Funeral Rites of the Yotvingians

The burial rites of the Yotvingians, a people who inhabited the Suwałki region of north-eastern Poland, were until recently almost completely unknown to archaeologists. For a long time, it was considered that the funeral rites of this people could not be identified archaeologically, and while finds such as settlement complexes have been excavated, related necropolises were not found. This changed with the identification of the Mosiężysko burial ground in the Szurpiły settlement complex, dated to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD, which is the first sepulchral site of the early medieval Yotvingians to have been discovered and surveyed using state-of-the-art archaeological methods. The results from these excavations are presented for the first time in this monograph.

The excavations at the site yielded traces of collective cremation burials discovered scattered on the surface of the site, accompanied by stone structures. The equipment of the deceased, intentionally destroyed and burnt, included numerous fragments of ornaments, parts of costume and tools, as well as sporadically occurring weapons and horse riding gear. In addition to finds of artefacts characteristic of the early medieval Suwałki region, it was also possible to distinguish interregional varieties akin to finds from Sambia, Curonia, and other lands inhabited by the Balts. The results of this ground-breaking find, documented here, have now made it possible to expand research into the Yotvingians, and to identify similar sites.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Translator’s note

Chapter 1. Introduction
Subject of Study
Aim of the Work
Geographical Scope
Chronological Scope
Methodology

Chapter 2. Settlement Complex in Szurpiły
History of Research
History of Settlement

Chapter 3. State of Research on the Funeral Rite
Szurpiły Micro-region
The Czarna Hańcza Group

Chapter 4. Natural Environment of the Szurpiły Area
Location
Geological Structure
Climate
Vegetation

Chapter 5. Archaeological Investigation at Mosiężysko
Field Surveys
Excavations
Geophysical Surveys

Chapter 6. Analysis
Archaeological Sources
Archaeological Features
Bones
Grave Goods
Topography of the Cemetery within the Settlement Complex in Szurpiły
Extent of the Cemetery and the Distribution of Finds
Burial of the Dead
Chronology

Chapter 7. The Context of Mosiężysko Cemetery
Funeral Rites of the Settlement Micro-region of Szurpiły and the Czarna Hańcza Group
Funeral Rites in Selected Regions of Central and North-Eastern Europe

Chapter 8. The Funeral Rites of the Old Prussians in the Light of Historical and Ethnographic Sources

Chapter 9. Conclusions and Desiderata

Works Cited

Plates

Appendix A. Analysis of Cremated Human Remains
Elżbieta Jaskulska

Appendix B. Metalographical Analysis
Grzegorz Żabiński, Tomasz Goryczka, and Krzysztof Aniołek

Appendix C. Microscopic Analysis of Non-ferrous Metal Artefacts
Karol Żołędziowski

Appendix D. Results of Metallographic Analysis of Non-ferrous Alloys
Ewelina Miśta-Jakubowska

Appendix E. Archaeometric Analyses of Ceramic Vessel Samples from the Cemetery in Szurpiły and Local Clay Samples
Małgorzata Daszkiewicz

Index