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a relatively new environment will probably be more motivated to manifest his special skills (hunting, knowledge of deposits of precious materials etc.). I suppose that these most capable men would have reached the highest ranks in the social hierarchy. After their death, they would have been treated in the aforementioned special manner and their head could have become part of an “ancestors gallery.” In the case of women, I presume the most prominent status was held by those inhumed with shell or marble bead belts. It can be assumed that these women contributed to the multiplication of the family and for that they were duly respected. A very special role in the funeral context is given to children. Children’s burial rites deserve a special chapter. THE STATUS OF CHILDREN IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPECIFICS OF BURIAL RITE
It should be stated that for the purpose of this essay children are usually individuals referred to as such by authors of publications on which this work is based. Therefore, it is a biological aspect that defines children on the basis of physical immaturity. However, the viewpoint of the given culture could have been different and the transition to adulthood did not necessarily correspond with physical development. Nevertheless, at the given stage of knowledge it is still possible to trace some typical aspects in the attitude of the Lengyel society towards children. The effort to isolate burials of children aside or to the periphery of graveyards was mentioned already. This phenomenon can be understood as a trend enduring from the Lower Neolithic period (Čermáková 2002, 15) and persisting up to the historical era. A remarkable example is known from Ireland. Children were inhumed in special graveyards called “cillín” localized in the border areas of the community, often in derelict churches or old megalithic tombs (Finlay 2000). Irish fairy tales narrating of children swapped by supernatural beings illustrate this insecurity associated with their origin. Logically, after death, children were interred in places associated with these “other worlds” (ibid.). In the Neolithic, caves could be considered such “cillíns.” I have already looked into this subject before, especially in the context of Lower Neolithic cultures (Čermáková 2002, 12). However, in the context of the Lengyel complex these locations did not go unnoticed either. In the Slovak Dúpna Diera cave, 26 prevalently children’s skeletons positioned ritually in a crouched position on the right side with numerous grave goods were discovered. The find is dated into the Ludanice phase of Lengyel culture (Bárta 1983, 22). In contrast to a similar find from the German Lower Neolithic Jungfernhöhle site (Matoušek and Dufková 1998, 71), in Dúpna Diera no evidence of violence was detected on the skeletons. In fact, as J. Bárta states, it is the largest burial site of the Ludanice group in Slovakia (ibid.). Another child cave burial was found in Deravá Skala (Plavecký
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Mikuláš, Slovakia). It is also dated into the Ludanice phase of the Lengyel culture (Bárta 1983, 31). Child internment in caves is also known from the Neolithic in central Italy. Skeletal remains of a larger number of people were found for instance at the Grotta Continenza site. Children comprised almost half of the interred individuals (Skeates 1991, 126). Solely children’s remains were discovered in caves S. Angelo and Grotta dei Piccioni. The latter site served as the place of last repose to children in two different time periods about one thousand years apart (ibid.). Nevertheless, occurrences of adults interred in such context are also known (e.g. the cave Čertova Pec u Radošiny contained three adult burials; ibid.). Still, the prevalence of children buried in this manner is conspicuous. In caves, the theme of isolation is combined with the specific characteristics of the environment. R. Skeates points to the “difference” of karst areas, their specific unchanging atmosphere reminiscent of other worlds and thus facilitating communication with them. According to the author, children could have been sacrificed to these other worlds so that the community would have won the favour of certain supernatural powers (Skeates 1991, 127). Such child burials could also be interpreted as returning children to the womb (earth) for them to be reborn (more in Čermáková 2002, 12). It cannot be excluded that both approaches were somehow interlinked. Nevertheless, the isolation of child and adult burials was not all that consistent. On the contrary, numerous multiple burials of children along with adults are known. Oftentimes, they are females with children: Moravský Krumlov, Krumlovský les VI (Oliva 2004); Zengővárkony (graves 88, 119, 275; Dombay 1960); a double burial of child and male is also known from Zengővárkony (grave 114). The last example is all the more interesting because the child was interred in a rich grave of a “headless” male. The ambivalent attitude towards children is reflected in the existence of both poor and relatively rich burials. It can therefore be supposed that there existed some projection of the status of the closest relatives onto the child’s personality which could have been demonstrated in very rich grave furnishing (see last chapter). It seems that children and juvenile individuals played an indispensable role in some ritual and sacrificial practices. I have already mentioned the possible association of children with sacrifices and manipulations with heads. The significant connection of children and caves and the possible participation in particular rituals associated with these places was also pointed out. Another piece of evidence, this time of foundation sacrifice, is the discovery of a child’s remains in the construction of a wall of a Lengyel house in Veszprém (Raczky 1974). Even though mass sacrifices of children were not common in the Lengyel culture, under certain conditions they were possible and apparently this would not have been an isolated occurrence. Out of all the
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community members, children would be chosen for such purposes perhaps due to their unequal standing in the society. GRAVE GOODS INTERPRETATION SUMMARY
The aforementioned partial results clearly indicate that there are more gender specific grave goods categories and less gender specific ones. In the following tab. 24, grave goods that, according to my observations, show relatively strongest affinity with the individual genders are presented. Tab. 24. Gender specific grave goods Men
Women
Children
axes
needles
anthropomorphic vessels
whetstones
scrapers
mug with spout
blades, tools from blades
shell jewels
teeth and jaw from boars
belts from beads
animal bones, dog
copper jewels
Data characteristic of children often fall between values illustrating the female and male populations. Children’s graves, for instance, contain relatively more axes and whetstones than female graves but at the same time fewer than male burials. Similarly, scrapers and shell beads occur more frequently in connection with child graves than with male graves but less often than with female graves. This fact might indicate the gradual involvement of children in working processes corresponding to their sex, or, in the case of youngest children or non-work-related artefacts, a symbolical expression of their gender. Several categories of grave goods appear less frequently in association with children in comparison to the adult population (regardless of gender). They are copper jewellery, animal bones, and bone needles and awls. The latter seem to be associated exclusively with female graves. The first two categories of grave goods (copper jewellery and animal bones) seem to be indicative of socially prominent women (copper artefacts) and men (animal bones) (argumentation above). Children therefore cannot be included in this group—generally, these graves are relatively the poorest (see figs. 7 and 8), often on the periphery of the burial grounds. However, that does not mean that rich child graves do not occur within the Lengyel complex. Several instances are known both from Zengővárkony (e.g. “headless” grave no. 126) and from other sites (Svodín grave no. 112/80, among other things containing a anthropomorphic vessel). Nevertheless, it is difficult to determine whether
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