Practici funerare în Transilvania în perioada orizontului celtic (La Téne B1/B2 -C1)
Funerary Practices in Transylvania during the Celtic Horizon (La Téne B1/B2 – C1)

Summary/Abstract: The eastern part of the Carpathian Basin experienced a process of Celtic colonization in successive stages during the second half of the 4th century and at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. One result of this process is the appearance of new communities characterised by the cultural amalgamation of the locals with the newcomers. Starting from these aspects and taking into consideration the particularities of funerary practices, the article is discussing the manner in which new identities were constructed and expressed at community and individual level, as well as their degree of fluidity in certain circumstances. In general, the elites of the colonist groups imposed their own norms regarding the expression of individual and collective identity, which they brought over from their homeland. At the same time, the indigenous populations expressed different degrees of resistance towards the new identity norms imposed by the colonists. Accordingly, the simple typological analysis of the funerary inventories is insufficient to discuss the identity-related characteristics of the deceased. A contextual analysis of the funerary rites and rituals, revealing far more elements of the localized funerary beliefs and practices, which usually are more conservative than those related to the daily life, is essential in this case.

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