New burial rites at the end of the Linearbandkeramik in south-west Slovakia

The recent discovery of several late Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites in Central Europe, including Vrable in south-west Slovakia, has revealed evidence for increasing diversity in Neolithic mortuary practices, which may reflect inter-community war and sociopolitical crisis at the end of the LBK. Here, the authors combine osteological and radiocarbon analyses of inhumations from Vrable. Rather than a straightforward sign of inter-community conflict and war, this development reflects a culmination of internal conflict and a diversification in the ritual treatment of human bodies. The emerging variability in LBK methods of manipulating and depositing dead bodies can be interpreted as an experimental approach in how to negotiate social conflicts and community boundaries. Keywords: Central Europe, Slovakia, Neolithic, Linearbandkeramik, mortuary practice
Introduction The Linearbandkeramik (LBK, c. 5500-4950 cal BC) is considered one of the few examples of a Neolithic culture with an individualised, clearly gendered and elaborate mortuary tradition (Robb & [...]