26.03.2013 Views

From the Sunghir Children to the Romito Dwarf

From the Sunghir Children to the Romito Dwarf

From the Sunghir Children to the Romito Dwarf

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

446<br />

<strong>From</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> <strong>Children</strong> <strong>to</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Romi<strong>to</strong> <strong>Dwarf</strong><br />

Aspects of <strong>the</strong> Upper Paleolithic Funerary<br />

Landscape<br />

Vincenzo Formicola<br />

Department of Biology, University of Pisa, via A. Volta 6,<br />

56126 Pisa, Italy (vformicola@biologia.unipi.it). 9 I 07<br />

Because of <strong>the</strong>ir number, state of preservation, richness, and<br />

diversity of associated grave goods, burials from <strong>the</strong> Upper<br />

Paleolithic (28,000–10,000 BP) represent an important source<br />

of information on ideological aspects modeling funerary behavior<br />

of <strong>the</strong>se populations. Analysis of <strong>the</strong> European record<br />

reveals an intriguing high frequency of multiple burials. A<br />

multiple burial may be unrelated <strong>to</strong> simultaneous deaths.<br />

However, absence of bone and grave goods displacement indicates<br />

that <strong>the</strong> interments, if not simultaneous, were not long<br />

separated in time. Moreover, while <strong>the</strong> most conservative explanation<br />

for a multiple burial is a natural event such as<br />

disease or an accident, burial composition by age and sex<br />

suggests selective practices. In addition, some of <strong>the</strong> most<br />

spectacular multiple burials include a severely deformed individual.<br />

This is <strong>the</strong> case of <strong>the</strong> extraordinarily ornamented<br />

double burial of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> children (Russia), <strong>the</strong> triple interment<br />

of Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice (Moravia), which includes young<br />

individuals lying in unusual positions, and <strong>the</strong> adolescent<br />

dwarf from Romi<strong>to</strong> Cave (Italy), buried <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r with a<br />

woman under <strong>the</strong> engraving of a bull. These findings point<br />

<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> possibility that human sacrifices were part of <strong>the</strong> ritual<br />

activity of <strong>the</strong>se populations and provide clues on <strong>the</strong> complexity<br />

and symbolism pervading Upper Paleolithic societies<br />

as well as on <strong>the</strong> perception of “diversity” and its links <strong>to</strong><br />

magical-religious beliefs.<br />

The appearance of ceremonial burials is one of <strong>the</strong> expressions<br />

of <strong>the</strong> symbolism marking “modern” human behaviour (Harrold<br />

1980; Mellars 1989; Gamble 1999; Klein 1999). However,<br />

formal early Upper Paleolithic burials appear only with <strong>the</strong><br />

Gravettian, around 28,000 BP. Starting with <strong>the</strong>se earliest examples,<br />

funerary practices show a combination of aspects that<br />

points <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> complexity and <strong>the</strong> intricacy of Upper Paleolithic<br />

societies. While variety and richness of grave goods and generalized<br />

use of red ocher are <strong>the</strong> most striking and emphasized<br />

archeological components, analysis of <strong>the</strong> human remains<br />

<strong>the</strong>mselves may add important clues <strong>to</strong> social organization<br />

and conceptions of life and death in those populations.<br />

On <strong>the</strong> basis of various criteria including age at death, site,<br />

2007 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.<br />

All rights reserved. 0011-3204/2007/4803-0006$10.00<br />

and ritual of inhumation, Zilhão and Trinkaus (2002) and<br />

Zilhão (2005) argue that Gravettian preadolescents were<br />

treated differently from adolescents and adults while no differences<br />

are apparent in <strong>the</strong> burial patterns of <strong>the</strong> various ageclasses<br />

during <strong>the</strong> late Middle Paleolithic. The differential<br />

treatment based on age, as well as <strong>the</strong> rarity of female single<br />

interments (Binant 1991; Riel-Salva<strong>to</strong>re and Clark 2001),<br />

probably reflects differences in social conditions among sexand<br />

age-classes. This underscores <strong>the</strong> importance of combining<br />

biological and archeological evidence <strong>to</strong> infer ideological<br />

aspects modelling funerary behaviour. An analysis of <strong>the</strong><br />

Gravettian skele<strong>to</strong>ns from <strong>Sunghir</strong> (Russia) and Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice<br />

(Czech Republic) (Formicola, Pontrandolfi, and Svoboda<br />

2001; Formicola and Buzhilova 2004) following this<br />

approach raised intriguing questions regarding two aspects of<br />

<strong>the</strong> Upper Paleolithic funerary landscape: <strong>the</strong> burial treatment<br />

of pathological individuals and <strong>the</strong> nature of multiple interments.<br />

These two issues are addressed here in depth.<br />

The <strong>Sunghir</strong> double burial is probably <strong>the</strong> most spectacular<br />

and elaborate Upper Paleolithic funerary example. A boy and<br />

a girl were placed head <strong>to</strong> head in a long, narrow, shallow<br />

grave, covered with red ocher and ornamented with extraordinarily<br />

rich and unique grave goods (fig. 1). These include<br />

thousands of perforated ivory beads, which had probably been<br />

sewn on<strong>to</strong> caps and clothing, hundreds of perforated arctic<br />

fox canines, ivory pins, disc-shaped pendants, ivory animal<br />

carvings, and, long spears of mammoth tusk, one of <strong>the</strong>m<br />

2.40 m long (O. Bader 1970; N. Bader 1998). Interestingly,<br />

<strong>the</strong> ivory beads are about one-third smaller than those decorating<br />

<strong>the</strong> adult male from <strong>the</strong> same site (<strong>Sunghir</strong> 1) (White<br />

1995). This suggests that those beads were manufactured specifically<br />

for <strong>the</strong> children and possibly by very few specialists<br />

(Soffer 1985).<br />

Hip bone morphology and DNA analyses (Bru˚ zek and Novotny´<br />

1993; Mednikova, Buzhilova, and Kozlowskaya 2000;<br />

Pol<strong>to</strong>raus, Kulikov, and Lebedeva 2000) indicate that <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>ns<br />

belong <strong>to</strong> a boy (<strong>Sunghir</strong> 2) and a girl (<strong>Sunghir</strong> 3) of<br />

about 11–13 and 9–10 years, respectively. Moreover, <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>n<br />

of <strong>the</strong> girl is abnormal, showing marked bilateral shortening<br />

and bowing of <strong>the</strong> femora. A congenital disease (congenital<br />

bowing of long bones), possibly linked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> diabetic<br />

condition of <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r, is <strong>the</strong> most likely diagnosis (Formicola<br />

and Buzhilova 2004). The absence of perturbation of<br />

bones and grave goods and <strong>the</strong> direct uncalibrated 14C (AMS)<br />

dates on <strong>the</strong> two skele<strong>to</strong>ns (<strong>Sunghir</strong> 2, 23, 830 220 BP, and<br />

<strong>Sunghir</strong> 3, 24, 100 240 BP) (Pettitt and Bader 2000) are<br />

consistent with <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis of simultaneous inhumation.<br />

As previously pointed out, <strong>the</strong> emplacement of rich ceremonial<br />

burials characterizes <strong>the</strong> Gravettian period—<strong>the</strong> time<br />

span between 28,000 and 20,000 BP. Even in that context, <strong>the</strong><br />

richness of this burial is as<strong>to</strong>nishing and superior <strong>to</strong> that<br />

exhibited by <strong>the</strong> most ornamented contemporary skele<strong>to</strong>ns—<br />

<strong>Sunghir</strong> 1 (Bader 1967) and <strong>the</strong> so-called I1 Principe from<br />

<strong>the</strong> Arene Candide cave in Italy (Cardini 1942). On <strong>the</strong> basis


Figure 1. The double child burial from <strong>Sunghir</strong> (Russia), showing <strong>the</strong><br />

long spears and <strong>the</strong> variety of grave goods. The pathological skele<strong>to</strong>n<br />

(<strong>Sunghir</strong> 3) is on <strong>the</strong> right.<br />

of experimental work, White (2003) suggests that each of <strong>the</strong><br />

ivory beads <strong>to</strong>ok more than an hour <strong>to</strong> make. This implies<br />

an enormous amount of work, considering that <strong>the</strong> ornamentation<br />

of each of <strong>the</strong> children includes about 5,000 beads<br />

(White 1995), not <strong>to</strong> mention <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r ivory objects. Evidently<br />

<strong>the</strong> burial was perceived as very important by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong><br />

people.<br />

Analysing funerary treatment in modern hunter-ga<strong>the</strong>rers<br />

and agriculturalists, Binford (1971) finds differences based on<br />

sex and age and, more generally, on <strong>the</strong> personal qualities of<br />

<strong>the</strong> dead. Among those populations, a rich burial is an expression<br />

of high status, acquired because of <strong>the</strong> ability <strong>to</strong><br />

perform activities important for <strong>the</strong> survival of <strong>the</strong> group. It<br />

is hard <strong>to</strong> imagine this kind of motivation for two children.<br />

Moreover, child burials are infrequent during <strong>the</strong> Gravettian,<br />

as is pointed out by Zilhão and Trinkaus (2002) and Zilhão<br />

(2005) and shown in table 1. (This table differs from that<br />

reported by <strong>the</strong>se authors because it includes only remains<br />

from “formal burials”—excluding isolated or scattered bones,<br />

<strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>ns from Cussac found on <strong>the</strong> surface of <strong>the</strong> deposit<br />

[Aujoulat et al. 2002], and <strong>the</strong> remains from Predmostí [Klíma<br />

1991; Oliva 2001; Svoboda 2005a] and from <strong>the</strong> Cro-Magnon<br />

site [Henry-Gambier 2002], whose burial condition cannot<br />

be ascertained.)<br />

On <strong>the</strong> basis of labor investment, ritual activity and variety,<br />

and number of decorative objects, it has been hypo<strong>the</strong>sized<br />

that status differentiation existed among early Upper Paleolithic<br />

people from <strong>the</strong> Russian Plain (Soffer 1985; White<br />

2003). The issue of <strong>the</strong> level of social complexity reached by<br />

<strong>the</strong>se populations emerges again when looking at <strong>the</strong> large<br />

Gravettian open-air site of Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice in Moravia. Here,<br />

three young individuals, <strong>the</strong>ir ages ranging from 16 <strong>to</strong> 25<br />

years (Vlček 1991; Hillson et al. 2005), were found in a common<br />

grave in unusual positions: one face down and ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />

on its side with hands reaching <strong>the</strong> pubic region of <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>n<br />

in <strong>the</strong> middle (fig. 2). While <strong>the</strong>re is general agreement<br />

that <strong>the</strong> individuals on <strong>the</strong> sides are males, <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>n in<br />

447<br />

<strong>the</strong> middle is difficult <strong>to</strong> sex because of pelvic deformation.<br />

As a result, it has been variably diagnosed as female or male<br />

(e.g., Vlček 1991; Bru˚ zek et al. 2005). The uncalibrated 14C date obtained from charcoal associated with <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>ns<br />

points <strong>to</strong> an age of 26,640 110 BP (Svoboda 1995). Ornamentation<br />

includes pierced carnivore canines, ivory pendants,<br />

and powdered ocher around <strong>the</strong> skull. The skele<strong>to</strong>n in<br />

<strong>the</strong> middle also has ocher in <strong>the</strong> pelvic area (Klíma 1987;<br />

Svoboda 2005b). On <strong>the</strong> basis of <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> Moravian<br />

living sites, technological innovations (e.g., kilns for clay figurines),<br />

richness of material culture, and elaborate funerary<br />

behavior, Jelínek (1987, 1991) argues that <strong>the</strong> social organization<br />

of those populations was well beyond <strong>the</strong> band level.<br />

An additional interesting aspect of <strong>the</strong> triple burial is <strong>the</strong><br />

pathological condition of <strong>the</strong> skele<strong>to</strong>n in <strong>the</strong> middle. This<br />

individual (Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 15) shows asymmetric shortening<br />

of <strong>the</strong> femur, bowing of <strong>the</strong> femur, humerus, and radius, and<br />

elongation of <strong>the</strong> fibulae, possibly resulting from a rare inherited<br />

disorder (chondrodysplasia calcificans punctata) complicated<br />

by trauma (Formicola, Pontrandolfi, and Svoboda<br />

2001). This diagnosis would imply that this specimen is female,<br />

because males do not survive <strong>the</strong> disorder in<strong>to</strong> adulthood.<br />

Trinkaus et al. (2005) disagree, suggesting an unidentifiable<br />

systemic dysplasia that leaves <strong>the</strong> ultimate diagnosis<br />

open.<br />

The combination of a pathological condition apparent since<br />

birth with a spectacular multiple burial of young individuals<br />

recalls <strong>the</strong> contemporary child burial of <strong>Sunghir</strong>. Multiple<br />

burials are probably absent in <strong>the</strong> Middle Paleolithic (May<br />

1986; Zilhão and Trinkaus 2002)—<strong>the</strong> only possible exception<br />

being <strong>the</strong> burial of Qafzeh 9 and 10 (Vandermeersch 1981)—<br />

but become very frequent during <strong>the</strong> Gravettian (table 1).<br />

Interestingly, <strong>the</strong> only evidence of this practice in <strong>the</strong> European<br />

Late Upper Paleolithic is in Italy, where <strong>the</strong> Gravettian<br />

continues in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Epigravettian (Bietti 1990; Mussi 2001)<br />

(table 2).<br />

Among <strong>the</strong> five Epigravettian double burials from Italy, <strong>the</strong>


Table 1. Composition of European Gravettian Burials<br />

Specimen<br />

Burial Age Sex<br />

Single Multiple Child Adolescent Adult Male Female Unsexed<br />

<strong>Sunghir</strong> 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

<strong>Sunghir</strong> 2 and 3 – double S 3 S 2 – S 2 S 3 –<br />

Kostenki 2 x – – – x x – –<br />

Kostenki 3 x – x – – – – x<br />

Kostenki 4 x – x – – – – x<br />

Brno 2 x – – – x x – –<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 3 x – – – x – x –<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 13, 14, and 15 – triple – DV 13 DV 14 and 15 DV 13 and 14 x DV 15<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 16 x – – – x x – –<br />

Pavlov 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Prˇedmostí 27 x – – – x – – x<br />

Krems–Wachtberg – double xx – – – – xx<br />

Grotta delle Veneri (Parabita) 1 and 2 – double – – xx GV 1 GV 2 –<br />

Ostuni (S. Maria di Agnono) 1 x – – – x – x –<br />

Ostuni (S. Maria di Agnano) 2 x – – – x – – x<br />

Paglicci 12 x – – x – x – –<br />

Paglicci 25 x – – – x – x –<br />

Arene Candide 1 x – – x – x – –<br />

Bausu da Ture 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Bausu da Ture 2 x – – – x x – –<br />

Bausu da Ture 3 x – – x – – – x<br />

Barma Grande 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Barma Grande 2, 3, and 4 – triple – BG 3 and 4 BG 2 BG 2 BG 3 and 4 –<br />

Barma Grande 5 x – – – x x – –<br />

Barma Grande 6 x – – – x x – –<br />

Caviglione 1 x – – – x – x –<br />

Grotte des Enfants 4 x – – – x x – –<br />

Grotte des Enfants 5 and 6 – double – GE 6 GE 5 GE 6? GE 5 –<br />

Paviland 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Lagar Velho 1 x – x – – – – x<br />

Note: Specimens are listed by geographic location from north-east <strong>to</strong> south-west and are numbered according <strong>to</strong> Oakley, Campbell, and Molleson (1971) and, for <strong>the</strong> Italian remains,<br />

Alciati, Pesce Delfino, and Vacca (2005).<br />

448 Current Anthropology Volume 48, Number 3, June 2007


Figure 2. The triple burial of Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice (Moravia). The<br />

specimen in <strong>the</strong> middle (Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 15) is pathological.<br />

first, found in <strong>the</strong> Romi<strong>to</strong> Cave (Calabria), deserves particular<br />

attention. The burial, dating <strong>to</strong> 11,150 150 BP (uncalibrated<br />

14C date) (Alessio et al. 1966), includes an adolescent that<br />

appears <strong>to</strong> be held in <strong>the</strong> left arm of an adult female (fig. 3).<br />

The skele<strong>to</strong>ns are lying parallel <strong>to</strong> a large s<strong>to</strong>ne with a beautiful<br />

engraving representing a bull (Graziosi 1963; Bachechi and<br />

Martini 2002). Romi<strong>to</strong> is one of <strong>the</strong> few caves in Italy with<br />

parietal art, and this and <strong>the</strong> additional Epigravettian burials<br />

found <strong>the</strong>re suggest that <strong>the</strong> site was probably embedded in<br />

a ritualistic context. More important, <strong>the</strong> adolescent skele<strong>to</strong>n<br />

(Romi<strong>to</strong> 2) is abnormal, showing <strong>the</strong> typical stigmata of dwarfism.<br />

The diagnosis is that of acromesomelic dwarfism, an<br />

inherited au<strong>to</strong>somal recessive disorder resulting in severe<br />

growth deficiencies, marked bowing of <strong>the</strong> forearm bones,<br />

and frontal bulging, among o<strong>the</strong>r changes (Frayer et al. 1987;<br />

Frayer, Macchiarelli, and Mussi 1988).<br />

The meaning of <strong>the</strong> burial of <strong>the</strong> dwarf has been a matter<br />

of debate. Frayer and coworkers (1987) stress that, despite<br />

<strong>the</strong> physical impairments that would have been a substantial<br />

handicap in nomadic hunting and ga<strong>the</strong>ring, <strong>the</strong> dwarf survived<br />

<strong>to</strong> about 17 years of age and was buried in a selected<br />

cave. For <strong>the</strong>se reasons, <strong>the</strong>y consider this burial an early<br />

example of <strong>to</strong>lerance and care for a severely deformed individual.<br />

Dettwyler (1991) questions this view, which is based<br />

on <strong>the</strong> attitude <strong>to</strong>wards disabled people in modern societies,<br />

and argues that <strong>the</strong> ethnographic record points <strong>to</strong> a wide range<br />

of reactions <strong>to</strong>wards individuals perceived as “different.”<br />

These individuals may be feared, hated, or revered. Dettwyler<br />

concludes that we do not know whe<strong>the</strong>r this adolescent received<br />

special burial treatment in spite of being a dwarf or<br />

precisely because he was a dwarf.<br />

449<br />

The latter possibility becomes more tenable when we take<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> and Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice cases in<strong>to</strong> account. The three<br />

burials share significant points: all include a pathological individual,<br />

all are multiple burials, and all possibly include individuals<br />

of different sexes. It could be argued that <strong>the</strong> skeletal<br />

abnormalities exhibited by <strong>the</strong> Romi<strong>to</strong> dwarf are more severe<br />

than those affecting ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>Sunghir</strong> 3 or Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice 15,<br />

weakening <strong>the</strong> idea of a patterned relationship between anomalous<br />

individuals and extraordinary burial treatment. The<br />

physical diversity of <strong>the</strong> latter individuals, however, may have<br />

been more perceptible than is suggested by skeletal changes<br />

alone, given that <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sized pathologies are frequently<br />

associated with soft-tissue anomalies (Formicola et al. 2001;<br />

Formicola and Buzhilova 2004).<br />

Multiple burials raise additional questions. The phenomenon<br />

is not restricted <strong>to</strong> pathological individuals and appears with<br />

intriguing frequency in <strong>the</strong> Gravettian around Europe and <strong>the</strong><br />

Italian Epigravettian (tables 1 and 2). Additionally, whenever<br />

sex can be confidently diagnosed, a multiple burial includes<br />

individuals of different sexes, <strong>the</strong> only exception being <strong>the</strong> Arene<br />

Candide burial V (Cardini 1980)—in which an adult male<br />

is associated with a child of <strong>the</strong> same sex as determined by<br />

DNA analyses (Tarsi et al. n.d.)—and possibly <strong>the</strong> triple burial<br />

of Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice, given <strong>the</strong> uncertainty regarding <strong>the</strong> sex of<br />

<strong>the</strong> pathological skele<strong>to</strong>n.<br />

A multiple burial is not necessarily <strong>the</strong> result of a single<br />

event. Depending on temperature and soil conditions, softtissue<br />

and ligament decay may take weeks or months (Duday<br />

et al. 1990). Thus <strong>the</strong> reopening of a burial after a time for<br />

a fur<strong>the</strong>r emplacement would not necessarily disturb <strong>the</strong> an-<br />

Figure 3. The double burial from Romi<strong>to</strong> Cave (Italy). The dwarf<br />

(Romi<strong>to</strong> 2) is on <strong>the</strong> right and appears <strong>to</strong> be held in <strong>the</strong> left arm<br />

of <strong>the</strong> female individual.


Table 2. Composition of Epigravettian Burials from Italy<br />

Specimen<br />

Burial Age Sex<br />

Single Multiple Child Adolescent Adult Male Female Unsexed<br />

Riparo Villabruna 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Riparo Tagliente 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Arene Candide 2 x – – – x x – –<br />

Arene Candide 5 and 6 – double AC 6 – AC 5 xx – –<br />

Arene Candide 8 x – x – – – – x<br />

Arene Candide 10 x – – – x x – –<br />

Arene Candide 11 x – x – – x – –<br />

Arene Candide 13 x – – x – – – x<br />

Arene Candide 14 and 15 – double AC 15 – AC 14 – – xx<br />

Arene Candide 16 x – – x – x – –<br />

Grotte des Enfants 1 and 2 – double xx – – – – xx<br />

Grotte des Enfants 3 x – – – x – x –<br />

Vado all’Arancio 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Vado all’Arancio 2 x – x – – – – x<br />

Riparo Continenza 7 x – – – x x – –<br />

Grotta Maritza 1 x – x – – – – x<br />

Paglicci 11 x – – – x x – –<br />

Grotta delle Mura 1 x – x – – – – x<br />

Romanelli 1 x – – – x x – –<br />

Romanelli 2 x – x – – – – x<br />

Romanelli 3 x – x – – – – x<br />

Romi<strong>to</strong> (Papasidero) 1 and 2 – double – R 2 R 1 R 2? R 1 –<br />

Romi<strong>to</strong> (Papasidero) 3 x – – – x x – –<br />

Romi<strong>to</strong> (Papasidero) 4 x – – x – x –<br />

Romi<strong>to</strong> (Papasidero) 5 and 6 – double – – xx R 6 R 5 –<br />

San Teodoro 1 x – – – x – x –<br />

San Teodoro 2 x – – – x – – x<br />

San Teodoro 3 x – – – x – – x<br />

San Teodoro 4 x – – – x – x –<br />

Note: Specimens are listed by geographic location from north <strong>to</strong> south and are numbered according <strong>to</strong> Alciati, Pesce Delfino, and Vacca (2005).<br />

450 Current Anthropology Volume 48, Number 3, June 2007


a<strong>to</strong>mical connections of <strong>the</strong> individual buried first. In this<br />

case, however, <strong>the</strong> associated grave goods may be disturbed.<br />

This scenario has been invoked <strong>to</strong> explain <strong>the</strong> position of a<br />

few elements ornamenting <strong>the</strong> head of <strong>the</strong> adolescent (G.d.E.<br />

6) of <strong>the</strong> Gravettian double burial from Grotte des Enfants<br />

(Grimaldi, Italy) (Cartailhac 1912), even though displacements<br />

by animal activity provide a valid alternative explanation.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> case of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> children, <strong>the</strong> rich and<br />

various undisturbed ornamentation and in particular <strong>the</strong> long<br />

spears running parallel <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> two skele<strong>to</strong>ns strongly suggest<br />

simultaneous inhumation.<br />

The enormous amount of time required <strong>to</strong> prepare all those<br />

ivory objects and <strong>the</strong> possibility that ivory beads were made<br />

specifically for <strong>the</strong> two children by a few specialists would<br />

imply that those grave goods were ready when <strong>the</strong> two children<br />

died, which in turn leads one <strong>to</strong> wonder whe<strong>the</strong>r this<br />

ceremony was foreseen long in advance. Clearly, <strong>the</strong> most<br />

parsimonious explanation for <strong>the</strong> simultaneous death of two<br />

or three individuals is an epidemic disease or an accident.<br />

However, considering <strong>the</strong> frequency of multiple burials, <strong>the</strong><br />

number of young individuals, and <strong>the</strong> generally different sexes<br />

of <strong>the</strong> members of <strong>the</strong> common graves, it is legitimate <strong>to</strong> ask<br />

whe<strong>the</strong>r sacrificial practices could offer an explanation in addition<br />

<strong>to</strong> natural causes and nonsimultaneous interments<br />

(Frayer 1997; Jelínek 1989; Buzhilova 2000).<br />

Elaborate burials, selected individuals, rich ornamentation,<br />

and site of inhumation continue <strong>to</strong> raise questions about <strong>the</strong><br />

ideas shaping Upper Paleolithic funerary practices and stimulate<br />

reflections about social organization, conceptions of life<br />

and death, and <strong>the</strong> perception of diversity and its links <strong>to</strong><br />

magical-religious beliefs. The archeology of death is a process<br />

made up of discovery, description, analysis, and interpretation<br />

(Pearson 2003), but <strong>the</strong> archeological traces left by funerary<br />

rituals in such a distant past are poor indica<strong>to</strong>rs of <strong>the</strong> ideas<br />

and gestures that lay behind <strong>the</strong>m. As Jurmain, Kilgore, and<br />

Trevathan (2005, 326) have put it, “behavior does not fossilize.”<br />

Accordingly, <strong>the</strong> questions raised here remain open,<br />

but <strong>the</strong> recurring evidence from which <strong>the</strong>y arise points once<br />

more <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> complexity and importance of ritual activity and<br />

symbolism in Upper Paleolithic societies (Mellars 1985;<br />

Mussi, Cinq-Mars, and Bolduc 2000; White 2003).<br />

Acknowledgments<br />

Presenting <strong>the</strong> results of this study in a symposium organized<br />

in Rome provided <strong>the</strong> opportunity <strong>to</strong> see Amilcare Bietti for<br />

<strong>the</strong> last time and <strong>to</strong> appreciate once again his vivid, broad<br />

mind and <strong>the</strong> constructive contribution he made <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> discussion.<br />

This work is dedicated <strong>to</strong> him.<br />

I am indebted <strong>to</strong> John Hoffecker for information about <strong>the</strong><br />

chronology of <strong>the</strong> Kostenki remains and <strong>to</strong> Nicolai Bader, Jirˇí<br />

Svoboda, and Fabio Martini for permission <strong>to</strong> publish <strong>the</strong><br />

pho<strong>to</strong>graphs of <strong>Sunghir</strong>, Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice, and Romi<strong>to</strong> burials,<br />

respectively. I thank William Carl<strong>to</strong>n for technical support in<br />

<strong>the</strong> preparation of <strong>the</strong> figures. This paper benefited from com-<br />

451<br />

ments by reviewers and discussion with colleagues. Among<br />

<strong>the</strong>se, I am particularly grateful <strong>to</strong> Patrizia Garibaldi for sharing<br />

with me her stimulating ideas. This project was supported<br />

by <strong>the</strong> Institute for Bioarcheology.<br />

References Cited<br />

Alciati, Giancarlo, Vit<strong>to</strong>rio Pesce Delfino, and Eligio Vacca.<br />

2005. Catalogue of Italian fossil human remains from <strong>the</strong><br />

Palaeolithic <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mesolithic. Journal of Anthropological<br />

Sciences (Rivista di Antropologia), suppl. 84.<br />

Alessio, M., F. Bella, F. Bachechi, and C. Cortesi. l967. University<br />

of Rome carbon-14 dates. Radiocarbon 9:346–67.<br />

Aujoulat, Norbert, Jean-Michel Geneste, Christian Archambeau,<br />

Marc Delluc, Henry Duday, and Dominique Henry-<br />

Gambier. 2002. La grotte ornée de Cussac, Le Buisson-de-<br />

Cadouin (Dordogne): Premières observations. Bulletin de<br />

la Société Préhis<strong>to</strong>rique Française 99:129–53.<br />

Bachechi, Luca, and Fabio Martini. 2002. Le sepulture. In<br />

Grotta del Romi<strong>to</strong>, ed. F. Martini, 29–36. Firenze: Museo e<br />

Istitu<strong>to</strong> Fiorentino di Preis<strong>to</strong>ria.<br />

Bader, Nicolai O. 1998. Upper Palaeolithic site Sungir (graves<br />

and environment) (in Russian). Moscow: Scientific World.<br />

Bader, Ot<strong>to</strong> N. 1967. Eine ungewöhnliche paläolitische Bestattung<br />

in Mittelrussland. Quartär 18:191–93.<br />

———. 1970. Das zweite Grab in der paläolitischen Siedlung<br />

<strong>Sunghir</strong> im mittleren Russland. Quartär 21:103–4.<br />

Bietti, Amilcare. 1990. The Late Upper Paleolithic in Italy: An<br />

overview. Journal of World Prehis<strong>to</strong>ry 4:95–155.<br />

Binant, Pascale. 1991. La préhis<strong>to</strong>ire de la mort: Les premières<br />

sépultures en Europe. Paris: Editions Errance.<br />

Binford, Lewis R. 1971. Mortuary practices: Their study and<br />

<strong>the</strong>ir potential. In Approach <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> social dimensions of mortuary<br />

practices, ed. J. Brown, 6–29. Memoirs of <strong>the</strong> Society<br />

for American Archeology 25.<br />

Bru˚ zek, Jaroslav, and Vladimir Novotny´. 1993. Diagnostic<br />

auxologique de l’os coxal des enfants de Sungir 2 et 3<br />

(Paléolithique supérieur, Russie). Bulletin et Mémoires de<br />

la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris 5:151–58.<br />

Bru˚ zek, Jaroslav, Robert G. Franciscus, Vladimir Novotny´,<br />

and Erik Trinkaus. 2005. The assessment of sex. In Early<br />

modern human evolution in Central Europe: The people of<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice and Pavlov, ed. E. Trinkaus and J. Svoboda,<br />

46–62. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br />

Buzhilova, Alexandra P. 2000. Pair and odd burials in Upper<br />

Palaeolithic: Selective criteria of <strong>the</strong> buried. In Homo sungirensis,<br />

Upper Palaeolithic man: Ecological and evolutionary<br />

aspects of <strong>the</strong> investigation, ed. T. I. Alexeeva and N. O.<br />

Bader, 441–48. Moscow: Scientific World.<br />

Cardini, Luigi. 1942. Nuovi documenti sull’antichità<br />

dell’uomo in Italia: Reper<strong>to</strong> umano del Paleolitico superiore<br />

nella Grotta delle Arene Candide. Razza e Civiltà 3:<br />

5–25.<br />

———. 1980. La necropoli mesolitica delle Arene Candide


452 Current Anthropology Volume 48, Number 3, June 2007<br />

(Liguria). Memorie dell’ Istitu<strong>to</strong> Italiano di Paleon<strong>to</strong>logia<br />

Umana, n.s., 3:7–31.<br />

Cartailhac, Emile. 1912. Les grottes de Grimaldi: Archéologie.<br />

Monaco: Imprimerie de Monaco.<br />

Dettwyler, Ka<strong>the</strong>rine A. 1991. Can paleopathology provide<br />

evidence for “compassion”? American Journal of Physical<br />

Anthropology 84:375–84.<br />

Duday, Henry, Patrice Courtaud, Eric Crubezy, Pascal Sellier,<br />

and Anne-Marie Tillier. 1990. L’anthropologie “de terrain”:<br />

Reconnaissance et interprétation des gestes funéraires. Bulletin<br />

et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris 2:<br />

29–50.<br />

Formicola, Vincenzo, and Alexandra P. Buzhilova. 2004. Double<br />

child burial from <strong>Sunghir</strong> (Russia): Pathology and inferences<br />

for Upper Paleolithic funerary practices. American<br />

Journal of Physical Anthropology 124:189–98.<br />

Formicola, Vincenzo, An<strong>to</strong>nella Pontrandolfi, and Jirˇí Svoboda.<br />

2001. The Upper Paleolithic triple burial of Dolní<br />

Věs<strong>to</strong>nice: Pathology and funerary behavior. American<br />

Journal of Physical Anthropology 115:372–79.<br />

Frayer, David W. 1997. Ofnet: Evidence of a Mesolithic massacre.<br />

In Troubled times: Violence and warfare in <strong>the</strong> past,<br />

ed. D. M. Martin and D. W. Frayer, 181–216. Amsterdam:<br />

Gordon and Breach.<br />

Frayer, David W., William A. Hor<strong>to</strong>n, Rober<strong>to</strong> Macchiarelli,<br />

and Margherita Mussi. 1987. <strong>Dwarf</strong>ism in an adolescent<br />

from <strong>the</strong> Italian late Upper Palaeolithic. Nature 330:60–62.<br />

Frayer, David W., Rober<strong>to</strong> Macchiarelli, and Margherita<br />

Mussi. 1988. A case of chondrodystrophic dwarfism in <strong>the</strong><br />

Italian Late Upper Paleolithic. American Journal of Physical<br />

Anthropology 75:549–165.<br />

Gamble, Clive. 1999. The Palaeolithic societies of Europe. Cambridge:<br />

Cambridge University Press.<br />

Graziosi, Paolo. 1963. Papasidero (Prov. Cosenza). Rivista di<br />

Scienze Preis<strong>to</strong>riche 18:315.<br />

Harrold, Francis B. 1980. A comparative analysis of Eurasian<br />

Palaeolithic burials. World Archaeology 12:195–211.<br />

Henry-Gambier, Dominique. 2002. Les fossiles de Cro-Magnon<br />

(Les Eyzies de Tayac, Dordogne): Nouvelles données<br />

sur leur position chronologique et leur attribution culturelle.<br />

Bulletin et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de<br />

Paris 14:89–112.<br />

Hillson, Simon W., Robert G. Franciscus, Tren<strong>to</strong>n W. Holliday,<br />

and Erik Trinkaus. 2005. The ages at death. In Early<br />

modern human evolution in Central Europe: The people of<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice and Pavlov, ed. E. Trinkaus and J. Svoboda,<br />

31–45. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br />

Jelínek, Jan. 1987. New Upper Palaeolithic human remains<br />

in Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice, Czechoslovakia. Rivista di Antropologia<br />

65:420–22.<br />

———. 1989. Upper Paleolithic Gravettian population in<br />

Moravia. In Hominidae, ed. G. Giacobini, 443–48. Milano:<br />

Jaca Book.<br />

———. 1991. Découvertes d’ossements de la population<br />

gravettienne de Moravie. L’Anthropologie 95:137–54.<br />

Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore, and Wenda Trevathan. 2005.<br />

Introduction <strong>to</strong> physical anthropology. Toron<strong>to</strong>: Thomson<br />

Wadsworth.<br />

Klein, Richard. 1999. The human career: Human biological<br />

and cultural origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<br />

Klíma, Bohuslav. 1987. Une triple sépulture du Pavlovien à<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice, Tchécoslovaquie. L’Anthropologie 91:<br />

329–34.<br />

———. 1991. Das palaölitische Massengrab von Predmostí:<br />

Versuch einer Rekonstruction. Quartär 41/42:187–94.<br />

May, Fabienne. 1986. Les sépultures préhis<strong>to</strong>riques. Paris: Editions<br />

du CNRS.<br />

Mednikova, Maria B., Alexandra P. Buzhilova, and Maria V.<br />

Kozlowskaya. 2000. <strong>Sunghir</strong> 2 and <strong>Sunghir</strong> 3: Age and sex<br />

estimation from morphological criteria of skeletal system.<br />

In Homo sungirensis, Upper Palaeolithic man: Ecological and<br />

evolutionary aspects of <strong>the</strong> investigation, ed. T. I. Alexeeva<br />

and N. O. Bader, 57–60. Moscow: Scientific World.<br />

Mellars, Paul. 1985. The ecological basis of social complexity<br />

in <strong>the</strong> Upper Paleolithic of Southwestern France. In Prehis<strong>to</strong>ric<br />

hunter-ga<strong>the</strong>rers: The emergence of cultural complexity,<br />

ed. T. D. Price and J. A. Brown, 271–97. San Diego:<br />

Academic Press.<br />

———. 1989. Major issues in <strong>the</strong> emergence of modern humans.<br />

Current Anthropology 30:349–85.<br />

Mussi, Margherita. 2001. Earliest Italy: An overview of <strong>the</strong><br />

Italian Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. New York: Kluver<br />

Academic/Plenum Publishers.<br />

Mussi, Margherita, Jacques Cinq-Mars, and Pierre Bolduc.<br />

2000. Echoes from <strong>the</strong> mammoth steppe: The case of <strong>the</strong><br />

Balzi Rossi. In Hunters of <strong>the</strong> Golden Age: The Mid-Upper<br />

Palaeolithic of Eurasia (30,000–20,000 BP), ed. W. Roebroeks,<br />

M. Mussi, J. Svoboda, and K. Fennema, 105–24.<br />

Leiden: University of Leiden Press.<br />

Oakley, Kenneth P., Bernard G. Campbell, and Theya I. Molleson.<br />

1971. Catalogue of fossil hominids. London: British<br />

Museum (Natural His<strong>to</strong>ry).<br />

Oliva, Martin. 2001. Les pratiques funéraires dans le Pavlovien<br />

morave: Révision critique. Préhis<strong>to</strong>ire Européenne 16-17:<br />

191–214.<br />

Pearson, Mike P. 2003. The archaeology of death and burial.<br />

Phoenix Mill: Sut<strong>to</strong>n.<br />

Pettit, Paul B., and Nicolai O. Bader. Direct radiocarbon dates<br />

for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> mid Upper Palaeolithic burials. Antiquity<br />

74:269–70.<br />

Pol<strong>to</strong>raus, A. B., E. E. Kulikov, and I. A. Lebedeva. 2000. The<br />

molecular analysis of DNA from <strong>the</strong> remains of three individuals<br />

from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sunghir</strong> site: Preliminary data. In Homo<br />

sungirensis, Upper Palaeolithic man: Ecological and evolutionary<br />

aspects of <strong>the</strong> investigation, ed. T. I. Alexeeva and<br />

N. O. Bader, 302–14. Moscow: Scientific World.<br />

Riel-Salva<strong>to</strong>re, Julien, and Geoffrey A. Clark. 2001. Grave<br />

markers: Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic burials and


<strong>the</strong> use of chronotypology in contemporary Paleolithic research.<br />

Current Anthropology 42:449–79.<br />

Soffer, Olga. 1985. Patterns of intensification as seen from <strong>the</strong><br />

Upper Paleolithic of <strong>the</strong> Central Russian Plain. In Prehis<strong>to</strong>ric<br />

hunter-ga<strong>the</strong>rers: The emergence of cultural complexity,<br />

ed. T. D. Price and J. A. Brown, 245–70. San Diego: Academic<br />

Press.<br />

Svoboda, Jirˇí. 1995. L’art gravettien en Moravie: Contexte,<br />

dates et styles. L’Anthropologie 99:258–72.<br />

———. 2005a. Prˇedmostí: The context of paleoanthropological<br />

discoveries (in Czech). Prˇehled Vyzkumu˚ 46:63–91.<br />

———. 2005b. The burials: Ritual and taphonomy. In Early<br />

modern human evolution in Central Europe: The people of<br />

Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice and Pavlov, ed. E. Trinkaus and J. Svoboda,<br />

15–26. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<br />

Tarsi, T., F. No<strong>to</strong>, C. Martinez-Labarga, R. Giampaolo, C.<br />

Babalini, G. Scano, I. Contini, J. A. Lorente, M. Lorente,<br />

E. Pacciani, M. Silvestrini, A. Del Lucchese, R. Maggi, E.<br />

Lattanzi, V. Formicola, F. Mallegni, F. Martini, and O. Rickards.<br />

n.d. Ricostruzione della s<strong>to</strong>ria genetica per via materna<br />

delle comunità paleolitiche del Balzi Rossi, delle Arene<br />

Candide e del Romi<strong>to</strong> e di quelle neolitiche di Fontenoce<br />

di Recanati e di Samari. Origines: Progetti 3. In press.<br />

Trinkaus, Erik, Simon W. Hillson, Robert G. Franciscus, and<br />

Tren<strong>to</strong>n W. Holliday. 2005. Skeletal and dental paleopathology.<br />

In Early modern human evolution in Central Eu-<br />

453<br />

rope: The people of Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice and Pavlov, ed. E. Trinkaus<br />

and J. Svoboda, 419–58. Oxford: Oxford University<br />

Press.<br />

Vandermeersch, Bernard. 1981. Les hommes fossiles de Qafzeh<br />

(Israel). Paris: Editions du CNRS.<br />

Vlček, Emanuel. 1991. Die Mammuthjäger von Dolní Věs<strong>to</strong>nice.<br />

Archäologie und Museum 22:1–136.<br />

White, Randall. 1995. Ivory personal ornaments of Aurignacian<br />

age: Technological, social, and symbolic perspectives.<br />

In Le travail et l’usage de l’ivoire au Paléolithique<br />

supérieur, ed. J. Hahn et al., 29–62. Roma: Istitu<strong>to</strong> Poligrafico<br />

e Zecca dello Sta<strong>to</strong>.<br />

———. 2003. Prehis<strong>to</strong>ric art: The symbolic journey of humankind.<br />

New York: Harry N. Abrams.<br />

Zilhão, João. 2005. Burial evidence for <strong>the</strong> social differentiation<br />

of age classes in <strong>the</strong> early Upper Paleolithic. In Comportement<br />

des hommes du Paléolithique moyen et supérieur<br />

en Europe: Terri<strong>to</strong>ires et milieux, ed. D. Vialou, J. Renault-<br />

Miskowsky, and M. Pa<strong>to</strong>u-Mathis, 231–41. Études et Recherches<br />

Archéologiques de l’Université deLiége 111.<br />

Zilhão, João, and Erik Trinkaus. 2002. Social implications. In<br />

Portrait of <strong>the</strong> artist as a child: The Gravettian human skele<strong>to</strong>n<br />

from <strong>the</strong> Abrigo do Lagar Velho and its archeological<br />

context, ed. J. Zilhão and E. Trinkaus, 519–41. Trabalhos<br />

de Arqueologia 22.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!