Commingled Human Remains

W trakcie akcji Reinhardt w południowo--wschodniej Polsce Niemcy zastosowali dwoistą strategię masowych mordów. Podczas gdy większość Żydów została deportowana do obozu zagłady w Bełżcu, pozostałe osoby rozstrzeliwano w pobliżu gett. Tylko nieliczni przeżyli – uniknęli śmierci dzięki transportowi do obozów pracy, m.in. do krakowskich julagów, które później stały się podobozami ZAL/KL Plaszow. Po wojnie to właśnie ci Ocalali
byli silnie zaangażowani w proces identyfikacji i upamiętniania miejsc masowych grobów oraz dbanie o pamięć i świadomość zbrodni popełnionych podczas wojny. Niniejszy artykuł bada historyczne powiązania między miejscami rozproszonego Holokaustu a historią KL Plaszow, posługując się dwoma przykładami – Hałbowa i Brzozowa.

Tokom 2016. godine sprovedena su zaštitna arheološka istraživanja na lokalitetu Pirivoj, koji obuhvata prostor istočno od legijskog logora u Viminacijumu. Ovim iskopavanjima obogaćena su dotadašnja znanja o istočnoj nekropoli, kroz otkrića 28 kremiranih grobova i osam grobova inhumiranih pokojnika (Danković et al. 2018, 35). Dodatno su potvrđeni raniji zaključci da se sahranjivanje na Pirivoju vršilo u periodu 2. i 3. veka, dok je zapadni deo nekropole korišćen u kasnoantičkom periodu (Redžić 2007, 79).

Mortuary practices in southern Greece undergo a radical transformation at the beginning of the Mycenaean era (or Late Bronze Age, around 1700 BCE). This period sees the introduction of formal cemeteries, larger tombs, richer burials and a more complex ritual sequence involving multiple interments, tomb re-use and the 'secondary treatment' of earlier burials. 'Secondary treatment' is a rather vague, all-inclusive term, which includes various practices, such as disarticulating skeletons, mingling the bones and relocating them in piles or scatters either inside or outside the tomb (completely or selectively). Two questions arise: Why is this practice introduced? Why does it take different forms? The recent excavation of Ayios Vasilios North Cemetery in Laconia was designed on the basis of an integrated bioarchaeological strategy in order to provide the opportunity to fully explore these issues. While our ultimate goal is to understand the causes and consequences of the wider transformations in funerary practices, the focus of this paper is on one aspect: the re-use of graves and the secondary treatment of earlier burials. Through an integrated approach which aims to reconcile archaeological theory with current methodological advances in bioarchaeology and funerary taphonomy, we seek to reconstruct the funerary activities in great detail, in order to fully observe variation and change, and, ultimately, understand how this considerable variation may inform us on the re-definition of social relations at death, or shifting notions of the self. Beyond the specifics of the Mycenaean case-study, our aim is also to address broader methodological and theoretical questions, stressing the need for a true integration in the study of mortuary assemblages. To this end, we propose a taphonomy-oriented, methodological approach for the field recording and lab analysis of the human remains, drawing on current advances in archaeothanatology, forensic science, and analysis of commingled remains. This approach works best if placed within a clear theoretical framework, which recognises the manipulation of the dead body as closely associated with notions of personhood, and at the same time respects the historical specificity of the mortuary context and engages with the full complexity of contextual empirical data. Using the case of Ayios Vasilios in order to illustrate this process, our specific questions include: the formation characteristics of funerary assemblages, frequency and sequence of tomb use, diversity of secondary treatment, and age and sex differences in funerary treatment. Our results demonstrate a considerable extent of variation in funerary disposal and secondary treatment during this transitional period. Shifts of emphasis within this diverse treatment, especially regarding bodily fragmentation and modes of dispersal, suggest that, in Ayios Vasilios, a) age, but not sex, differences in funerary treatment were at play, b) mortuary transformation embodies the transformation from narrower (possibly householdbased) associations to increasingly wider concepts of lineage and descent, c) tensions between tradition and innovation, as well as integration and differentiation, are evident in the variation of secondary treatment and coexistence of different forms (as already attested in other funerary and daily practices).

Mortuary practices in southern Greece undergo a radical transformation at the beginning of the Mycenaean era (or Late Bronze Age, around 1700 BCE). This period sees the introduction of formal cemeteries, larger tombs, richer burials and a more complex ritual sequence involving multiple interments, tomb re-use and the 'secondary treatment' of earlier burials. 'Secondary treatment' is a rather vague, all-inclusive term, which includes various practices, such as disarticulating skeletons, mingling the bones and relocating them in piles or scatters either inside or outside the tomb (completely or selectively). Two questions arise: Why is this practice introduced? Why does it take different forms? The recent excavation of Ayios Vasilios North Cemetery in Laconia was designed on the basis of an integrated bioarchaeological strategy in order to provide the opportunity to fully explore these issues. While our ultimate goal is to understand the causes and consequences of the wider transformations in funerary practices, the focus of this paper is on one aspect: the re-use of graves and the secondary treatment of earlier burials. Through an integrated approach which aims to reconcile archaeological theory with current methodological advances in bioarchaeology and funerary taphonomy, we seek to reconstruct the funerary activities in great detail, in order to fully observe variation and change, and, ultimately, understand how this considerable variation may inform us on the re-definition of social relations at death, or shifting notions of the self. Beyond the specifics of the Mycenaean case-study, our aim is also to address broader methodological and theoretical questions, stressing the need for a true integration in the study of mortuary assemblages. To this end, we propose a taphonomy-oriented, methodological approach for the field recording and lab analysis of the human remains, drawing on current advances in archaeothanatology, forensic science, and analysis of commingled remains. This approach works best if placed within a clear theoretical framework, which recognises the manipulation of the dead body as closely associated with notions of personhood, and at the same time respects the historical specificity of the mortuary context and engages with the full complexity of contextual empirical data. Using the case of Ayios Vasilios in order to illustrate this process, our specific questions include: the formation characteristics of funerary assemblages, frequency and sequence of tomb use, diversity of secondary treatment, and age and sex differences in funerary treatment. Our results demonstrate a considerable extent of variation in funerary disposal and secondary treatment during this transitional period. Shifts of emphasis within this diverse treatment, especially regarding bodily fragmentation and modes of dispersal, suggest that, in Ayios Vasilios, a) age, but not sex, differences in funerary treatment were at play, b) mortuary transformation embodies the transformation from narrower (possibly householdbased) associations to increasingly wider concepts of lineage and descent, c) tensions between tradition and innovation, as well as integration and differentiation, are evident in the variation of secondary treatment and coexistence of different forms (as already attested in other funerary and daily practices).

Se presentan los resultados del análisis de los restos humanos y los necrosuelos recuperados en el sitio Mortero Hachado (Trancas, Tucumán) durante los años 1996-1999. Debido a la escasa información contextual y a que el conjunto se encontraba altamente fragmentado, mezclado y en avanzado estado de deterioro, fue necesaria la planificación de estrategias teórico-metodológicas que permitieran obtener información de interés bioarqueológico de muestras con estas características. Para ello se implementó un plan de conservación preventiva, se realizaron análisis cuantitativos y se estimó el sexo y la edad de los individuos identificados; dada la preservación diferencial de restos dentales por sobre los óseos, el relevamiento de indicadores de salud y estrés metabólico-sistémico se centró en la dentición. A su vez, se analizaron los necrosuelos del área de entierros para caracterizar las modalidades de inhumación. Fue posible estimar un NMI de 6 individuos-adultos y no adultos-inhumados en al menos tres modalidades funerarias distintas, con notorias diferencias en la salud oral y numerosos indicadores de estrés metabólico sistémico en todos los adultos.

This chapter will explore the lives and deaths of men interred in a cemetery located in the Phalero delta, beyond the walls of Athens, where Attica meets the sea. Sources indicate that Attic Greece at this time was struggling overall with the shift from aristocratic monopoly over power (and violence) and the assumption of democratic control, which emerged along with a series of laws and reforms promoted by figures such as Drakon (c 650–600 BCE), Solon (c 630–560 BCE), and Cleisthenes (?–c 570 BCE). The cemetery at Phaleron was in use during this fraught period in Athenian history (eighth to fifth centuries BCE), one that witnessed considerable turbulence and landmark changes, resulting ulti-mately in the formation of what is now widely seen as the world’s first complex democracy. It is against the background of these larger sociopolitical developments that we examine the remains from the Phaleron cemetery of those executed en masse and those whose lives ended less violently. We present here a preliminary explora-tion of 30 ancients known archaeologically by such distinctively different deaths and interments. Our inference about poetics and circumstances of death is but one of several possible theoretical treatments for life histories during this important period. We therefore offer a preliminary discussion of alternative theoretical approaches to the study of violence, using the Phaleron cemetery as a preliminary case study.

Archaeological research often documents the discovery of human remains in settlements, regardless of the period concerned. They are found in pits dug for this very purpose or in domestic pits reused after their original function (e.g. silos). Furthermore, those remains appear as either complete or incomplete skeletons -in the latter case, ranging from isolated or scattered bones to anatomical segments. These characteristics, which have sometimes been opposed to contemporary practices noticed in corresponding graveyards, have led researchers to put forward various hypotheses, such as the social exclusion of these individuals by the group (e.g. "deviant" or "atypical" burials). They are often viewed as low status in comparison to those receiving other burial rites and hence are often also devalued in our archaeological narratives of mortuary rituals. However, the ethnographic record demonstrates the complexity of practices and that we should not interpret these remains based on their context of discovery alone. Indeed, ethnographic records testify to various practices and gestures, (un)related to funerary customs, that may have resulted in the presence of bodies or the scattering of bones, either within the village space or the houses themselves (e.g. burial deprivation, cases of malemort, judicial decisions, ancestor worship, personhood). This session invites papers dealing with human bones found in settlements, with no geographical or temporal limits. Papers considering a broad range of themes are welcomed, including archaeothanatology, bioarchaeology, grave goods, kinship and social hierarchy, as well as funerary rites and depositional practices. Its aim is to encourage the interrogation of these types of human remains and discuss a variety of methodological approaches, including mixed methods. The aim of this session is to interpret the practices behind those deposits, mobilizing ethnographic data, wherever possible, to open up the field of interpretative possibilities.

Historia KL Warschau łączy dwa istotne wydarzenia z dziejów okupowanej stolicy: zakończoną powstaniem w getcie zagładę warszawskich Żydów i Powstanie Warszawskie. Zasługuje więc na szczególną uwagę, w czym pomóc może publikacja IPN (Michał Kurkiewicz).

Th e notion of person among the Maya has been studied particularly for the Classic and post-contact periods. However, we know little about the Maya person in the Postclassic period. In this paper, our initial assumption is that the Postclassic rock art found in some of the cliff s of Mensabak Lake, Chiapas, conveys elements regarding the notion and construction of the Maya person. In this sense, we analyze the rock paintings and the material culture associated with the cliff s based on the anthropology of the person. For the Classic Maya, the limits of the person were relatively permeable, something that can be observed in various scenes of Classic art, given the presence of various essences emanating from the bodies of the individuals depicted therein. Permeability, in that sense, is expressed when the person is saturated by substances whose qualities infl uence the internal composition of the person. Here we discuss an interpretation of a rock scene from the Postclassic period, where we observe a ritual of construction of the Maya person. In addition, we conducted underwater archaeological surveys and archaeological excavations at the foot of a particular cliff , whose collected materials suggest the presence of a repeated ritual practice, where food was prepared, copal was burned and substances were exchanged with the deities.