Obredi sahranjivanja u kostolačkoj grupi
Burial Rites in the Kostolac Group

Summary/Abstract: The graves of this group that have been discovered so far bear witness to the existence of double burial rites in the Kostolac group. The isolated inhumation grave is known from the settlement of the Kostolac group at Gomolava (Hrtkovci, South — West Vojvodina). Cremation graves have been discovered at the cemeteries of Silajet (Bijeljina, North — East Bosnia) and Padina (Iron Gates Gorge). In both cases the graves have contained as gifts the bowls typical for the Kostolac group. Double burial rites are also characteristic of the Cotofeni group in west Rumania. This group was closely associated with the Kostolac group at the sites along the Iron Gates Gorge. The cremation graves of the Cofofeni group have been discovered at Magura Tornii (Oltenia) and Mediesul Aurit (Maramureç). The appearance of cremation during the Late Eneolithic period of the Carpathian Basin could not be explained by the influences from, the East or South — East. For this reason, an. explanation, 'implying the local origin of this burial rite would, at the moment, be the most acceptable one. Cremation is to be regarded in the light of the economic and social changes, which affected the foundations of the Early Eneolithic communities, and produced a. discontinuation of traditional worship of the older agricultural deities. From this point of view, cremation is the consequence of the advanced social organization, of the Late Eneolithic groups of the Carpathian Basin. A confirmation for this may be found in the fact that double burial rites (involving both inhumation and cremation) were also performed im North Pannonia of the Late Eneolithic period, resembling those of the Kostolac and Cojofeni groups. It seems then that cremation 'prevailed when the metallurgy of this period had achieved a high degree of development. Judging by these facts, the cremation in the Kostolac group could also be regarded as evidence of the changing social organization in the Danube basin by the end of the Late Eneolithic period.

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