Reprezentarea sfintelor femei în bisericile pictate în timpul lui Ștefan cel Mare în Moldova. Două exemple

The aim of this paper is to present some results of my research regarding the representation of holy women in the Moldavian churches during the reign of Stephen the Great. Most frequently, these images are found in the narthex of the church, a space of lesser spiritual intensity. A general explanation for the depiction of holy women in the narthex is related to the actual presence of women in this space during the mass and to their role in the funerary ritual and the commemoration of the dead which take place here. My study focuses on the cases of Saints Mary of Egypt and Marina the Great Martyr, the two most depicted saints in the Moldavian churches. Firstly, they have a specific way of representation, in a narrative scene. Saint Mary of Egypt is depicted as an ascetic figure together with Saint Zosimas from whom she receives the Holy Eucharist, while Saint Marina wears a red maphorion and is depicted hammering a demon. Secondly, they both have a well-defined place on the church walls, as a result of the hagiography, playing a symbolic role in the economy of space and in the iconographic program. Saint Mary of Egypt has a place in the passageway areas, in interaction with the architecture. Her representation offers an example of repentance for the believers, reassuring them of the mercifulness of God. Saint Marina is placed close to the entrances of the church, may they be doors or windows, for her role in protecting the sacred places.

Child burials in domestic contexts at an Iron Age hillfort: The Oppidum of Monte Bernorio (Villarén, Palencia)

The practice of child burials underneath house floors in the Late Prehistory has been considered a characteristic trait of the Iberian religion. However, this custom has also been documented in different archaeological sites both in the Mediterranean and Central Europe as well as Celtic areas of the Iberian Peninsula, so we can explain this funerary practice by an Indo-European origin. We report the archeotanatological and osteoarcheological study of 10 subadults found in the Iron Age site of Monte Bernorio oppidum, the first archeological site in the western and central Cantabrian region with this funerary rite documented. It is the confirmation of both, the survival of an ancient funerary ritual, widely extended in all Europe, and its presence in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. We also review all the archeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula with similar archeological contexts and analyse the rite from the bioarcheology of the care.

Uma sepultura da Antiguidade tardia em Quintela de Lampaças, Bragança

An archaeological survey carried out in an agricultural field located at Quintela de Lampaças, Bragança, led to the discovery of a Late Antiquity grave. The structure in which the burial is settled is made out of loose stones and clay building materials, and bears a rather unclear configuration that diverges from the known funerary models from this epoch. The dating proposed for the set is the second half of the Vth century AD, as suggested by the materials that are most suitable for dating, such as the pieces of Late Terra Sigillata. Amongst the pile of clay materials that made the covering of the grave was deposited one hammer during the funerary ritual. This hammer is of a known roman type, and is a unique find in the region, in addition to being found in a rather unusual context.

Animal and Plant Remains from Two Kalenderberg Group (Hallstatt Culture) Cremation Graves in Devín-Záhrady, Slovakia

The flotation of deposits from two recently excavated Kalenderberg Group cremation graves in DevínZáhrady (SW Slovakia) yielded a plethora of archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains, including small, otherwise overlooked, ecofacts. The results of our analysis in the context of contemporary data show that animals clearly constituted an unambiguous part of funerary ritual activities. Pig, fish, red deer, cattle and caprines were all exploited at Devín-Záhrady. These animals represented both food and symbolic offerings, with a preference for pig and fish. Cattle, red deer, pig and caprines astragali found in grave 2 were all associated with one of the urns. The age of perinatal piglets was used to indicate the season when the funerals took place. Plant macro-remains are much less common than bone remains and are not associated with the burial. The results of the analysis change what is known about the array, quantity and way animal and plant offerings from Kalenderberg Group cremation graves were prepared for the burial ritual. Their study also permitted residual and intrusive materials to be detected, allowed reconstruction of the deposit’s formation processes and establishment of the connections (or absence of connections) between these ecofacts to the funeral and/or burial ritual.

Islamic Biopolitics during Pandemics in Russia

In this article I discuss how the pandemic state of emergency has formed a subject field in Islamic biopolitics. By analysing the fatwas and official statements issued by Russian Muslim leaders between March and May 2020, I identify their discursive strategy of ‘interpreting’ the language of bureaucracy and medical terminology into the language of Islam, and of providing theological justification for certain governmental decisions. I consider several cases which illustrate the intervention of political and medical discourses of corporality into religious discourse. These include the politicisation of the regulatory functioning of the body, the sacralisation of quarantine as a special time for spiritual activities, the formatting of funerary ritual according to medico-administrative regulations and the comparing of victory in the Great Patriotic War to the victory over COVID-19.

“Reading the Ritual”: Representation and Meaning on an Etruscan Funerary Monument in Perugia

An unusual circular funerary monument in the National Archaeological Museum in Perugia (inv. no. 634) depicts a remarkable, multifigured narrative combining generic and unique scenes of Etruscan funerary ritual. Despite its singular character, this Archaic-period monument has never been the focus of an in-depth study. The monument features a frieze with two distinct scenes, each composed around a central focal point. On one side appears a prothesis scene in which a corpse occupies the central space with figures aligned on each side of the funerary bed. On the opposite side, figures are arranged on both sides of an altar featuring a burning fire, a scene without comparison in Etruscan funerary iconography. Though many of the figures have parallels within Etruscan imagery in both gesture and in attribute, much about this monument from its morphology to its pendant scenes is exceptional. Prothesis scenes, which appear almost exclusively in the Chiusi area and only during the Archaic period, are typically combined with images of funerary banqueting, dancing, and/or lamentation scenes. The pairing here with the altar/fire image raises interesting interpretive questions about the constitutive effect of these two events and how these may have been read and comprehended by the ancient viewer. Formally, the scenes invite connection and comparison, perhaps even to convey a symbolic and/or temporal relationship between these two events. The prothesis may have preceded and necessitated some sort of ritual purification by fire. Alternatively, the fire may reference a type of sacrifice part of funerary ritual. Neither, however, was part of the iconographic tradition. In attempting to these scenes, this paper uses a proxemics-based approach (a model used frequently in New World archaeology), to understand how the formal and physical characteristics of the monument reflect aspects of ancient visuality that is, the interplay between viewer, perception, and space. The figuration, composition, and morphology of this monument suggest that these scenes were intended less as narratives to be read and more as evocations of a ritual landscape whose broad contours could be perceived and understood with even a cursory engagement. These scenes are the visual evocation of ritual performance and environments. Though unusual in many aspects, the Perugia monument may have more far-reaching implications for ancient viewership.

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON 14C DATA

ABSTRACT The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

Glossenkeil and Indentation on Hittite Tablets

In this paper, I will address the issue of the use of the Glossenkeil as a mark of indented line in Hittite texts, based on a complete collection of the occurrences of this practice found in the texts published so far. After outlining the main functions of the Glossenkeil in Hittite texts and establishing a typology of line indentations, I will argue that the Glossenkeil should not be properly regarded as a mark of indentation, but as a mark of the beginning of the line, which pointed out that indentation was merely accidental, and should not have been reproduced in future copies of the text. Furthermore, the case of some Hittite words unexpectedly marked by the Glossenkeil will be reconsidered based on the non-lexical functions of this sign. Finally, I will show how the analysis of this scribal practice can be useful for the identification of the hands of the scribes, and, based on it, I will suggest that two manuscripts of the funerary ritual, KUB 30.24+ and KUB 39.7+, were drafted by the same scribe.

Paraphernalia of Funerary Display at Kaneš

The Hittite royal funerary ritual šalliš waštaiš prescribes gold pieces to be placed on the eyes and mouth of the deceased. This is consistent with the manner in which thin sheets of hammered gold are reported to have been found on the faces of occupants of in-house graves in the Lower Town of Kültepe, ancient Kaneš. Mouth-pieces of unmistakable similarity have also turned up in great numbers in Late Bronze Age graves on Cyprus, most notably at Enkomi. Beyond comparison with the šalliš waštaiš text, gold eye- and mouth-pieces from Kaneš have received little attention. This contribution offers the first comprehensive study of these objects specifically as a class of funerary paraphernalia. It provides a catalogue and typology of gold sheets, and explores their archaeological context before turning to their social and symbolic significance against the backdrop of the cosmopolitan Kanešean households. The discussion considers hybridity in terms of a compatibility between funerary practices across different cultural settings, also noting chronological implications.

Design of Digital Interaction for Complex Museum Collections

Interactive multimedia applications in museums generally aim at integrating into the exhibition complementary information delivered through engaging narratives. This article discusses a possible approach for effectively designing an interactive app for museum collections whose physical pieces are mutually related by multiple and articulated logical interconnections referring to elements of immaterial cultural heritage that would not be easy to bring to the public with traditional means. As proof of this concept, a specific case related to ancient Egyptian civilization has been developed. A collection of Egyptian artifacts such as mummies, coffins, and amulets, associated with symbols, divinities, and magic spells through the structured funerary ritual typical of that civilization, has been explained through a virtual application based on the concepts discussed in the methodological section.