Varna, Bodrogkeresztúr and the development of formal cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

During the Neolithic and most of the Chalcolithic period, there are no formal cemeteries in Southeast Europe. There are occasional burials in settlement pits, often in a crouched position, but the majority of the corpses were disposed of in a way that left no archaeological traces. The first cemetery known developed in Durankulak at around in the context of the Hamangia culture, followed by the famous Varna cemeteries at about 4400 BC. Slightly later, formal cemeteries also appear in Romania and Hungary. In this lecture, I will discuss the Bodrogkeresztúr cemetery of Urziceni-Vamă, excavated since 2003 by Cristian Virag, this summer with the help of UCL-undergraduates, and the potential links of this new type of mortuary ritual with hunter-gatherer populations north of the Danube.

UCL Institute of Archaeology Research Seminars Programme | Term I, 2023-24

The Term I seminar series will again highlight current Institute of Archaeology research. These are scheduled to be in-person events; where speakers have agreed, a recording may be made available afterwards.

Mondays, 5pm 

• 9 October: Victoria Lucas (Archaeological Sciences): "Everything Old is New Again" early medieval glass recycling: technology, change, and resourcefulness
• 16 October: Jan Kolar (Archaeological Sciences): Prehistoric demography, social transformations and woodland in Central Europe
• 23 October: Giacomo Fontana (World Archaeology): Computational and landscape approaches to non-urban political centralisation in the 1st millennium BCE Mediterranean: the Samnites 
• 30 October: Ulrike Sommer (World Archaeology): Varna, Bodrogkeresztúr and the development of formal cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin - this seminar will take place in Archaeology LT (G6) and will not be recorded

[6 November: Reading Week - no seminar]

• 13 November: Johanna Zetterstrom Sharp (Heritage Studies): Mid-century Museum ‘Best’ Practice and Self-Defined Anti-Racism
• 20 November: Cristina Castillo & Dorian Fuller (Archaeological Sciences): Evolutionary Dynamics of Enset Vegeculture in Ethiopia
• 27 November: Rafie Cecilia & Theano Moussouri (Heritage Studies): Inclusive Digital Museum Innovation 
• 4 December:  Veronica Occari (Archaeological Sciences/World Archaeology): The Technology of Medieval Venetian Glass and the Levantine Connection 
• 11 December: Rodney Harrison (Heritage Studies): Ghosts of Solid Air: Using Augmented Reality to Engage with Debates Regarding Contested Monuments in London