Human Sacrifices or Deviant Burials? A Bioarchaeological Investigation of a Sample of Late La Tène Pit Burials from Romania
Human Sacrifices or Deviant Burials? A Bioarchaeological Investigation of a Sample of Late La Tène Pit Burials from Romania

Summary/Abstract: Starting with the 2nd century BC until the 1st century AD there is a marked change in the funerary habits exhibited north of the Danube. The funerary practices exhibited in the previous period were centred around large cemeteries, cremation being used in most circumstances especially in case of adult individuals. Starting with the 2nd century BC we see a radical decrease in the number of burials, under 400 funerary contexts being known to exist. There is evidence of the use of both cremation and inhumation, sometimes the two rites coexisting in the same settlement. While the cremation graves are generally characterised by the presence of a small human bone quantity and of martial inventory, the inhumation burials are mostly waste pit depositions. These contexts show either singular or multiple burials, with a low level of bone representation and a lack of clear funerary inventory. The individual depositions are always subadult individuals while the mixed ones show both subadult individuals and male and female adult individuals. Most archaeological publications centred on these finds imply that they are the result of human sacrifices in accordance with the contemporary literary sources available about this geographical area. In most cases this conclusion was presented without an anthropological examination of the materials, most of the burials discovered in this timeframe not being subjected to an analysis until recently. The aim of this paper is to present through a bioarchaeological approach a conclusion on the nature of these depositions. Looking for signs of perimortem trauma and linking the pathological and anthropological information of these individuals in the larger context of their burial is the main goal of this inquiry.

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