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The Emergence of Extramural Cemeteries in Neolithic Southeast Europe: A Formally Modeled Chronology for Cernica, Romania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2018

Susan Stratton
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Conservation, SHARE, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, United Kingdom
Seren Griffiths
Affiliation:
The School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2HE, United Kingdom
Raluca Kogălniceanu
Affiliation:
“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, 11 Henri Coandă Street, Bucharest, Romania
Angela Simalcsik
Affiliation:
“Olga Necrasov” Centre of Anthropology, Romanian Academy – Iaşi branch, 2 Th. Codrescu Street, Iaşi, Romania
Alexandru Morintz
Affiliation:
“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, 11 Henri Coandă Street, Bucharest, Romania
Cristian Eduard Ştefan
Affiliation:
“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, 11 Henri Coandă Street, Bucharest, Romania
Valentin Dumitraşcu
Affiliation:
“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, 11 Henri Coandă Street, Bucharest, Romania
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
Olaf Nehlich
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1Canada
Nancy Beavan
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, School of Medical Sciences, PO Box 913, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Dušan Borić*
Affiliation:
The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University, 1161 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA
Alasdair Whittle
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Conservation, SHARE, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21 burials in the large cemetery at Cernica, in the Lower Danube valley in southern Romania, which are used to formally model the start, duration of use and end of the cemetery. A further six dates were obtained from four contexts for the nearby settlement. Careful consideration is given to the possibility of environmental and dietary offsets. The preferred model, without freshwater reservoir offsets, suggests that use of the Cernica cemetery probably began in 5355–5220 cal BC (95% probability) and ended in 5190–5080 cal BC (28% probability) or 5070–4940 (67% probability). The implications of this result are discussed, including with reference to other cemeteries of similar age in the region, the nature of social relations being projected through mortuary ritual, and the incorporation of older, Mesolithic, ways of doing things into Late Neolithic mortuary practice.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2018 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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