EAA 2023: Abstract

With the appearance of cemeteries, the domestic and funerary areas became separated. Despite the territorial separation, the interconnection between these two spheres remained active and important until these days. This connectivity is often emphasised but rarely investigated from the perspective of domestic potteries which were selected and integrated by the living into the various phases of funerary ritual.
In my presentation, I will demonstrate the importance of this approach through the complex analysis of grave goods from a Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery (Jobbágyi, Hungary) and the comparative study with settlement materials of the Tumulus Grave period (1500-1300 B.C.). The analysis of use-wear traces, the undisturbed context of the grave pits, and the special characteristics of secondary burning during cremation allow the recognition of domestic vessels in the toolset of the burial ritual.
The aim of my presentation is to reconstruct a specific, so far little-examined life cycle of household potteries, which is the moment when the domestic and funerary spheres intertwine. What are the reasons and rules behind the selection and refunctioning? What old and new functional roles are associated with these objects? In what way does this transform the former social value of the vessels in this highly symbolic space? How are object and men, object and user interconnected in the expression of identity and status?

secondary burning, use-wear analysis, refunctioning, domestic and funerary, Late Bronze Age

Oral presentation

  Abstract (PDF)

Kristóf Fülöp¹