Reinterpreting the Funerary Rites of the Mediaeval Necropolis at Trnjane in the Light of Taphonomic Processes

Abstract

The Mediaeval necropolis at Trnjane, in today’s eastern Serbia, was excavated during the 1970s and the results were published in the 1980s. Based on the material recovered from the graves, it was concluded that the necropolis was used from the end of the 11^th to the beginning of the 13^th century. The publication that followed the archaeological excavations highlighted the fact that the Christian population was buried there, yet that the endurance of the pagan customs is noticeable. The graves were oriented W-E, but no grave-pits or grave constructions could be identified during the excavation. The dislocated bones registered in the graves were interpreted as the testimony of the pagan rituals, especially of the fear of the buried turning into vampires. Some grave-pits were covered in ashes, indicating the rite of spreading incense over the bottom of the pits. Grave 432 is also interesting, where the skeleton of a newborn was found laid between the legs of an adult oriented in the direction opposite to the rest of the necropolis, and interpreted as the grave of a mother and a child who was not yet baptized. This paper reconsiders some possible reasons for the dislocation of skeletal remains in the graves with the help of the methods of forensic anthropology and archaeo-thanatology, and posits new interpretations of the funerary ritual on these grounds.

The case of the newborn hints toward a different idea about the nature of unusual funerals at this necropolis. Namely, graves registered across the world analogous to the description of the grave 432 are usually interpreted as coffin births, or postmortem births. This is a process that, in the wake of the decay of a pregnant woman’s soft tissue, leads to the pressing of the fetus out of the womb. However, for a postmortem birth to happen, it is necessary for a pregnant woman to be buried in a wooden coffin, so that the soil would not block the fetus from being pushed out.

The implication posited by the grave 432, of the possible existence of wooden coffins, not noted during the excavations, also brings into question the previous author’s explanation of the dislocated bones in the graves as the consequence of the fear of vampirism. Namely, in the cases of the burials in wooden coffins, the already skeletonized parts of the buried can be dislocated when the boards which the coffin is made from begin rotting and collapse onto the skeleton, moving parts out of their anatomical position. Considering the examples from the necropolis that imply the presence of wooden coffins, the possibility cannot be discounted that the traces identified as ashes are actually the traces of decomposed coffins.

Finally, the methods of archaeo-thanatology and forensic anthropology allowed for a new interpretation of the archaeological record of the necropolis at Trnjane. Although the idea of the persistence of the pagan rituals may sound acceptable, the possibility is suggested here of viewing the necropolis at Trnjane in the light of the Christian traditions and taphonomic processes.