Introduction. In the first part, we’ll refer to the Hunedoara- Grădina Castelului and Hunedoara – Sânpetru, two very important sites in the knowledge of some aspects concerning the relations between “the world of the living” and “the community of the dead” at the Dacians. In the second part, we will speak about the discoveries made in the settlements, in the isolated pits near the settlements and the agglomerations of pits outside the settlements.
a) Grădina Castelului-”children necropolis ”
The deposits of children are situated in the highest part of a dolomite plateau, partially damaged by the building of the Corvin Castle. The rite for the children was exclusively the inhumation. Some children have been put lying on their backs, others crouched on the right or on the left, usually covered with stones. The dead are differently orientated, in fact towards all the cardinal points. In every pit, there was, as a rule, only one body, but there are also six cases, with two, three and six children respectively.
The inventory is rich and varied enough, but differentiated, not only by the individuals, but also by the nuclei of dead. According to the fibulae and coin, we may consider the deposits to date from the second half of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd century A.D., namely until Dacia was conquered by the Romans (106 A.D.).
We came to the conclusion that the burials found so far – 24 deposits with almost 40 individuals, have a number of unique, unusual characteristics among the discoveries of human bones in the Geto-Dacians world: a) all the dead are children, b) no norms of deposit and orientation have been discerned, c) skeletons are missing parts (skull, legs) or only parts of skulls, d) they did not dig pits in the rock, they just used the cavities already there and the children have been covered with stones, e) an apparent paradox between the wealth of body inventory (fibulae, jewelry) and the absence of pottery vessels, f) weapons put near the babies.
There are two cremation tombs; the first one is Grave 7 belonging to a young man, about 16-19 years old, a warrior probably; his inventory is rich and varied and not burnt., so it was not on the pyre with the corpse. The second one belongs to another young man, 16-19 years old with only an iron bracelet as inventory.
Some deposits of objects and animal offerings existent only in certain zones make this site a very special one. No habitation or domestic arrangement was found in the skeleton area, so the small number of Dacian pottery fragments and the compact agglomerations of bones found might indicate certain ritual practices performed at the children burials.
b) The settlement on the Sânpetru Plateau and the Southeastern terrace
It’s a high plateau, with steep slopes, dominating the surrounding area; that’s why, at all times, human communities settled in this area.The small number of archaeological material found in the complexes or layers, stand for the existence of a Dacian settlement in the 1st century BC- 1st century AD. Unfortunately, the damages we’ve already mentioned have seriously altered the site, so the most part of the vestiges are either destroyed or broken up.
Terrace. On the occasion of the sewerage system and buildings constructions in the city, near Grădina Castelului, on the bottom of the Sânpetru hill, a lot of archaeological material dating from different ages has been found, such as a wide range of pottery, mainly jars, cups, jugs and rushlights.
c) Children burials and non-cremated children bones in non-funerary contexts
Diffusion area. Such discoveries appeared in almost the entire inhabitation area of the Geto-Dacians, more numerous in certain zones, but it is difficult to state whether they reflect a historical reality or just a stage of the research.
Types of sites and archaeological complexes. Most of the skeletons come from the settlements – 48 individuals, from the “fields of pits” – 21, and 9, from the isolated pits.
Shape and filling of the pits. Most of the pits have a cylindrical or truncated shape, and those inside the settlements are, as a rule, reused and not dug on purpose for depositing the bodies. The filling has usually a domestic aspect.
Number of skeletons in pits. We found in most of the cases, one skeleton in one pit – 46 individuals, two skeletons in a pit – 7 cases, 3-4 skeletons in a pit, 5 cases.
Skeletons position and orientation. Most of them have been buried on their back, but the number of those crouched on the left or on the right is big enough. There was no preference for orienting the bodies to a certain cardinal point.
Condition of skeletons. Most of the skeletons were complete – about 40, while some have been put in abnormal positions. Nevertheless, it is often not too clear whether the missing parts of the skeletons are due to environmental factors later on or to the initial deposit.
Age. For almost all the cases there were Infans I – 69, in two cases, Infans II.
Inventory and offerings. Objects that could be classified by certain criteria, as it happens for the ordinary tombs, did not accompany these skeletons of children.
Chronology. Thus, if from the 4th – 3rd centuries B.C., there are only 6 findings with 13-14 individuals, from the 2nd century B.C.-1st century A.D., there are 18 findings with more than 60 individuals.
Possible interpretations. It is clear that we must be very cautious because the phenomenon is very complex, we do not have enough data from the field, and there are very few anthropological analyses.
Taking into consideration all their characteristics, we could say that these deposits of children in non-funerary contexts are not ordinary graves, but the result of preferential inhumations or probably, human sacrifices.
While the common funerary vestiges are drastically diminishing, the non-cremated human bones in non-funerary contexts (settlements, isolated pits, “fields of pits”) are significantly increasing. There are about 25 discoveries with about 200 individuals, children, youth and adults, men and women.
It is difficult for us to consider these discoveries as ordinary tombs, because their characteristics are different: they are not in necropolises, no unitary rules of deposing or orientation, a high percentage of skeleton parts or isolated bones, the complete skeletons are in strange positions, most of them are children, no old people, no traditional inventories. The major difficulties arise when we try to identify the causes of these essential changes in the funerary beliefs and practices, as well as the causes of a special treatment for certain corpses. When we find complete skeletons of children “in one piece”, with clothing items and carefully deposited under the houses or in pits nearby, we can consider them ritual inhumations, deeply rooted in the Thracian society. However, whenever there are a number of children in one pit, sometimes accompanied by adults, with traces of violence on the bones or in strange positions, we can speak about human sacrifices.
Introduction. In the first part, we’ll refer to the Hunedoara- Grădina Castelului and Hunedoara – Sânpetru, two very important sites in the knowledge of some aspects concerning the relations between “the world of the living” and “the community of the dead” at the Dacians. In the second part, we will speak about the discoveries made in the settlements, in the isolated pits near the settlements and the agglomerations of pits outside the settlements.
a) Grădina Castelului-”children necropolis ”
The deposits of children are situated in the highest part of a dolomite plateau, partially damaged by the building of the Corvin Castle. The rite for the children was exclusively the inhumation. Some children have been put lying on their backs, others crouched on the right or on the left, usually covered with stones. The dead are differently orientated, in fact towards all the cardinal points. In every pit, there was, as a rule, only one body, but there are also six cases, with two, three and six children respectively.
The inventory is rich and varied enough, but differentiated, not only by the individuals, but also by the nuclei of dead. According to the fibulae and coin, we may consider the deposits to date from the second half of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd century A.D., namely until Dacia was conquered by the Romans (106 A.D.).
We came to the conclusion that the burials found so far – 24 deposits with almost 40 individuals, have a number of unique, unusual characteristics among the discoveries of human bones in the Geto-Dacians world: a) all the dead are children, b) no norms of deposit and orientation have been discerned, c) skeletons are missing parts (skull, legs) or only parts of skulls, d) they did not dig pits in the rock, they just used the cavities already there and the children have been covered with stones, e) an apparent paradox between the wealth of body inventory (fibulae, jewelry) and the absence of pottery vessels, f) weapons put near the babies.
There are two cremation tombs; the first one is Grave 7 belonging to a young man, about 16-19 years old, a warrior probably; his inventory is rich and varied and not burnt., so it was not on the pyre with the corpse. The second one belongs to another young man, 16-19 years old with only an iron bracelet as inventory.
Some deposits of objects and animal offerings existent only in certain zones make this site a very special one. No habitation or domestic arrangement was found in the skeleton area, so the small number of Dacian pottery fragments and the compact agglomerations of bones found might indicate certain ritual practices performed at the children burials.
b) The settlement on the Sânpetru Plateau and the Southeastern terrace
It’s a high plateau, with steep slopes, dominating the surrounding area; that’s why, at all times, human communities settled in this area.The small number of archaeological material found in the complexes or layers, stand for the existence of a Dacian settlement in the 1st century BC- 1st century AD. Unfortunately, the damages we’ve already mentioned have seriously altered the site, so the most part of the vestiges are either destroyed or broken up.
Terrace. On the occasion of the sewerage system and buildings constructions in the city, near Grădina Castelului, on the bottom of the Sânpetru hill, a lot of archaeological material dating from different ages has been found, such as a wide range of pottery, mainly jars, cups, jugs and rushlights.
c) Children burials and non-cremated children bones in non-funerary contexts
Diffusion area. Such discoveries appeared in almost the entire inhabitation area of the Geto-Dacians, more numerous in certain zones, but it is difficult to state whether they reflect a historical reality or just a stage of the research.
Types of sites and archaeological complexes. Most of the skeletons come from the settlements – 48 individuals, from the “fields of pits” – 21, and 9, from the isolated pits.
Shape and filling of the pits. Most of the pits have a cylindrical or truncated shape, and those inside the settlements are, as a rule, reused and not dug on purpose for depositing the bodies. The filling has usually a domestic aspect.
Number of skeletons in pits. We found in most of the cases, one skeleton in one pit – 46 individuals, two skeletons in a pit – 7 cases, 3-4 skeletons in a pit, 5 cases.
Skeletons position and orientation. Most of them have been buried on their back, but the number of those crouched on the left or on the right is big enough. There was no preference for orienting the bodies to a certain cardinal point.
Condition of skeletons. Most of the skeletons were complete – about 40, while some have been put in abnormal positions. Nevertheless, it is often not too clear whether the missing parts of the skeletons are due to environmental factors later on or to the initial deposit.
Age. For almost all the cases there were Infans I – 69, in two cases, Infans II.
Inventory and offerings. Objects that could be classified by certain criteria, as it happens for the ordinary tombs, did not accompany these skeletons of children.
Chronology. Thus, if from the 4th – 3rd centuries B.C., there are only 6 findings with 13-14 individuals, from the 2nd century B.C.-1st century A.D., there are 18 findings with more than 60 individuals.
Possible interpretations. It is clear that we must be very cautious because the phenomenon is very complex, we do not have enough data from the field, and there are very few anthropological analyses.
Taking into consideration all their characteristics, we could say that these deposits of children in non-funerary contexts are not ordinary graves, but the result of preferential inhumations or probably, human sacrifices.
While the common funerary vestiges are drastically diminishing, the non-cremated human bones in non-funerary contexts (settlements, isolated pits, “fields of pits”) are significantly increasing. There are about 25 discoveries with about 200 individuals, children, youth and adults, men and women.
It is difficult for us to consider these discoveries as ordinary tombs, because their characteristics are different: they are not in necropolises, no unitary rules of deposing or orientation, a high percentage of skeleton parts or isolated bones, the complete skeletons are in strange positions, most of them are children, no old people, no traditional inventories. The major difficulties arise when we try to identify the causes of these essential changes in the funerary beliefs and practices, as well as the causes of a special treatment for certain corpses. When we find complete skeletons of children “in one piece”, with clothing items and carefully deposited under the houses or in pits nearby, we can consider them ritual inhumations, deeply rooted in the Thracian society. However, whenever there are a number of children in one pit, sometimes accompanied by adults, with traces of violence on the bones or in strange positions, we can speak about human sacrifices.