Kaznakov, Vladimir (2013) Treatment of the "special" dead in the early middle ages: Anglo-Saxon and Slavic perspectives. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4368/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Treatment of the "special" dead in the Early Middle Ages: Anglo-Saxon and Slavic Perspectives By Vladimir Kaznakov A dissertation submitted in part requirement for the degree of PhD in History. May 2013 Contents: Acknowledgement page ii Abstract iii List of figures v Introduction 2 1. "Unusual" burials among the Anglo-Saxons 55 2. “Unusual” burials among the Slavs 124 3. The Restless Dead in the Primary Sources 175 Conclusion 205 Appendix: Catalog of the graves 234 Bibliography 255 Acknowledgments In the first place I want to thank to all staff of the Glasgow University, especially to the members of the Department of Medieval History - especially Julia Smith, Stuart Airlie, Matthew Strickland, Andrew Roach and Graeme Small. I have a particular debt of gratitude to Marilyn Dunn, who read the first drafts of my dissertation and gave advice and also criticism when needed. Her knowledge, understanding and patience with my time schedule and work engagement, which many times collided with my research and slowed my progress down, was, is and will be always appreciated. Thank you very much. I must also thank all institutions and people who have helped me in my research: Glasgow University Library Services; members of the Faculty of Archaeology at Comenius University in Bratislava; Annia Cherryson, Helen Rees and Winchester Museum Services; Mirek Vaškových; Princeton University, Margot Fassler, Caroline Walker Bynum; and all others who commented on my work and encouraged me to follow my research in the not always "mainstream" direction of my choosing. I must also express thanks to my family and friends - to my grandparents, rest in peace; to my mother for her love and support; to my brother and sister; Juraj, Rudo; DLB, BZK, DForce and Paisley Blackhawks. Finally, thanks go to Janka, for her love, patience, smile, constant eating - which improved my cooking skills and also gave me a moments of relaxation between the work and writing of my thesis, not leaving out of consideration her singing and rhyming, which always made me laugh: thank you. ii Abstract. This work deals with "special" burials among the Anglo-Saxon and Slavs in the early medieval period. The individuals in these graves are frequently labelled as "deviant", "criminals", as "socially other". This dissertation aims to focus more on the possible danger which "special" individuals represented for their communities after their death and on the possibility that the “special” burials were those of potential revenants or vampires. The introduction begins with a brief sketch of the evolution of approaches to burial by archaeologists and historians writing in English. It goes on to argue that “deviant burial” is not a self-explanatory category, but can be applied to a variety of very different inhumations. It suggests it might be better termed “special’ burial or the burial of the “special’ dead and formed part of regular inhumation practice; and it argues that the best way to understand these practices is an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural framework. In particular, it discusses the possible insights offered by the development of the cognitive study of religion and belief, with particular reference to death and burial practices and introduces a “theoretical alternative model” for accessing how the deceased was treated from corpse to the grave. Chapter 1 examines Anglo-Saxon "special" burials, focusing on selected cemeteries where we can observe multiple occurrences of "special" burials or the employment of several "special" practices in one locality. These will first be analyzed with regard to the location of deposition and secondly compared within the wider framework of Anglo-Saxon "special" burial practices. Comparison with "special" funerary rites recorded elsewhere in the world by anthropologists will lead to the proposal of an alternative approach to some of recent and current interpretations of these practices. Chapter 2 focuses on Slavic archaeological material represented by the "special" graves excavated in Slovakia and the Czech Republic: both burials from cemeteries and also a group of individuals deposited in a range of objects iii found during excavation of Slavic settlements - in grain silos, wells or pits. As with Anglo-Saxon graves, the Slavic "special" burials are analyzed from the point of view of location and then in more global context of Slavic society. The possible interpretations of these findings are discussed. Chapter 3 focuses on the primary sources and their descriptions of "pagan" funerary rituals. It charts shifts in ideas and attitudes towards "special" funeral practices ranging from descriptions of these "pagan" practices, through efforts to delimit and penalize them in the law codes, to narratives of revenant sightings and descriptions of how to recognize and destroy them. This chapter will indicate some of the theories and new approaches proposed in the thesis. The concluding chapter brings these strands together. In particular, it discusses the possible insights offered by the development of the cognitive study of religion and belief, with particular reference to death and burial practices. It examines the changing patterns of religion - from traditional or "pagan" to Christianity – and the ways in which this change influenced both "special" burial practices and perceptions of vampires and revenants, with particular reference to the Christian doctrine of Purgatory. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the theories proposed on the basis of the material collected in this work and reference to corresponding interpretative shifts in present day archaeology and history. iv List of Figures: Fig.1: The living and the dead: schematic diagram of Hertz´s argument. p.21 Fig.2: Factors which may influence the manner of burial in the past. Fig.2: Factors which may influence the manner of burial in the past. p.32 Fig.3: Theoretical alternative model: from corpse to the grave. p.47 Fig.4: Location of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries examined in this dissertation. p.57 Fig.5: Old Dairy Cottage combined phase plan. p.62 Fig.6: Emphingham II: plan of the cemetery. p.65 Fig.7: Empingham II: Graves 5, 107, 113 and 122 p.69 Fig.8: Empingham II: Graves 21, 27 and 82. p.70 Fig.9: West Heslerton: plan of the cemetery. p.74 Fig.10: West Heslerton: Graves 89, 113 and 132. p.78 Fig.11: West Heslerton: Grave 114. p.82 Fig.12: Apple Down: Graves 19, 23 and 97. p.87 Fig.13: Apple Down: Graves 99 and 157. p.90 Fig.14: Apple Down Cemetery 1: Two alternative reconstructions of four- post timber structures. p.93 Fig.15: Apple Down: Graves 144 and 150. p.95 Fig.16: Finglesham: plan of the cemetery. p.98 Fig.17: Finglesham: Grave 138. p.101 Fig.18: Location of Slavic cemeteries examined in this dissertation. p.125 Fig.19: The localities with burials in settlement features from Slovakia. p.127 v Fig.20: Settlement features with human burials: 1 – Objekt A1/5 from Bratislava; 2 – Objekt 28 from Komjatice B; 3 – Objekt 145 from Komjatice A; 4 – Objekt 3 from Male Kosihy. p.129 Fig.21: Settlement features with human burials. 1– Objekt 4/7 from Cifer- Pac; 2- 5 Objekt 32 from Cifer - Pac. p.130 Fig.22: Settlement features with human burials. 1 – Objekt 71 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 2 – Objekt 297 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 3 – Objekt 336 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 4 – Objekt 438 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 5 – Objekt 489 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 6 – Objekt 488 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 7 – Objekt 726 from Muzla- Cenkov B. p.131 Fig.23: Settlement features with human skeletons. 1 – Objekt 966 from Muzla- Cenkov B; 2 – Objekt 2 from Nitra A; 3 – Objekt 27 form Muzla- Cenkov A; 4 – Objekt 1 from Nitra A. p.132 Fig.24: Settlement features with human burials. 1 – Objekt 1 from Nitrianska Streda; 2 – Objekt 18 from Sala-Veca; 3 – Objekt 15 form Sala- Veca; 4 – Objekt 5/77 from Senec-Martin. p.133 Fig.25: Settlement features with human burials. 1- Objekt 3/74 from Palarikovo. p.134 Fig.26: Settlement features with human burials. 1- Objekt 21 from Velky Kyr; 2- Objekt 2 from Velky Cetin II; 3 – Objekt 3/76 from Zelenec. p.135 Fig.27: Grave 3 and Grave 4 from Čelákovice. p.138 Fig.28: Grave 5, Grave 7 and Grave 6 from Čelákovice. p.139 Fig.29: Double grave 10 and Grave 11 from Čelákovice. p.140 Fig.30: Late Avar Period in the Carpathian Basin. p.147 Fig.31: Chronology of settlement features with human burials. p.149 Fig.32: Gender of human skeletons found in settlements features p.156 Fig.33: Burial of a child at Staré Město "Modrá". p.170 vi Fig.34: Timeline of records about “pagan” burial practices and revenant sightings in primary sources originating in Britain and Central and Eastern Europe. p.187 vii Introduction This work deals with "special" burials among Anglo-Saxon and Slavs in the early medieval period. Its intention is to show these burials as representations of beliefs connected with death and especially with the journey to the afterlife - as visualized by the early medieval communities before the introduction of Christianity - and also consequently to what extent Christianization changed it.