Intercultural Dialogue in the Middle Ages: A Christian Cemetery in Pagan Vilnius

In Medieval Europe, Lithuania remained a pagan state the longest, officially accepting Catholic baptism only in 1387. But the country had already been influenced by Christian culture, Orthodox from the East and Catholic from the West, since the 11th century. It should be noted that this influence was not the same: Catholicism was mostly brought ‘by fire and sword’ in the role of the Teutonic Order while the spread of Orthodox Christianity could be more peaceful. It is frequently stressed that the Ruthenian Orthodox Christians were close neighbours of the pagan Lithuanians, settling in Lithuania as subjects of the grand dukes. While the Catholics needed to be invited, the Orthodox Christians from the Ruthenian lands were already subjects of the grand dukes. Thus, communities of both branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic, had settled here and were interacting in a still pagan environment in pagan cities ruled by pagan dukes. This article, in seeking to present the circumstances of the settlement of one of the early Christian communities in Vilnius, the Orthodox one, and its development, examines this community through data from the burial site it left and the interpretation of those data.

The funeral cave of Laang Spean | ល្អា ងបញច្ុះសពនៃស្ថា ៃីយល្អា ងស្ពា ៃ

Discovered in 1965 by Cécile and Roland Mourer in the limestone massifs of the Battambang region in Cambodia, the Lang Spean cave is a karstic cavity with three main chambers with a floor area of about 1000 m2 and a vault height of thirty metres. The archaeological sequence of Laang Spean now includes several meters thick level of ancient activity dated between 71,000 and 26,000 years ago surmounted by a Hoabinhian occupation (11,000-5,000 BP), with a third summit level characterized by Neolithic tombs. Cemeteries and funeral spaces are major sites in Southeast Asia still used to reconstruct the chrono-cultural sequence of the region. However, their studies present a failure to take into account the funerary nature of the studied sites. Archeothanatology, although partly known by colleagues working in Southeast Asian has not been developed sufficiently leading to numerous problems linked to the real nature of the sites. A burial site where individuals chosen by a community have been placed presents an altered vision of the population, whereas a study of funerary gestures and recruitment makes possible to understand these choices. Thus, the discovery of Neolithic burials at Laang Spean was the opportunity to implement an excavation protocol that follows the principles of archeothantology including to determine the positioning of the defunct at the time of burial in order to illustrate the funerary practice carried out by its original population. Despite the fragility of the bones we carried out observations and measurements useful for determining the biological characteristics, including sex, age, stature or pathologies of the individuals uncovered and, direct dating were successful. Finally, the Laang Spean cave appears to be a Neolithic funerary cave according to its dating but showing some characteristics found in the Metal age on the nearby Khorat plateau.

Who’s been using my burial mound? Radiocarbon dating and isotopic tracing of human diet and mobility at the collective burial site, Le Tumulus des Sables, southwest France

The burial mound of Le Tumulus des Sables, southwest France, contains archaeological artefacts spanning from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Human remains have been found throughout the burial mound, however their highly fragmented state complicates the association between the burial mound structure and the archaeological material. Radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses of human teeth have been used to investigate the chronology, diet and mobility of the occupants. Radiocarbon dating shows that the site was used for burials from the Neolithic to Iron Age, consistent with the range of archaeological artefacts recovered. δ13C and δ15N values (from dentine collagen) suggest a predominately terrestrial diet for the population, unchanging through time. 87Sr/86Sr (on enamel and dentine) and δ18O (on enamel) values are consistent with occupation of the surrounding region, with one individual having a δ18O value consistent with a childhood spent elsewhere, in a colder climate region. These results showcase the complex reuse of this burial mound by a mostly local population over a period of about 2000 years.

AL-FARABI’S LEGACY IN STUDIES OF AKZHAN ZHAKSYBEKOVICH MASHANOV (AL-MASHANI)

The article covers the contribution of Akzhan Zhaksybekovich Mashanov, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Professor, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, honored scientist of Kazakhstan, in the field of studying the scientific legacy of Abȗ-Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad A-Farabi. A.Zh.Mashanov was the first to explore the writings of the great Al-Farabi. Mashanov’s internal memo as of 15.11. 1960 addressed to the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, K.I. Satpayev, on the necessity to proceed with the research of the scientific legacy of Al-Farabi, gave a start to the development of Farabi-studies in Kazakhstan. Akzhan Zhaksybekovich not only proved to the global community that the birthplace of the Second Teacher in the city of Otrar, but also discovered the burial site of the prominent ancestor at the Bab-as-Sagir cemetery in Damask. The scientist could provide solid arguments and persuade academic circles of the USSR on the need to start studying Al-Farabi’s legacy in Kazakhstan, in the native land of the genius thinker. Thanks to his efforts, in 1975, the city of Alma-Ata hosted the international scientific conference dedicated to the 1100th anniversary since the birth of Al-Farabi.

Reconstructing the Gerdrup Grave –

In 1981, a double burial from the 9th century was excavated at Gerdrup north of Roskilde. In the grave was a woman and a man. The woman was buried with a spear, while the man had apparently been killed before the burial. The tomb has been perceived as a ‘Master and Slave burial’, which was placed on a desolate site, perhaps because the buried were seen as pariahs. However, hitherto unpublished excavation data combined with new 14C analyzes show that the burial was part of a small multi-period burial site placed near a group of older burial mounds. Topographic analyses indicate that the burial was also located at a central ford, and thus had a prominent location. Not least, new DNA analyzes surprisingly show that the two buried have a parent-offspring relation; they are mother and son. The previous perception of the Gerdrup grave is thus challenged. This article intends to present the relevant excavation data and to discuss it in the light of the new analyzes.

Grave developments

The burial site at Borre is a common example of centralization that took place in Scandinavia during the transition between the early and late Iron Age in the sixth century. The major activities of the site are dated to the Late Iron Age, ca. 550-1050 AD. The site, which is specifically known for its uncommonly large collection of monumental mounds, has often been referred to as a burial place for kings, and the mounds have been interpreted as symbols of power meant to solidify the control of the ruling elite. This article examines changes that take place during the sites use and discusses four possible phases based on a reworked chronology. The article argues that the phases are results of different societal needs and place the mounds in a larger setting than simply elitist constructions. The reworked chronology is based on a thorough Bayesian analysis and suggests some alterations to the current understanding of the chronology at Borre.

FIRST RESULTS OF NEW STUDIES OF THE GNEZDILOVO CEMETERY NEAR SUZDAL

Поиски средневековых могильников, исследованных в 1851-1852 гг. А. С. Уваровым и утративших выраженные на поверхности надмогильные памятники - курганные насыпи - после раскопок и многолетней распашки земельных участков, на которых находились курганы, ведутся Суздальской экспедицией ИА РАН и ГИМ в Суздальском Ополье уже двадцать лет. Методы и приемы этих поисков существенно изменились в последние годы с использованием ГИС для определения местоположения объектов, обозначенных на картах и планах, сопровождающих полевую документацию 1851-1852 гг., анализом данных дистанционного зондирования местности и использованием геофизической съемки для выявления площадок, на которых располагались курганы, и участков с грунтовыми погребениями. Материалы новых исследований могильника Гнездилово демонстрируют высокую ценность памятников, считавшихся утраченными. Search for medieval burial sites which had been under excavations in 18511852 in the framework of A. S. Uvarov’s field campaign and later became invisible in the landscape with the destruction of the barrows which marked the location of the burials on the intensively cultivated lands are going on for twenty years. Surveys are conducted by Suzdal expedition of the Institute of Archaeology RAS and State Historical Museum. Methods and techniques of these surveys became more effective in the recent years with the progress of GIS, georeferencing of maps of the 1851 excavations and introduction of remote sensing and geophysical prospections for the detection of barrow platforms and areas with the flat in-ground inhumation graves. Recent field investigations at Gnezdilovo burial site demonstrate high scientific value of the sites which were previously regarded as completely destroyed

Ceremonial events at non-sites of memory: Seven framings of a difficult past

The author discusses uncommemorated and under-remembered sites of past violence in terms of the conditions of their transformation into memory sites. Commemorative ceremonies, which may be staged at non-sites of memory, are presented as affective media of memory and identity, demonstrating social responses to the sites, as well as placing the local past in the context of supra-local memory forms. The argument is grounded in the material gathered from fieldwork during the research project on uncommemorated sites of genocide in Poland and, predominantly, in a detailed case study of a ceremony witnessed by the author in 2016 in Radecznica (Lublin Voivodship) at a burial site of victims of the “Holocaust by bullets”. In the article the discourse of speeches delivered during the ceremony is analyzed, on the assumption that they can reveal rules of national Polish memory culture dictating what may be commemorated and how cultural mechanisms have a power to hinder commemoration. As a result, seven distinctive framings of past events that kept returning in subsequent speeches were identified and interpreted as “memory devices” that enable and facilitate recollection, but also mark out the limits of what can be remembered and passed on.

Land sustainability for public cemeteries in KHDTK Hambala: a preliminary study on the borrow-to-use forest area with a cooperation mechanism in Sumba, Indonesia

Deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic in East Sumba raised the problem of limited burial grounds, so the government tried to provide a new location. The Hambala Special Purpose Forest Area (KHDTK) has a potential land to be used as a burial site by MoEF Regulation No.P.27/2018. The study analyzed the suitability of burial grounds using a GIS-based multi-criteria approach. Criteria and indicators cover the legality (license status of forests, policies), management (master plans, detailed plans), technical (human resources, infrastructure), socio-economic (pandemic, grave needs, economic impacts, culture, conflict), and ecological (topography, land cover, distance to water sources and settlements). A multi-criteria evaluation of the proposed use of KHDTK covering an area of 17 ha resulted in three scenarios of the burial land suitability map, namely the ‘strict scenario’ covering an area of 1.5 hectares; moderate scenario covering an area of 6.5 hectares, and ‘scenario loosely’ covering an area of 14.2 hectares. The third scenario as a reference for managers and stakeholders is lend-use of Forest Areas for burial grounds by government cooperation mechanism.