Vampires, criminals or slaves? Reinterpreting 'deviant burials' in early medieval Poland

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3919638
AutoresLeszek Gardeła (0000-0003-2913-4718, autor de correspondencia), Kamil Kajkowski (0000-0001-9538-0963, Zachodniopomorskie Centrum Onkologii, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen45
Número5
Páginas780-796
Fecha de publicación2013-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.2013.849853
OpenAlexW2085548403
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18
Referencias citadas9

Unusual funerary behaviour is now an exciting area of research in Central and Western European archaeology. In Poland, since the first half of the twentieth century, finds of atypical or deviant burials have been almost exclusively interpreted as evidence for so-called 'anti-vampire' practices, intended to prevent the dead from rising, haunting and hurting the living. In the last decade or so, new attempts have been made, especially in the UK, to develop more sophisticated understandings of deviant burials, and to perceive them not only in the context of popular superstition, but also with regard to judicial practices. Inspired by these new developments, this paper offers a range of new interpretations of deviant burials from early medieval Poland with a focus on burials where people were buried in a prone position, decapitated or covered with stones.Keywords: Early medieval PolandSlavsdeviant burialscriminalsslavesvampires Additional informationNotes on contributorsLeszek GardełaLeszek Gardeła has a PhD in archaeology from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen and an MA from the Institute of Prehistory of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He is the author of numerous works on pre-Christian beliefs and ritual practices in Viking-Age Scandinavia and early medieval Poland. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Snorrastofa – Medieval and Cultural Centre at Reykholt, Iceland, and leads an AHRC-funded project on Viking heritage in the Isle of Man.Kamil KajkowskiKamil Kajkowski is an archaeologist and a curator at Muzeum Zachodniokaszubskie (West-Cassubian Museum) in Bytów, Poland. He is the author of a range of articles and a monograph on the archaeology of early medieval Pomerania (Religia Pomorzan we wczesnym średniowieczu), with a particular interest in various aspects of Slavic pre-Christian beliefs. In addition to his regular duties Kamil Kajkowski is now working on his doctoral dissertation at the Polish Academy of Sciences

Ancient history · Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Middle Ages · Prehistory · Superstition · Viking Age · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Classics · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution