Погребения с нетипичными элементами обрядости на могильнике вельбарской культуры Петровичи в Беларуском Побужье
Burials with Unusual Ritual Elements in the Cemetery of the Wielbark Culture in Piatrovichi on the Belarusian Bug River Basin

Summary/Abstract: Research on the biritual cemetery in Piatrovichi brought 53 inhumation graves, 42 cremation graves and one “biritual” burial. Four inhumation graves bear traces of re-opening. They were considered in the context of the discussion on the dissemination of “anti-vampire magic” among historical Goths and complex rituals related to the commemoration of ancestors. On the example of two other inhumation graves, elements of funerary rituals, untypical for the Wielbark culture, are analyzed. A flint arrowhead dated to the Late Neolithic or Bronze Age was found in grave 23 with the remains of an Infans I (5—6 years old) child. It was originally placed in mouth or hung around the neck. The find was interpreted as a talisman associated with widespread among Indo-European peoples, including ancient Germans, beliefs in the magical power of the “thunder arrow” — a weapon of thunder god. In grave 61, dated to phase B2/C1–C1a of the Roman Period, probably also child’s burial, small stones with traces of burning were found. This rite is widespread in the Chernyakhov culture, where it is considered a tradition of indigenous population. The dating of grave 61 and the earliest burials of the Masłomęcz group, in which this ritual element has been registered, indicates that historical Goths established relations with the people of the northern Black Sea region at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries — in the time preceding the “Scythian wars” (around 238—270) and the formation of the Chernyakhov culture.

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