A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 46. (Nyíregyháza, 2004)

Régészet - Sanda Băcueţ-Crişan: Burial rites in the Neolithic in Northwest Romania

Burial rites in the Neolithic in Northwest Romania On the basis of the catalogue of finds, we can conclude that there were 10 sites with a total of 16 graves, 6 of which were cremation burials and 10 were inhumation ones. (We did not refer to the new discoveries from the 2003 diggings from PorJ-Coräu because the materials have not yet been analyzed. There had been discovered 13 cremation graves, increasing the number of discovered graves to 29.) All the discovered and identified graves which belonged to the groups and cultures from NWRomania, belonged to cemeteries of certain settlements. No cemeteries separated from the settlement have been found. All the excavated graves were unearthed amongst dwelling places, houses or near the walls. There are a few discoveries in caves, but those caves are connected to certain settlements as well. The earliest unearthed grave is the one from Täsnad-Sere, and it belongs to the StarcevoCris Culture (NEMETI-ASTALOS-GAL 2002,310). Unfortunately, we do not have much information on it, and we are not aware of any grave goods. There are not many burial finds in the whole area of the Starcevo-Cri§ Culture, but the greatest number of them have been found in the settlement from Gura Baciului (LAZAROVICI-MAXIM 1995, 183-188), where the research was more intense. Relying on all the discoveries, some characteristics of the burial rite of the Starcevo-Cri§ Culture have been defined. The dominant rite was inhumation inside the settlement amongst houses, in which case the dead was laid into a pit or into a house. The dead was placed in a contracted position, and most of the burials did not have grave goods. In the graves with finds it was characteristic for the skeleton to be lying on a bed of pottery fragments and rocks, similar to graves from Gura Baciului (VLASSA 1976,82) or Cluj/Kolozsvár (VLASSA 1976,87). In most of the cases, the bodies were covered with ceramic fragments from big storage vessels, like the ones from the discoveries at Valea Lupului/Farkaspatak (COMSA 1995,245). There were remains of red or yellow ochre or ochre traces on the bones, like in grave 3 from Suceava/Szucsava (COMSA 1995, 248) and grave 4 from Cluj (VLASSA 1976, 87). Another characteristic would be the inhumation inside the houses, found on large areas, as in the cases of the graves from Gura Baciului (LAZAROVICI-MAXIM 1995, 182) Gornea/FelsőlupkóLocurile Lungi (LAZAROVICI 1977,22), but there are also finds in Hungary at Szajol-Felsőföldek, and Szolnok-Szanda-Tenyősziget (RACZKY 1981/82,5). Another case that must be taken into consideration is the discovery of skulls in some Starcevo-Cris. settlements, for instance, grave 8 from Gura Baciului, represented by a skull, found on the edge of a platform (LAZAROVICI-MAXIM 1995, 187) or the one from Grumäzesti, where fragments of a human skull were discovered (COMSA 1995, 249). The find from Gura Baciului represents a special case, an old cremation grave was discovered in the southeast corner of dwelling 24. (In this grave heavily burned human bones were found, representing the oldest cremation grave from Romania) (LAZAROVICI-MAXIM 1995, 186). Chronologically the very next discovery is the grave from Säcuieni-Horo (COMSA-NANASI 1971, 633), which was attributed to the Ciumesti/Csomaköz Culture or the middle stage of the Piscolt Group (LAZAROVICI-NEMETI 1983,30-32). It is the first grave find of this group. Late StarcevoCris communities had contributed to the development of Pi§colt Group, spreading its elements on very large areas: Eastern Slovakia, Northeast Hungary, part of Ukraine, and Northwest Romania (RACZKY 1989, 234; LAZAROVICI-NEMETI 1983, 26). Their contribution to the development of these areas is also proved by the burial rite revealed by the grave from Säcuieni. The contracted burial on a bed of pottery fragments and the skeleton covered with ceramic fragments are two elements that could be attributed to the Cris Culture. Another grave discovered, belonging to the same group, perhaps of a later stage, confirms the funerary customs of the Piscolt Group. The grave was found in the site of PorJ-Coräu (MATEI ET AL. 2003,246-248) and was described in the catalogue. This burial had many grave finds: painted pottery, vessels, three mullers, a pot with grain, objects that provide clues about the social position of the dead.