engleski

Multiple lives of Dalmatian burial mounds

Thousands of circular mounds that dot the Eastern Adriatic landscape are commonly perceived as individual burial monuments, built for the exalted members of society. Appearing soon after 3000 BC, they are usually cited as the earliest clear evidence of emerging social elites. A careful survey of evidence from 3rd millennium BC suggests that the overarching concept of ‘burial mound’ masks a great variability of mortuary ritual, which often included burial of more than one individual. It points to continuous use of mounds over extended periods, or consecutive episodes of reuse, rather than to a single burial ceremony. Most of the details remain fuzzy due to the character of mounds themselves, the erosive environment, and the shortcomings of the available information. Nevertheless, it is clear that burial mounds are diverse and complex structures, rather than uniform and monolithic burial monuments to a single important personage, created at one point in time. Disregard of their complexity is at the root of many current misunderstandings, ranging from the still unresolved technical issues of chronology and material culture sequence of the 3rd millennium BC, to the interpretation of the society that erected these monuments.

burial mound; mortuary practice; Adriatic; Copper Age

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