Suchergebnisse

Burials of children with weapons in the pre-state and early state societies of the era of the Great Migration Period — the beginning of the Middle Ages are rare. Still rarer are children's burials, where archaeologists come across the burials of boys with prestigious weapons. These graves reflect the burial customs of the nobility. For the end of the 4 th — the first half of the 6 th centuries, two burials are distinguished — Tsibilium 1, burial 61 in Abkhazia and burial 809 in St. Severin's Cathedral in Cologne. They are distinguished by a particularly rich and complete set of weapons. Undoubtedly, they belong to individuals who occupied the highest position in these societies. There are cases when armed children appeared on the battlefield, where they did not participate in the battle, but had to perform some ritual actions or symbolically replace their dead fathers (946, Prince Svyatoslav).

Two "military" burials of the Sambian-Natangian culture are considered —
Dollkeim-Kovrovo No. 269 and Kleinheide-Guryevsk No. 21 of the Great Migration Period,
where there are burials of dogs. Burials with dogs in the early Middle Ages were
widespread in the Germanic area, but extremely rarely found among the Balts. Apparently
in Sambia, their appearance is associated with the influence of the funerary customs of
the Germans, most likely from Central Europe. It is possible that these customs reflect
military rituals associated with warriors-werewolves (wolves/dogs).

This paper compares the results of anthropological research and information about the burial of horses in the burial grounds of the Sambian-Natangian civilisation (Dolkeim-Kovrovo culture). The inclusion of anthropological analysis data from the cemeteries of Mitino and Zaostrovye-1 shows that for the Merovingian period and the beginning of the Viking period, the connection of horse burials exclusively with male graves is not certain. Horse burials are accompanied here by male, female and children's burials. Presence of a horse in the burials of Sambian-Natangian culture was undoubtedly a social marker, and Roman period was associated primarily with military funerary rituals. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the custom of burying a horse was "democratized" and widely used. However, presence of horses in burials continues to play the role of a social indicator, but now it is not the presence of the horse that is indicative, but their number.

International audience ; The article examines finds from two fortified settlements located near Smolensk. New radiocarbondates are given that prove the demise of the fortified settlement of Demidovka at the turn of the5th–6th centuries AD. The analysis of the distribution of prestigious silver items and armament onthe sites of the "Demidovka circle" and the presence of a large long house provide grounds for anassumption about the central position of this settlement in Smolensk district and the presence ofa "German component" in it. The data of spore-pollen analysis are used for the reconstructionof the landscape surrounding the fortified settlement. The authors suggest that in the late periodwhen militarized "elite" resided in the settlement its vicinity was used for grazing. As a resultof the study, a hypothesis is proposed that the fortified settlements of Demidovka (the 3rd–4thcenturies) and Vyazovenki (the 6th–7th centuries) were centers of power in Smolensk land duringthe two periods of time preceding the transition of this function to Smolensk (Cathedral Hill) andGnezdovo.

Foreword and acknowledgements / Jorge López Quiroga, Michael Kazanski, Vujadin Ivaniešević -- Interpreting identity and otherness: historical and archaeological approaches. Ethnicities, entangled identities and otherness in late antique and early medieval Europe. Views for an interdisciplinary research agenda / Jorge López Quiroga, Michael Kazanski, Vujadin Ivanišević -- The archaeology of identities and alterities. Opposite perspectives for the Early Middle Ages / Sebastian Brather -- Le refus de l'Altérité dans la loi romaine du Bréviaire d'Alaric / Michel Rouche -- Barbaria, Barbaricum and the location of the Barbarus / Michael Kulikowski -- La conversion au Christianisme comme un mécanisme d'Identité et d'Altérité chez les Barbares / Bruno Dumiézil -- Did the Goths really come from Poland? Changing interpretations in changing political situations / Jörg Kleemann -- Forensic anthropology, identification and identity. How it can help the identity and otherness problematic / Luis Ríos Frutos -- Bones don't lie. Bioarchaeological identity and entangled social identities in late antique and early medieval Europe / Jorge López Quiroga -- Ethnicity, social identity, otherness and the archaeological record: case studies. Les antiquités germaniques à l'Est européen au Bas-Empire et à l'époque des Grandes Migrations: État des recherches / Michael Kazanski, Anna Mastykova -- The many identities of the barbarians in the middle Danube Region in the early middle ages / Tivadar Vida -- Social identity on the platter, clay pans in sixth to seventh century ceramic assemblages / Florin Curta -- Ethnicity on the move, new evidence from Viking winter camps / Dawn Hadley -- Otherness and identity in the Merovingian cemetery / Guy Halsall -- Archéologie Funéraire et ethnicité en Gaule à l'́poque mérovingienne (Réponse à Guy Halsall) / Michael Kazanski, Patrick Périn -- Gender, kinship and social identity in the funerary dimensions of the Kingdom of the Lombards (568-774) / Annamaria Pazienza