[gothic-l] Re: Heruls and Archaeology

[george knysh]

--- faltin2001 <dirk at smra.co.uk> wrote:
 bi-ritualism is also
> observable in the
> Niemberger and Grossbadegaster Gruppe in middle
> Germany. Have you
> heard anything about this custom of placing the dead
> on their face in
> the grave and other 'unusual' positions.

*****GK: Sorry for the delay in replying. Thousands of
150-450 AD Chernyakhiv graves have been analyzed in
recent years by Soviet and Ukrainian archaeologists.
Apparently what you or your source refer to as "on
their face" inhumation burials were very rare. (Ukr.
arch. describe these as "on their bellies" burials).
Only two locations seemed to have them (Maslove,
Kompanijtsi) both located close to the Dnipro/Dnepr
about halfway between contemporary Kyiv/Kiev and
Dnipropetrovsk. They are assumed to have "Sarmatian"
roots, but the reasons for the position remain
obscure.I have no specific information on hand about
burial practices in inhumation graves of Transylvania.
BTW were "face/belly" burials also found in Silesia?
What percentage (approx.) of the Thuringian burials
were of this type?=== As for "unusual" inhumation
postures. In Ukraine the overwhelming majority of
people were buried on their backs, stretched out,
occasionally with legs crossed plus other minor
things. Extremely rare were not just the "belly/face"
burials, but "elevated knee" burials, or "couched on
the side" burials. Archaeologists tend to classify
inhumation burials here not so much by the posture of
the cadavers (since it is overwhelmingly the same) as
by the orientation of the head (north? west?) and by
the type of grave shaft plus inventory.******
>

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