Антрополошка анализа спаљених људских остатака са праисторијске некрополе Конопиште у близини села Мала Врбица код Кладова

Abstract

У раду су представљени резултати интердисциплинарних истраживања кремираног остеолошког материјала у урнама из бронзаног и млађег гвозденог доба са некрополе на локалитету Конопиште, у близини села Мала Врбица. Антрополошком анализом утврђени су број индивидуа сахрањених у урнама, степен фрагментације, тежина и боја костију, у циљу реконструкције погребне праксе. Осим макроскопских метода, примењене су и колориметријска анализа ради утврђивања температуре горења, радиографска анализа због бољег сагледавања промена у унутрашњости зуба насталих под утицајем виских температура, као и СЕМ-ЕДС анализа, да би се утврдило присуство метала на костима (остатака гробних прилога). На некрополи је у пет урни сахрањено седам индивидуа, од тога две жене, један мушкарац, два покојника код којих пол није могао бити одређен и двоје деце. Осим сахрана кремираних покојника у урнама, у једном од гробова откривене су и слободно укопане кости, али у случају те индивидуе није било индикатора за одређивање пола и старости. Покојници су сахрањивани појединачно у три урне, док су у две пронађени остаци једне одрасле особе и детета. Тежина присутних костију износи до 40 до 900 g, док је боја костију претежно смеђа, с примесама плавих и белих фрагмената, што указује на то да су биле изложене температури од 400 дo 600 °C. Јављају се трансверзалне пукотине, какве настају када се врши примарно спаљивање, односно када су присутна мека ткива. Осим људских остатала, у оквиру рада су анализирани и животињски остаци који су се налазили у урнама и/или поред њих.

In this paper the results of interdisciplinary research of the cremated osteological material dating from the period of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age discovered at the necropolis Konopište in the area of Mala Vrbica village are presented. To reconstruct the mortuary practice, by conducting the anthropological analysis, we determined the number of individuals buried in the urns, the degree of fragmentation, the weight, and the color of the bones. Besides macroscopic methods, microscopic analyses were performed, including colorimetric analysis to establish the burning temperature, and radiographic analysis to identify the changes in the interior of the teeth exposed to the high temperature. In addition, SEM - EDS analyses were performed to examine the traces of metal on the bones, possible remains of the grave goods. The results revealed that in a burial dating from the Žuto Brdo culture (grave 2) was one urn containing the remains of one adult individual and one child, while in the vicinity of the urn one cremated individual buried directly in the ground was discovered. Mostly darker and lighter brown bone fragments, with a smaller quantity of fragments of white color belonging to the deceased buried in the urn, indicate the burning temperature of around 400° C, while the transversal and curved fissures suggest that both individuals were cremated while the soft tissues were still present. The color of the bones of the cremated individual buried without the urn is somewhat different, with prevailing fragments of white color, and a few brown fragments, which indicates a higher burning temperature of around 600° C. Three urns dating from the Gava complex (grave 3, urn 1; grave 4, urn 1 and urn 2) each contained cremated bones of one adult individual. Grave 3 had one adult individual over 30 years of age, and based on the limited sex indicators, it could be assumed that it was a female. In the urn 1 from grave 4, the bones of an adult individual over 30 years of age were found, and it could be assumed that it was a male. The muscle attachments on few long bone fragments are very prominent. In the urn 2 from the same grave, there was also an adult individual younger than 40 years of age and the sex indicators suggest that it was a female. The muscle attachments on a few long bone fragments are not prominent. The color of the bones in all three urns is brown, with fragments of white and grayish/bluish color that indicate the burning temperature from 400° to 600° C, while existing transversal and curved fissures suggest that the bodies were cremated while the soft tissues were still present. All skeletal elements were discovered, suggesting that all cremated bones were gathered from the pyre and placed in the urn. On a few bone fragments from urn 1 and urn 2 (grave 4) mechanical indents are noticed, which could have happened in the process of gathering the bones from the pyre using certain tools, and that suggests the practice of gathering bones while they were still hot. Cremated remains of the two individuals, an adult and a child, were found in the urn from the La Tène period (grave 1). The prevailing color of the bones of the adult individual is brown and the fissures are transversal, the same brown color also prevails for the child’s bones with a few white fragments, while the fissures are transversal and curved. The bone color indicates the burning temperature around 400° C, while the type of the fissures confirms burning the body with the soft tissues. A very small quantity of bones was found in that urn, suggesting that a small amount of cremated bones had been gathered from the pyre. SEM - EDS analyses were performed on few bone fragments from the urn 1 and 2 (grave 4), which confirmed the existence of metal, indicating that the bronze objects disfigured due to the high temperature had been burning together with the cremated individuals and that they were personal belongings of the deceased. Colorimetric analyses performed on the fragments from the urn 1 (grave 4) are in accordance with the macroscopic analyses of the color performed on these bones and indicate a similar burning temperature. Radiographic and SEM analyses of the teeth revealed that the cement-enamel boundary (427° to 538° C) was completely disturbed and the crown was entirely separated from the tooth root. Also, the X-rays confirmed the existence of transversal fissures on the teeth, as well as a significant number of internal horizontal fissures. In the Bronze Age graves, animal bones have also been found, mostly outside of the urns, and these were upper parts of forelimbs of the animals that usually have a larger quantity of meat, so it could be assumed that they were placed in the graves as offerings. A rather small quantity of tiny fragments of burnt animal bones was found in the urns. There was also one fragment of a river mollusk Unio, assumed to have been placed in the urn accidentally during the gathering of the human remains from the pyre. A single exception is a calcified canine of a red deer found with the cremated remains of the adult and the child in the grave 1. As the canine was perforated and cremated together with the human remains, it could be assumed that it was a pendant or an ornament of some kind, which one of the individuals from that urn had on them at the moment of cremation. The objects, which have been found in the Bronze Age urns (fibulae and pins), also suggest that the deceased have been cremated with clothes and personal jewelry. Based on performed analyses it could be concluded that the method of interment and mortuary practice in all three periods correspond to the previous research of the necropolises from the same periods and they conform with the Žuto Brdo culture, Gava complex, and La Tène period.