EAA2022: Abstract
Abstract is part of session #371:
Title & Content
Title:
Kinship relations and spatial organization in a late Avar-period cemetery: archaeological perspectives on the Rákóczifalva site (central Hungary)
Content:
Two Avar-period (late 6th – early 9th c.) cemeteries were excavated in 2006–2007 in the area of Rákóczifalva, in close proximity to each other. The sites are located in the Great Hungarian Plain, east of the Tisza River, along the Tisza's middle course. Cemetery No. 8 and 8A contains 58 and 249 graves, respectively. Early burials of the sites suit the cultural traits of Avar-period communities in the Transtisza region (steppean nomad features, early Byzantine imports), whereas later burials blend into the more uniform material culture and burial rituals of the entire Carpathian Basin in the 8th century. We investigate both sites using an interdisciplinary approach as part of the ERC HistoGenes project, conducting archaeological, anthropological, isotopic, and aDNA analysis.
In our presentation, we discuss the relationship between the two sites from an archaeological and anthropological point of view. We look at the demographics of the cemeteries as well as the health status of the people buried there. The new genomic analyses of the smaller Rákóczifalva burial place allow us to map the familial links of the deceased as well as the site's spatial organization. As a result, we will be able to learn more about community organization in the Avar period than ever before. We are also looking for answers to how funerary representation, grave goods and family relations of the cemetery are linked.
In our presentation, we discuss the relationship between the two sites from an archaeological and anthropological point of view. We look at the demographics of the cemeteries as well as the health status of the people buried there. The new genomic analyses of the smaller Rákóczifalva burial place allow us to map the familial links of the deceased as well as the site's spatial organization. As a result, we will be able to learn more about community organization in the Avar period than ever before. We are also looking for answers to how funerary representation, grave goods and family relations of the cemetery are linked.
Keywords:
Avar period, Carpathian Basin, archaeogenetics, funerary representation
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authors
Main authors:
Zsófia Rácz1
Co-author:
Guido Alberto Gnecchi Ruscone2
Levente Samu1
Tamás Szeniczey3
Luca Traverso2
Magdalena M. E. Schmid4
Tamás Hajdu3
Zuzana Hofmanová2,5
Johannes Krause2
Tivadar Vida1,6
Levente Samu1
Tamás Szeniczey3
Luca Traverso2
Magdalena M. E. Schmid4
Tamás Hajdu3
Zuzana Hofmanová2,5
Johannes Krause2
Tivadar Vida1,6
Affiliations:
1 Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
2 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
3 Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
4 Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
5 Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
6 Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary
2 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
3 Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
4 Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
5 Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
6 Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary