engleski

The Disappearance of Grave Goods: Changes in Burial Practices in 14th Century Ivanec, Croatia

ABOUT THE SITE The Institute of Archaeology (Zagreb) has been excavating the stratified site of “Old Town” in the center of Ivanec, a small town in northwestern Croatia, which has yielded evidence of continuous human use from antiquity to the 20th century. Above the earliest Roman settlement strata, a thick black cultural layer dated from the 9th to the beginning of the 11th centuries was deposited, bearing witness to intensive activities at this site in the early medieval period. A Romanesque church was built in the second half of the 11th century, and the local inhabitants began to be buried around it. At the beginning of the 14th century, the newly arrived Knights of St. John built a new Gothic fortified church, where a new cemetery was established, which was continuously used up to the beginning of the 17th century. So far 326 graves have been excavated at the site, and they have been assigned to five phases based on the stratification. THE ARRIVAL OF THE SLAVS & THE "ANCIENT SLAVIC FAITH" Traces of life from the beginning of the Middle Ages have not been discovered yet at this site, although Slavs had definitely settled in this area at that time. The Slavs brought their religion and their gods to their new lands. Recent mythological research has shown that they “placed” their gods at specific locations in the landscape that formed a distinct triangular structure, symbolizing the heavenly relations between the gods. The rituals related to such structures facilitated the annual renewal of vegetation, periodic renewal of tribal authority, and in crisis situations, renewal of the forces of Order in the fight against Disorder. The first such holy tripartite structure was in fact discovered in Ivanec and its surroundings. THE EARLY MEDIEVAL LAYER The earliest reliably established trace of medieval life in Ivanec is indicated by the exceptionally greasy and compact black cultural layer that was mostly deposited during the 9th and 10th centuries. Although it contains abundant archaeological material, so far the stratum has not offered any expected distinct traces of architectural activity. Hence the possibility remains open of its connection to an ancient Slavic religious site, as indicated by the discovery of the triangular structure whose elements are preserved in toponyms and remain alive in the stories of the local people. Perhaps a certain retained sacredness of this area from the pre-Christian era marks the reason for its choice for a new holy function – for a cemetery and Christian shrine! GRAVES WITH “PAGAN” ELEMENTS It is still unknown where the inhabitants of Ivanec who left behind the above black cultural layer were buried. The two earliest phases of burial took place around the Romanesque church, from the end of the 11th to the 13th centuries. Relatively common finds in the graves of the first phase include elements of the Bijelo Brdo Culture, primarily circlets with an S-shaped loop. Traces of new funerary practices appear in the graves of the second phase, particularly in the form of animal teeth amulets, and somewhat more rare knives. Both phases contain graves where the edges of the grave pit were lined with stone, or where one large stone was found above the head of the deceased individual. Although nominally this was a Christian graveyard located around a Romanesque church, it can be noted that these elements reflect certain pre-Christian funerary practices. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN BURIAL RITES The following, third phase of burial was characterized by a complete lack of small finds, and along with the finds, the stone lining and individual stones in the graves also disappeared completely. The disappearance of these material traces of the funerary rites was also evident in relation to the next phase (from the 15th century onwards), when finds again appeared: iron belt buckles are most numerous, along with traces of coffins and nails. However, throughout the entire 14th century, no finds at all were discovered in the graves at Ivanec. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT What could be the reason for such a sudden disappearance of the “pagan” elements? It is known from historical sources that Ivanec was at that time in the possession of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller. The Gothic fortified church is part of their legacy. As it is also known that sometimes the knightly orders in medieval Slavonia (present-day NW Croatia) received from the pope the task of combating heretics, it can be presumed that they would not tolerate any practice that could be considered “pagan” on their own territory. Hence it can be hypothesized that in administrating this parish of St. John, their “firm hand” caused the disappearance of earlier, to them “suspicious” funerary practices that were so clearly reflected in the material remains from the Romanesque period.

Ivanec; Croatia; Knights of St. John; Burial Practices; Grave Goods

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