The Dead in a Transylvanian Village

Summary

The present paper is part of a doctoral research project.The project develops and reworks a 1930s sociological exploration,conducted as part of the Sociological School of Bucharest. In this paper I will make a broader framing, at a Romanian macro-level, of the funerary practices conducted within the village of Clopotiva,Transylvania. I intend to use both data from the 1930s research,as well as a new exploratory input gained during my fieldwork, which began in 2012.I will tackle handling of the dead body, from the very first interaction, washing with water, until the last, undertaken as part of a secondary burial ritual, within a few years after burial, namely bone cleansing with wine.Between these two acts, I will address the many contexts in which the living interact with the dead, including stabbing the dead before the burial,and body or heart burning, after burial (a practice adopted to appease the undead). In the case of body burning, usually,an exhumation is required, because the burning needs to be done far from the village.The evidence for postmortem interaction with the body will also be considered in the context of individual identity,by evaluating different types of burial provided according to age and marital status.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Manipulated Bodies: Investigating Postmortem Interactions with Human Remains

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14389