New Evidence on the Late Viking-Age Burial Rituals in the Volga-Oka Region: Excavations at Shekshovo / RU

Abstract

New Evidence on the Late Viking-Age Burial Rituals in the Volga-Oka Region: Excavations at Shekshovo / RU

Funerary practice in 10th to 12th century Rus’ has traditionally been considered to be characterised by barrow cemeteries with earthen mounds, but ideas about these sites are mostly based on excavation reports of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This paper presents new data on the Late Viking-Age burial rituals in the Volga-Oka region, obtained  through recent field investigations at one of the cemeteries – Shekshovo – that was excavated in 1852 and subsequently believed to have been totally destroyed. The fieldwork reported here has reconstructed the cemetery using geophysical survey to reveal new evidence for surface cremations comprising scattered remains. In the light of recent excavations, the burial site is shown not to be solely a barrow cemetery but a complex ensemble of surface and pit burials and barrow mounds. The variety of burial rituals reflects, on the one hand, the instability and variation of cultural norms (especially in the second half of the 10th and 11th centuries) and, on the other, the general change in Rus’ culture in the 11th century, characterised by a move away from cremation to inhumation and a decline in the number of funerary accessories.