Ritual robbery? Disturbation in Early Bronze Age graves in Eastern Poland in the light of microscopic tool marks examinations on the bones

Abstract

Analysed graves of the Strzyżów culture, materials obtained and investigated in the last decade, and results of anthropological analysis provided new information on the custom of disturbing burial pits in the Early Bronze Age. It is now possible to suggest and present entirely new conclusions concerning funeral rituals observed by the Strzyżów culture and distinguish five types of disturbed burials from the Early Bronze Age. This paper develops the research of various types of cutmarks disclosed on the bones of the skeleton found in grave no. 13 in Hrubieszów-Podgórze. The authors focused on the application of the morphological characteristics of the bone defects in complex skeletal remains studies, to discuss the possibility of dating occurrence and specifying the tool type. Digital microscopic analysis of different groups of defects (in form of indents, superficial linear grooves, wedge-shaped notches, and gap) was performed. Observed features of the defects of the right fibula and both iliac wings indicate postmortem occurrence, possibly at the same time, using a sharp-edged tool when the bones were ductile, not brittle. Additionally, the localization and characteristics of the tool features imprinted on the fibula and hip bones also indicate the state of skeletonization of the remains at the time the damages occurred. The time interval between death and the occurrence of the revealed bone damage (right fibula and both hip bones) could have been short enough for those still alive to remember the deceased well.