Complex mortuary treatment of a Corded Ware Culture individual from the Eastern Baltic: A case study of a secondary deposit in Sope, Estonia. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Varul, Liivi; Galeev, Ravil M.; Malytina, Anna A.; Tõrv, Mari; Vasilyev, Sergey V.; Lõugas, Lembi; Kriiska, Aivar
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 24(2019)
• Page Start: 463
• Page End: 472
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Secondary burial -- Osteobiographical approach -- Facial reconstruction -- Archaeothanatology -- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes -- Corded ware culture -- Eastern Baltic; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.02.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Abstract: We present an individual biography of an adult woman from the 3rd millennium BC from the Eastern Baltic. Being a representative of a Corded Ware Culture she is considered one of the first documented cases carrying the early plague bacteria, Yersina pestis . The appearance, life, and death of this individual from Sope, NE Estonia, is provided through an application of a range of osteological and biomolecular analyses. The mortuary practices that accompanied her death are revealed through post-excavation archaeothanatological analysis. The position of bones within the grave indicates that her remains were handled differently from the known contemporary Corded Ware Culture inhumations. The mortuary treatment consisted of at least two phases that resulted in an imitation of a 'proper' flexed burial. Probably, the reburial of bones was undertaken during the Corded Ware period. Highlights: Remains of an adult woman from CWC burial ground in Sope, NE Estonia were analysed. Grave goods included a bone awl and raw material for bone items, also possibly food. Remains were recovered from a secondary deposit; the provisional burial place of the woman is unknown. The bones were at least to some extent arranged in the deposit to imitate a flexed burial. Most likely the secondary burial of the remains occurred during CWC, by individuals who knew the 'proper' CWC burial customs.