Necropola medievală timpurie de incineraţie de la Lozna-Botoşani

Abstract

With the occasion of the archeological excavations undertaken at Lozna, Botoşani co., in order to study a habitat dated to the 8th–9th centuries AD, 25 incineration funeral compounds were discovered in the northwest area of the habitat. Initially the cemetery was probably larger but the excessive humidity of the soil due to the presence of superficial phreatic water, as well as the agricultural works frequently undertaken led to the destruction of the funeral compounds. Although in a first stage this cemetery was assigned to the 6th–7th centuries AD, a cautious analysis of the discovered vestiges, of the stratigraphic position or of the ritual elements, provides the necessary arguments for the chronological classification of the funeral compounds of Lozna during the period of the 8th–9th centuries AD and connect them to the first evolution phase of the agglomeration dated to the early Middle Ages located in their neighborhood.

Keywords: Lozna-Botoşani, early Middle Ages, cemetery, cremation, migratory peoples, pottery, funerary complexes, ritual, religious symbols.