation to the surrounding settlements. One of the colloquium’s aims was to explore wider and more interdisciplinary issues such as Romanization, the development of people’s beliefs and the social stereotypes held by the various sections of Gallo-Roman society through the mortuary rituals and gestures associated with cremation. Several papers of the proceedings deal with the phenomena observed over the centuries immediately before the conquest of Gaul. Other papers shed light on Late Antiquity, an era during which cremation was abandoned in favour of burial. These diachronic views highlight the continuities and changes from one period to the next, and prompt us to lift the barriers of our approach towards mortuary archaeology.

La mort d’autrui est une épreuve que les communautés humaines ont dû apprendre à surmonter dès les premiers temps de l’Humanité. Ce travail est une exploration des différentes réponses proposées par l’homme face au problème de la perte de l’autre à travers les gestes effectués sur le corps mort, depuis les soins thanatopraxiques jusqu’aux funérailles en plusieurs temps ou la création de reliques.

La manipulation post-mortem des corps fournit régulièrement à l’archéologue des “dépôts secondaires” ou des dépôts primaires ayant subi des manipulations anthropiques post-dépositionnelles. Ces dépôts impliquent une gestion complexe et planifiée du processus funéraire et, en général, des gestes / pratiques / cérémonies en plusieurs épisodes.

Cette thèse propose un éclaircissement des concepts et de la nomenclature liés à ces dépôts spécifiques. Une analyse transchronologique et transculturelle d’études de cas archéologiques et ethnologiques nous permet d’éclairer ces phénomènes mortuaires complexes dans leur dimension anthropologique.

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Human remains resulting from sophisticated mortuary treatments represent a preferred information source about the organization of societies and about the belief systems of ancient people. Thereby, on the archaeological field, secondary deposits, sacred artefacts made of humain bones or dismembered burials emerge as precious raw material in order to reconstruct gestures, practices and finally the symbolic discourse built around those dead who are selected to become particular protective entities, perhaps Ancestors.

This work includes the study of double-funeral ceremonies and manipulations of human bones in funerary or ritual contexts but also complicated pre-funeral treatments (exposure, dismemberment, mummification) in a transcultural and transchronological perspective. Human remains and spatial data from archaeological contexts have been analyzed using a bioanthropological and traceological approach in order to reconstruct complex mortuary operating sequences. An ethnoarcheological study on multiple-steps funerals has been performed in order to interpret archaeological remains.

En este artículo pretendemos mostrar el proceso de investigación, la metodología y los métodos de
registro para el estudio de la materialidad funeraria de las islas Baleares. A lo largo del presente
trabajo se hará hincapié en la potencialidad que ofrece este tipo de registro para entender parte de
los modos de vida de las sociedades pretéritas que habitaron las islas. Nuestro límite temporal
queda englobado, grosso modo, en el I milenio ane, poniendo especial atención en la segunda mitad
del mismo, en el llamado período Postalayótico. Así pues, con este trabajo pretendemos mostrar nuestros objetivos, la problemática de estudio, una
propuesta de estudio y la pertinencia de realizar una investigación de este tipo con el fin de
aproximarnos al conocimiento y a las formas de vida de la sociedad postalayótica.

Classical and Hellenistic cemeteries can give us more than descriptions and styles of pottery, art and burial architecture; they can speak of people, societies, social conventions as well as of social distinctions. This book aims to employ and illustrate the unique strengths of burial evidence and its contribution to the understanding of social identity and status in the Classical and Hellenistic Northern Peloponnese. By thoroughly reviewing published burials from the regions of Achaia, Arcadia, the Argolid and Cynouria, Corinthia, Elis and Triphylia, spatial and temporal variations which led to a change in definitions of 'society' and perceptions of 'community' on the basis of shifting reactions to death and the dead are demonstrated. Social roles of men, women, children, elite and non-elite individuals as expressed or negotiated in the mortuary record are explored. Preconceived ideas and stereotypes within and about the Classical and Hellenistic burials are challenged. In spite of the many constraints imposed by the limited previous research, what clearly emerges from this study is the wide degree of variation in what are often loosely termed 'customary' or unappealing Classical and Hellenistic burial practices in the Northern Peloponnese. If death was indeed an occasion or 'opportunity', then the meaning of this opportunity varied along the shifting dimensions, in time and space, of identity and status.

Au printemps 1990, dans le choeur de l'église de Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle en Normandie , une fosse renfermant un membre amputé, celui du pied droit d'un individu, a été mise au jour. La singularité de ce dépôt funéraire pose de nombreuses questions quant à son interprétation archéologique et historique. Il invite à réfléchir sur certaines pratiques mais aussi à examiner les attitudes sociales face au cadavre dans les textes narratifs et normatifs au Moyen Âge.

che va dal VII sec. a.C. al III sec. a.C. . Dette forme funerarie sono caratterizzate da alcuni elementi comunitari relativi ai corredi.
Gli oggetti rinvenuti nelle diverse tombe pur essendo tecnicamente e tipologicamente simili ad oggetti di uso comune, sembrano
essere stati creati appositamente per l’utilizzo in ambito funerario. Ciò sembra evincersi dai tipi di materiali utilizzati per la
loro realizzazione, dalla tecnica decorativa e dalle forme. Il materiale archeologico analizzato, proveniente dalla località Piano
Palazzo, ricadente nel comune di Rotello (CB), sembra inserirsi proprio nella tipologia di materiale descritto in precedenza
pur provenendo da rinvenimenti sporadici. L’ipotesi che questi materiali, pur essendo rinvenenti casuali, possano appartenere
ad un contesto funerario è data proprio dal confronto con altre realtà archeologiche simili presenti nell’area medio-fortorina
(Carlantino, Celenza Val Fortore). Altro punto che sembra presentare delle caratteristiche relative soltanto ad un uso funerario
del materiale qui in studio sono i motivi decorativi che, almeno in apparenza, sembrano avere forme iconografiche ridondanti

Este artículo pretende mostrar la gran potencialidad de los estudios paleodemográficos.
Para ello se recurre como caso de estudio a la población enterrada durante la
Edad del Bronce (2200–1200 cal. a.C.) en la cuenca media-alta del Tajo. Sus resultados
nos permiten comprobar sí la muestra es representativa del conjunto de la sociedad,
así como aproximarnos a las dinámicas demográficas de esos grupos sociales.

The cemetery in Nizná Mysl’a is one of the most important funerary sites in Early Bronze Age Central Europe. Many years of excavations led to the discovery of nearly 800 graves associated with the Otomani-Füzesabony culture. The presented paper is an attempt to reconstruct the spatial development of the cemetery, based on statistical analyses of grave goods and using the latest findings concerning the absolute chronology of selected categories of finds. A significant role in the analyses was played by female burials, in which numerous objects were discovered, which were evidence of the relatively high status of women in the local community. This provided the authors with a basis for discussion with regard to the dominant male-oriented narratives concerning the communities of fortified settlements.

Druk i oprawa: FUNDACJA RZESZOWSKIEGO OŚRODKA ARCHEOLOGICZNEGO 35-015 Rzeszów, ul. Moniuszki 10, tel. 601 382 472; 601 382 427, tel. 17 872 15 90 e-mail: [email protected], www.froa.pl OFICYNA WYDAWNICZA ZIMOWIT 35-103 Rzeszów, Wybrane przykłady kafli piecowych z badań na ulicy 3 Maja w Rzeszowie ANTROPOLOGIA Joanna Rogóż Cmentarz -grób -szkielet. Badania antropologiczne szczątków kostnych dawnych mieszkańców Rzeszowa RADIOLOGIA Wiesław Guz, Adrian Truszkiewicz Radiologia -prześwietlić przeszłość ODONTOLOGIA Marta Kurek Badania szlifów zębowych KATALOG Paweł Kocańda Wybrane zabytki z badań na ulicy 3 Maja 11 | 67 | 103 | 135 | 165 | 207 | 221 | 231 | Cmentarz -grób -szkielet Badania antropologiczne szczątków kostnych dawnych mieszkańców Rzeszowa Śmierć nie jest kresem naszego istnieniażyjemy w naszych dzieciach i następnych pokoleniach Albert Einstein

Tra le tematiche più diffuse che caratterizzano l'iconografia rupestre dell'età del Ferro camuna si collocano quelle raffigurazioni che, genericamente, vengono definite "capanne". Esse sono costituite da uno o più elementi rettangolari, posizionati orizzontalmente e/o verticalmente, spesso attraversati da una linea longitudinale e sormontati da un elemento "tettiforme" che nella maggior parte dei casi si presenta a sezione triangolare o pentagonale. La loro struttura rimanda istintivamente, nell'immaginario comune, a rappresentazioni di edifici ad uso domestico o cultuale. Il termine "capanne" è da intendersi come puramente convenzionale perché come meglio vedremo in seguito i confronti più appropriati e verosimili riguardano invece strutture quali granai, fienili o magazzini. Convenzionali sono anche altri termini adottati per descrivere elementi costituenti la figura e alcune macro-tipologie (cioè strutture che mostrano le medesime caratteristiche compositive) 34 .

This paper explores the changing social significance and cultural perception of age and gender during the Middle Bronze Age and the transition to the Late Bronze Age (ca. 2000 – 1500 BC). The study will focus on the Argolid in the northeastern Peloponnese and in particular the sites of Lerna and Mycenae.
Around 1700 BC the southern Greek mainland underwent rapid social and cultural change manifested through the introduction of ostentatious practices and the increasing elaboration of the mortuary sphere.  These changes find their most dramatic manifestation in the famous 'Shaft Graves' of Mycenae (discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876) which signal the emergence of  social differentiation in the mainland.
The comparative analysis of the modest intramural burials in the neighbouring site Lerna and the spectacular Shaft Graves in Mycenae  will attempt to reveal the redefinition  of age and gender relations and the changing articulation of the two main principles which structure social life: kinship and status.

Llorenç Alapont (Coordinador). Llorenç Alapont i Carmina Ballester: La Intervenció Arqueològica en el Jaciment Visigòtic de la senda de l'Horteta. Llorenç Alapont i Francisco J. Tormo: El Tresor de Monedes Visigodes de la Senda de l'Horteta. Alfred Sanchis: Estudi de la Fauna Associada a la Necrópolis de la Senda de l'Horteta. Miquel Rosselló: La Incorporació del Territori Valencià al Domini Visigotic. Rosa Albiach: Els Fons d'Època Visigoda del Museu de Prehistòria de València. Llorenç Alapont i Albert Ribera: El Cementeri Visigot de Valentia. Fernando Cotino: La necropolis d'Època Visigoda de la Plaça del la Llibertat de Cullera.

Los restos animales de la necrópolis de Llanos del Pretorio. Depósitos votivos, contextos sacrificiales y áreas de vertido extramuros Rafael M. Martínez Sánchez Estudio bioantropológico y paleopatológico del sepulcretum de Llanos del Pretorio Elisa García-Prósper-Manuel Polo-Cerdá La gestión del espacio funerario en la Córdoba romana: viae sepulcrales, recintos y mensurae sepulcrorum Desiderio Vaquerizo Gil Suddividere lo spazio della memoria: percorsi di lettura dai recinti funerari dell'Italia settentrionale Luca Scalco

Avances de investigación del Proyecto Arqueológico Pumiri, desarrollado en el complejo arqueológico Pumiri (Provincia Sajama del Departamento de Oruro-Bolivia). El proyecto se enfoca en la arqueología rupestre y las torres funerarias, desde la óptica del estudio paisajístico.

Today people see fewer real dead bodies than at any time in history. Yet in the modern world we seem almost obsessed with images of death. In an investigation encompassing ancient Jericho, Aztec America, and classical Italy, How Art Made the World discovers what it is that has compelled human beings to surround themselves with images of death for thousands of years.

Death captured the mind of early man, and since then it has driven us to create some of the most powerful images in the world.

The episode starts in Jericho (in the Jordan Valley) where in the 1950 Cecil Western, the British Archeologist, discovered decorated skulls with a reconstructed nose and shells as replacement for eyes. The skulls were found in the walls of homes and it appears they had been placed in specially made alcoves. Since their discovery, other decorated skulls have cropped up all over the Middle East.

All animals have an instinct to avert their own death, it’s a basic survival mechanism. Humans, however, are the only creatures that understand the inevitability of  death. Psychologists understand that there is a way to overcome the fear of death, and that is by creating images of our ancestors. Professors Solomon and Greenberg have done experiments with two groups of students. Using subliminal images they persuaded students to thinks of death. They then showed both groups images of dead celebrities. The subjects were given the choice of how long to look at pictures, and those who were made to think about death wanted to look at images for longer ( Solomon and Greenberg explain this is for reassurance ). In Jericho, in the 1st millennia BC, the average life expectancy was 24. The prospect of death would have terrified them and these artistic representations would have allowed them to keep their ancestors alive.

Reassurance, however, is only part of story. Some have used images of death for opposite effect, to exploit our fear of death. The French painter Jacques Louis David used the image of Marat (the leader of the revolution) murdered in bath to gain support for their cause. The SS used images of the skull and cross bones on their uniforms to strike fear in their victims. The Peruvian Moche created the Waca Da Luna temple to honor their human sacrifices. The walls of this temple show horrific images of death, featuring spiders with human faces and fangs, lizards that have been decapitated and the pottery found their shows people having their eyes pecked out by birds. A mass human grave was found nearby and many of the bodies had been both decapitated and dismembered, the bodies were those that had been sacrificed by the Moche. The neighboring Aztecs, however, did human sacrifice on an industrial scale. In one four-day event, over forty-thousand people were sacrificed. Archeologists believe that the mass sacrifices of the Aztecs were to repay the debt of their sun god, who used his own blood to keep the sun alive. If his debt was not repaid with their most highly prized gifts (their lives) then the sun would go out. This is one of histories most successful regimes of terror, that kept a tight grip on their people, thankful to be Aztec rather than the victims of the sacrifices.

Solomon and Greenberg have collected evidence which shows, that by reminding people of their own death, it drives them to support those that share their values and oppose those who don’t. It’s a universal instinct across time. When we think about death we become more invested in our own belief system (Solomon and Geeenburg). This has been used through out history and one that Christians can relate to best is the image of Christ on the cross, or simply the cross. A symbol of a man oozing blood, dying a terrifying death.

The Etruscans are not as well known as the Romans, but they laid the foundations of Rome, most things we remember of the Romans were in fact traditions from the Etruscans. The main archeological record we have are their tombs, and these contain vivid images of the afterlife. The tombs were designed as houses for the dead with carvings of all they would need in the afterlife. Thousands of years after traces of the Etruscan civilisation had vanished overground, their dead cities surfaced. In 1985 a pipeline for Tarquinia was being laid and during the excavation a new tomb was discovered. Archeologists used cameras to look into the tomb and what they first saw was unexpected. At first they saw the reassuring images they expected, but then they turned the cameras around and on opposite wall were disturbing images of blue demons, rotting flesh, snakes, and a winged devil. The tomb dates back to 420BC and these are the oldest surviving image of hell. In the 200 years leading up to this, the Etruscans created images promising a happy afterlife, but threatened by the rise of the Romans, these tombs acted as a call to arms. Damned or saved these reminded them of what awaited, if they failed in defending against Romans. This is the earliest know use of conflicting images being used together: Redemption images.

Later in AD1500, in Orvieto, the Estrucian capital, the Christians built a cathedral, they painted frescoes showing on one wall the damned going to Hell and the opposite wall the saved going to heaven. Uncannily similar images to those of the tomb and the devils are depicted in a green / blue. The Etruscan legacy, that redemption can lead people to look forward to death, rather than fear it.

When we no longer fear the inevitability of death, not only are we prepared to give up life for a greater good, we do so knowing that we are remembered for it, a heroic death.

L’enfant, considéré comme un être à part dans la vie quotidienne des Égyptiens, devenait-il un défunt comme les autres ? Ce thème encore inédit en égyptologie est le sujet du prochain livre d’Amandine Marshall, "L’enfant et la mort en Égypte ancienne", à paraître le 1er février 2018. L’auteur présente en avant première pour Archéologia les conclusions de son étude.

The 12th century’s cemetery from Sighişoara-Dealul Viilor, place ‘Necropolă’. Contribution concerning the habitat from the early middle age in eastern Transylvania
(Summary)

The Dealul Viilor (Vine Hill) site called is situated around the eastern edge of Sighișoara (ger: Schäßburg; hun.: Segesvár), Mureș County, on the first and second terrace on the right bank of Tirnava Mare. Systematic researches at the location
called ‘Aşezare’ (Settlement) led to the unveiling of over 120 archaeological complexes (homes, ceramic workshops waste
pits, etc.) from the 3rd–8th and 12th centuries and also to the discovery of important archaeological artifacts (412 complexes)
belonging to the Bronze Age (the Wietenberg culture, the Noua culture) then to the post-Romane age and early medieval
era. Post-Romane assemblies which largely destroyed prehistoric complexes are represented by several cemeteries (from the
end of 3rd and the begining of the 4th century, and from the fourth and sixth centuries) of complex settlements (ceramic kiln
from fourth century; living home from the 8th century) while early medieval era is illustrated by a large necropolis of the 12th
century and also the beginning of the next century.
As we can see 94 graves were investigated, resulting in a total of 106 skeletons from them, which we linked to the
medieval necropolis (12th century) based on aspects of their topographic position, and based on the inventory. There were
a total number of 101 fully recovered, undamaged skeletons, while other 5 graves were destroyed (graves no: 36, 72, 77,
95, 112). Also 4 graves could not be investigated due to objective reasons (graves no: 140, 159, 172, 173) and one pit
contained no skeleton (157). Altogether we can speak about at least 99 graves (including the pit without bones), which
probably would have resulted in a total number of at least 110 skeletons (plus the pit without bones).
For objective reasons only the north and south areas of the cemetery could be investigated, of which characteristics
indicate the category which in archaeological literature we call churchyard (‘Friedhof ’ or ‘Kirchhof ’ in German, ’cimitire
din jurul bisericii’ in Romanian, ‘templom körüli temetők’ in Hungarian, etc.).
Taking in consideration the given characteristics of the churchyards, which show exactly the same characteristics, as
the cemetery at Dealul Viilor (Vine Hill) Sighisoara, through several successive levels of burial sites, it is more than likely
there can be found a church, but because of the road it could not be investigated.
The funerary rite is limited to that of inhumation. In the graves belonging to this chronological interval there were
identified mostly adults (22) and mature-adults (32), and two iuvenis as well as many infans (38). Due to the lack of
anthropological analysis the (biological) sex of the deposited there could be determined only hypothetically and only in
some cases. From the biological point of view the skeleton in tomb 31 was definitely female (in whose womb her unborn
child was found).
The topographic position of the settlement and the necropolis could possibly explain the aspects of the status and role
of this community near to Târnava Mare. Even though if the narrative sources of those times does not give us conclusive
data, the settlement could have played the role – with all the required reserves – of salt transport checkpoint towards the
west. An argument in support of this hypothesis can be provided by the treasure from Sânpaul-Bélabánvára with coins
from Ladislaus I, Coloman Cărturaru and Béla II.
The lack of chemical analyzes of the bones deprives us of essential data on the lifestyle and the food composition of
the community in Sighișoara-Dealul Viilior, although it is considered that until the fourteenth century the farming was
the dominant economic activity.
If we take a closer look at the settlement and the necropolis at Dealul Viilor and we analyze more carefully it’s
environment, taking in consideration the spaciousness of the place and it’s proximity to water we can conclude that
community of Dealul Viilor might have raised a lot of large animals, which was obviously determined essentially by climate evolution.  Based on all the data collected from the necropolis and the settlement: pottery, weapons, harness, traces of the
skeletons graves (45 and 76), the topography of the location, and the environment of the site that we can assume the
social multifunctionality of Dealul Viilor (Vine Hill) settlement.
The necropolis from the twelfth century began to be used in the first decades of the twelfth century until to the end of
the reign of Béla III. The analysis of the chronological aspects of the cemetery at Dealul Viilor showed that the first burials
may date to the first decades of the twelfth century, which means that the population of the community sat / was sitting
here around this time; while the ‘treasure’ of coins found in tomb 28B represents the last period of use of the necropolis,
belonging to the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the next one. Contemporary with the necropolis and
settlement from Dealul Viilor there should have been in the a microzone a fortification of land and wood, a royal fortress
which was controlling the gorge and the roads that intersected here.
According to archaeological data that we have at our disposal we can state very clearly that people established here
could not have been located in the eastern and south-eastern border area of the kingdom because contemporary with the
analyzed necropolis there are settlements, churches, cemeteries, treasures, isolated discoveries, which lie south and east
of this line, which clearly demonstrates the existence of a dense network of housing 12th century (from the churchyard
from Avrămeşti, Chilean Cristuru Székely, Drăuşeni, Feldioara Jacodu, Székelyudvarhely-Szentimre, Bögöz, Meresti
Ocland, Petén Petriceni, Cold, Ulieş, Viscri, Zabala; “motte” fortress type from Ocland, Racoşu Lower-Rika, Racu (Ciuc)
Pogányvár, Tusnad -Vártető; royal fortresses like the ones in Székelyudvarhely-Budvár or Praid-Rapsonné; rural settlements from Văcăreşti Bârzava Ciceu Misentea, Racu, Şumuleu Ciucsangeorgiu, Sântimbru, Leliceni, Sansimion, Tomeşti Tuşnad Sat, Garciu, Cotormani , St. George-Bedeháza, Turia).