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The Late Bronze and Iron Age burials in the southern Carpathian Basin (1300-200 BC) contained cremated remains of the deceased. There are several examples of double graves of females aged 20-35 and children of different age: newborns, infant I (0-5) and infant II (6-12). Double graves indicate infant-mother or close emotional relationship even in death which happened at the same time. All cases had their own personal stories about the possible mother-child relationship.

Cremation was the predominant burial practice during the Bronze Age and Iron Age in southern Carpathian Basin. We explored the diachronic variability of cremation funerary practices during those periods at six cemeteries in northern Croatia. Some of those cemeteries were of short duration (about 50 years), whileothers lasted much longer. Contents of the 146 graves were submitted to anthropological andzooarchaeological analyses, and a substantial number of graves were radiometrically dated. Cremated human bones were usually sampled for dating purposes, while cremated animal bones or charcoal were dated in just a few instances. Spatial (local and regional) and temporal variability in mortuary practices (funeral attire, urn selection, manner of the deposition of body remains, evidence of funerary feast, funeral scenography) indicates that cremation funerals were complex events. Fragmentary vestiges of those events allow us to investigate past communities and their members split into different biological sex, gender andage groups, their apparel, diet, activities within the community, mobility, and memories. We focus oninvestigation of reliably dated undisturbed burials in their geographical and temporal context.

Island size, geographical boundedness, remoteness, isolation, small population and manageable access points protect islands and island communities from epidemics. An island’s unique characteristics affect the transmission of mainland epidemics and their frequency. But if an infection breaks out, the results are more severe, and the history of epidemics on islands shows us that islands are often more affected than the mainland and highly vulnerable. In the time of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, islands have demonstrated resilience with no or few cases and low mortality rates. The current pandemic is a unique moment for research on perceptions, practices and narratives of islands’ communities during crises, such as local responses to the pandemic, travel bans and problems with connectivity, the health care system challenges (especially for older adults and chronic patients) and the influence of epidemiological measures on the life and death of islanders. The global COVID-19 pandemic confronts us with mass dying, as well as individual and societal challenges when dealing with death and grief. Infected and dead are reduced to depersonalized data points in everyday reports. The epidemiological measures and restrictions include physical distance, the ban on larger gatherings and avoidance of any contact with the dead body. Funerals, funerary rites, commemorations and mortuary practices have been banned, abbreviated, postponed or transformed. Also, the process of mourning is being altered and the bereaved mourn without the usual support and care. Using qualitative approaches and methodology (semi-structured in-depth interviews, in-person or online), this paper presents the experiences and feelings of people during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Croatian islands, with a focus on death, funerals, mourning and loss of family members. Island communities accepted the new rules and adapted to the new circumstances, but indicated that island-specific and more flexible crisis management should be applied during this health crisis. Some epidemiological measures, such as social distancing, internal island travel restrictions and reduced gatherings, were highlighted by islanders as being challenging and sometimes unnecessarily strict for some islands and their specific situations. The pandemic has affected island communities, especially the deaths of loved ones, and how funerals and related rites and customs are performed. For family members of those who died from COVID-19 there have been additional factors and challenges that complicated loss. Funerals and funerary rites differ in urban and rural island communities. In rural funerals mourners were more often not adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines. When we compared results from islands and the mainland, there were differences in many aspects of burial and mourning practices. The bereaved on the islands adapted to the rules by creating new strategies and new forms of funeral gatherings and burial ceremonies. Digital and social media were used for connecting people and helped in coping with the challenges of mourning in solitude and isolation. In this global pandemic, island communities responded to impacts of pandemic crises and adapted to new circumstances of the “new normal”.

Short abstract: Epidemics and pandemics as global crises transform social life and challenge people to confront difficult choices. Preventive and protective measures used in pandemics and epidemics to reduce the spread of the disease significantly influence everyday life. COVID-19 emerged in December 2019 and one of the most distressing aspects of the pandemic is enforceable physical distancing from dying people, whether at home or in institutions. This includes guidelines regarding handling bodies, organizing funerals, and burials affected dying, death, and mourning. Geography, social inequity, ethnicity, and religion shape the way people reconcile their obligations to the dead with the constraints placed on them. Therefore, there were numerous and significant challenges in the process of death, dealing with death and bereavement during epidemics and pandemics. Long abstract: Epidemics and pandemics as global crises, transform social life and challenge people to confront difficult choices. COVID-19 emerged in December 2019. Due to its rapid spread to many countries around the world, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11 2020. One year later, in 2021, the pandemic is still here, and despite the discovery of the vaccine, is not abating. Since COVID-19 is highly contagious, countries have implemented public health measures to limit contact with infectious individuals and to reduce the spread of the disease. One of the most distressing aspects of the pandemic is enforceable physical distancing from dying people, whether at home or in institutions. Guidelines regarding handling bodies, organizing funerals, and burials affected dying, death, and mourning. Regardless of country or culture, the ritual of holding a funeral for the deceased has been changed and in some countries, the option to hold a funeral has been revoked. Lockdowns and restrictions, that prohibited larger gatherings and proposed social distancing, altered the way that people grieve, commemorate, and remember their dead. Geography, social inequity, ethnicity, and religion shape the way people reconcile their obligations to the dead with the constraints placed on them. Mourners responded differently, some adapted to the new rules by modifying the grieving process and inventing new practices (creating new rituals, innovative solutions, and alternative forms of memorialization), while others tried to resist or found forms of opposition to changed funeral practices and subversion of given regulations. The lack of known rituals, traditions, and grieving practices caused feelings of insecurity and even guilt among the bereaved. The panel we propose seeks to create a platform for sharing results of interdisciplinary research on the impact of 21st- century epidemics on dying and death practices in different regions of the world. The panel welcomes research that highlights the practices and innovative coping strategies developed during epidemics and pandemics.

The Late Bronze and Iron Age burials in southern Carpathian Basin (1300-200 BC) contained cremated remains of deceased. Anthropological analysis discovered several double graves in which mostly adult females were buried with children of different age. Those archaeological contexts could lead to hypotesis that there were buried mother and child or child with some emotional close connected persons. The age of adult females allowed assumption that could have been mothers in reproductive age. Cremation as destructive mortuary practices had broken clearly visible connections between bodies and items and disable possibilities of DNA analysis. Whole grave assemblages are modified on pyre so nexus between mothers and infant or close emotional connections could be recognized throughseveral evidences from archaeological context – same pyre ; same grave pit ; costume items, items with apotropaic significance, vessels. There are several examples of double graves of females of age 20-35 and different children ages: newborns, infant I (0-5) and infant II (6-12). Double graves indicate infant-mother connections even in death which happened at the same time. All cases had their own personal stories about mother-infant nexus in live and death.

Short abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic influences dying, death practices, and mourning. People are often reduced to data points. Using a qualitative approach, we study the experiences and emotions of persons who had to undergo the death and funeral of close family members during the strict lockdown in Croatia. Long abstract: There were numerous and significant challenges in the process of death, dealing with death and bereavement during the pandemic. We explored the experiences and emotions of persons who had to undergo the death and funeral of close family members during the strict lockdown (from March 20th to May 6th) and the most restrictive measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Croatia. Guidelines regarding handling bodies, carrying funerals, and burials affected dying, death, and mourning, resulting in changes in funeral practices and rituals. Recommendations included silent funeral within the closest family circle, and mourning in isolation. Semi-structured in-depth, face-to-face interviews with family members who lost loved one during the strict lockdown identified dying and grieving alone in isolation as the most important issues. Bereaved have different experiences if death was caused by COVID-19. Furthermore, there were differences in silent funerals and mourning traditions between rural and urban areas. Mourners accepted the new rules and adapted to them by modifying the grieving process and inventing new practices. Also, they found forms of opposition to changed funeral practices and subversion of given regulations. The lack of known rituals, traditions, and grieving practices caused feelings of insecurity and even guilt among the bereaved.

Na otocima i u otočnim zajednicama, posebno onim manjim i izoliranijim, epidemije su često bile jačeg intenziteta te ostavljale značajne posljedice. Udaljenost i izolacija otoka i otočnih zajednica utjecala je na prijenos kopnenih epidemija i na njihovu učestalost. Ako bi došlo do prodora zaraze, posljedica je bila teži oblik bolesti zbog niže stope prethodne izloženosti uzročnicima te smanjenje izgleda za preživljenje. Upravo zbog toga otoci su bili zanimljivi za istraživanje širenja i proučavanja epidemija. Trenutačna pandemija bolesti COVID-19 prilika je za istraživanje kako su zaraza i protuepidemijske mjere utjecale na život i smrt otočnih zajednica. Pandemija je uvela masovnu smrtnost u našu svakodnevicu te promijenila načine kako ljudi tuguju, obilježavaju smrt i sjećanje na svoje mrtve. Protuepidemijske mjere, uvedene u ožujku 2020. godine, od početka pandemije do danas obuhvaćaju distancu i izoliranje zaraženih te zabrane većih okupljanja i putovanja. Slične mjere odnose se i na preminule - izbjegavanje bilo kakvog kontakta s mrtvim tijelom, ograničenja pri provođenju pogrebnih obreda, običaja i praksi. Zbog nemogućnosti provođenja uobičajenih praksi vezanih za pogreb, otežani su procesi tugovanja i nošenje s gubitkom bliskih osoba. S druge strane, nametnuta ograničenja pridonijela su stvaranju novih pogrebnih praksi i načina nadilaženja distance za vrijeme tugovanja. Korištenjem kvalitativne metodologije, polustrukturiranim dubinskim intervjuima (uživo ili online kada nije postojala druga mogućnost) proveli smo istraživanja iskustva umiranja, pogreba i tugovanja u vrijeme pandemije bolesti COVID-19. Na temelju analize narativa otočnih sugovornika o iskustvu smrti, pogrebima, tugovanju i gubitku članova obitelji prikazat ćemo kako je pandemija utjecala na otočne zajednice, kako se postupalo pri smrti bliskih osoba, te kako su se provodili pogrebi i s njima povezani obredi i običaji. Usporedbom otoka i kopna, prikazat ćemo kako su se ožalošćeni pridržavali, ali i osporavali ili izbjegavali protuepidemijske mjere i pravila pri provođenju pogrebnih praksi te razlike i sličnosti u načinima prilagodbe novim okolnostima. On islands and in island communities, especially on smaller and more isolated ones, epidemics were often of greater intensity and left significant consequences. The remoteness and isolation of islands and island communities have affected the transmission of mainland epidemics and their frequency. If the infection breaks out, the result would be a more severe form of the ilness due to a lower rate of prior exposure to the pathogens and a lower chance of survival. Those are some reasons why the islands have been included in the research on the spread of epidemics. The ongoing global COVID-19 disease pandemic is an opportunity to investigate how the infection and epidemiological measures affected the life and death of island communities. The pandemic has brought mass death into our daily lives, and altered the way that people grieve, commemorate and remember their dead. The epidemiological measures, introduced in March 2020, from the beginning of the pandemic to the present day, included the physical distance and isolation of the patients, the ban on larger gatherings and restricting travel. Similar measures were applied to the handling of bodies of the deceased - avoidance of any contact with the dead body, restrictions on the conduct of funeral rites, customs and practices. Due to the impossibility of carrying out the usual practices related to the funeral, the processes of mourning and dealing with the loss of loved ones were difficult. On the other hand, the imposed restrictions have contributed to the creation of new funeral practices and ways of overcoming distance during mourning. Using a qualitative methodology, semi-structured in-depth interviews (in-person or online when there was no other option), we researched dying experience, burial, and mourning practices at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of the narratives about the experience of death, funerals, mourning and loss of family members, we will show how the pandemic affected island communities, the deaths of loved ones, and how funerals and related rites and customs were performed. By comparing the results from the islands and the mainland, we will show how the mourners responded to, but also challenged or avoided epidemilogical rules and measures in death and mourning practices, we will present the differences and similarities in ways of adapting to these new circumstances.

Antropološke analize spaljenih grobova ukazale su na mogućnost tumačenja razlika i diferencijaciju među grobovima kulture polja sa žarama. Najbrojniji nalazi u grobovima kulture polja sa žarama su keramičke posude koje su sadržavale različitu hranu i piće. Dijelovi nakita i nošnje rjeđe su bili grobni prilog. Neke od uočenih razlika u nalazima mogu se tumačiti prema spolu pokojnika. Kombinirane bioarheološke analize i interpretacije nekoliko groblja kasnog brončanog doba s područja sjeverne Hrvatske omogućila su detaljniju analizu grobnog inventara žena koji se razlikuje u kronološkom i geografskom okviru. Na primjeru grobova žena iz Poljane Križevačke, Slatine, Batine i Doline pokušat ćemo predstaviti neke dijelove perspektive ženske svakodnevice u kasnom brončanom dobu. Zdravlje žena, briga o hrani, odjeći, mlađim članovima zajednice i ritualima mogu se tumačiti iz tragova u arheološkom zapisu.

Since the emergence of the new disease in November 2019, the life of people around the world has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact, not only on activities of daily living but also on traditions, customs and practices that had to be changed and adapted to the new circumstances. Although it seemed that COVID-19 would soon be brought under control, we have entered the second year of the pandemic. Due to the high mortality rates, daily death reports made death more ubiquitous and noticeable in our everyday life. The deceased were presented with numbers ; they were depersonalized, without names, faces, and identities. In the context of the pandemic, death and dying have become predominantly medical and biological processes, while at the same time other very important aspects were almost completely excluded – psychological, sociological and cultural aspects. People were unable to be with a loved one when they die, or unable to mourn someone’s death in person with friends and family, what is a part of our culture and one of the most important determinants to maintain good mental health after a loss. Such circumstances had led to dysfunctional grief and changes in the bereavement practice. In Croatia pandemic started in February 2020, when the first positive case was detected. Since then we have witnessed three pandemic waves. Each wave was unique with its characteristics and pandemic guidelines. Implemented epidemiological measures included several restrictions on funerals and services. The new rules were very strict in the first wave and prohibited certain death rites, rituals and practices. Even though the measures were less strict in the second and third wave, they led to disregard for the dignity and rights of the dead and their families. In our research, we compared the epidemic measures from each wave and how they affected the known death-related rites and rituals. We investigated how the COVID- 19 pandemic has affected the bereaved family members through their narratives of the death of their loved ones, through their personal experiences of loss, grief and mourning. Bereaved adapted to the rules by creating new strategies and new forms of funeral gatherings and burial ceremonies. The absence of basic and constitutive processes of grieving created a space for considering the need to find new models of individual and more private rituals.

Childhood in protohistory in the southern Carpathian Basin is a research project funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. The research objectives of the project are: to determine the biological age and gender of the children ; to research the social age of children in protohistoric communities and to recognise life phases in young populations of protohistoric communities. Project team try to reconstruct the everyday life of children by analysing different material traces, especially through the data on health, diet, costume, and personal items. Multidisciplinary interpretation of the collected data give us insight into play, work, the children's relationship to their environment, and child-related rituals. The goals of the project is researched on three levels: each community separately ; within a time period and diachronically through protohistory from the 14th century BC to the 2nd century BC within the chronological framework. The envisaged multidisciplinary research (archaeology, anthropology, residue analyses, stabile isotope analyses) use the archaeological context of the found material traces of children and their activities as the basic criterion for researching childhood in the past. Planned and controlled analyses within natural sciences will provide more knowledge on the diet and ritual of protohistoric communities. A joint interpretation will provide a more comprehensive view of the past through current methodologies of research applied to the archaeology of childhood. Some examples from the Late Bronze Age communities in the southern Carpathian Basin will be presented in this paper. The biological and social age as well as the funerary context will be used in the reconstruction of their role in the hierarchy of a particular community and the change of perception through the period of the Urnfield culture.

Cemeteries are both sacred and emotional spaces, through which we can view the hopes and fears of people who created them and were buried there. Interactions with death, dead bodies and burial produce a mixture of emotions, fear being the most common among them. In our study we investigate perceptions and emotions associated with the abandoned historical cemeteries in Zagreb. On the territory of modern Zagreb, there are several cemeteries from the medieval and early modern period. All of them were closed in the 19th century and converted to public spaces (parks, squares, hospitals). St George’s Cemetery is the only one with visual reminders of its original purpose: a few tombstones and graves remaining in today’s park. It is, therefore, a place with multiple identities in the urban neighbourhood. Some of them are based on mysteries and legends connected to death and the occult. Local narratives (stories, legends, memories, emotional attachment and different identifications) about historical cemeteries will be collected and analysed. The research also includes interviews focusing on residents from the community of Zagreb’s Upper Town, near the abandoned St George’s Cemetery. Residents’ answers provide insights into their observations, perceptions and emotions relating to the hidden cemetery in their immediate surroundings.

Late Bronze Age mortuary practices in the southern Carpathian Basin were unified in body treatment and similar in body disposal, but different in expressing material identity due to different capacities of each community (e.g. parts of attire, funeral feasts). The BAMPICa project, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation, has been researching mortuary practices and society in the southern Carpathian Basin. This project proposes to combine archaeology, bioarchaeology, archaeozoology and radiocarbon dating in order to expand the current knowledge of Late Bronze Age mortuary practices and society in the Carpathian Basin. Various classes of detailed information about mortuary practices have been collected by the BAMPICa research project. Questions related to ritual and identity that arose in several case studies focused on mortuary practices are addressed based on the analysis of body ornaments, body treatment, body disposal, urn selection, and the evidence of funerary feasts. When addressing those research questions, we focused on different sets of data recovered from samples, material and contexts. What were the activities that produced the observed data? Why were some activities more widespread than in the specific kinds of pottery or parts of attire found in cemeteries? How do rituals and identity performance interact in burial rites? Some of the common traits transcend the defined borders of contemporary regional or cultural groups: cremation as body treatment, individual graves for all community members, a funeral feast. We focus on discussions about ritual diversity during the Late Bronze Age in the southern Carpathian Basin and the possibility of understanding and conceptualizing it from the material evidence that we have.

Children are one of the components of ancient societies they actively participated in social and everyday life of the community. Bioarchaeological research has confirmed that ancient societies were made up mainly of young people, with often more than 50% of the population being immature individuals. Therefore, past cultures cannot really be understood without considering children. In this presentation, our focus is on children burials from Late Bronze Age cemeteries in northern Croatia that are part of our project that analyse mortuary practices and society in southern Carpathian Basin. Using combined approach, anthropological and archaeological data are brought together to enhance our understanding of funerary practice afforded to children in Late Bronze Age communities from northern Croatia. Comparing burial features and associated artefacts with age categories will help us to search for regularities and discrepancies linked to children. One of the interesting facts is that in the majority of the cases children were buried singly. Therefore, we would like to investigate if children were seen as social individuals treated at death as adults and what was their role in religious life of the community. With this research we would like to demonstrate the amount of the valuable information that can be gleaned about a whole population from more detailed analysis of children burials. Also, this sort of analysis will provide an opportunity for a better understanding of children and their role in Late Bronze Age societies from southern Carpathian Basin.

Na godišnjem skupu Hrvatskoga arheološkog društva prilika je predstaviti istraživački projekt Hrvatske zaklade za znanost Djetinjstvo u protopovijesti na jugu Karpatske kotline (ARHKIDS) IP-2019-04-2520 koji se provodi u Institutu za arheologiju. Projektom se multidisplinarno proučavaju djeca kao i materijalni tragovi vezani uz djecu pronađeni u grobljima, naseljima i ostalim arheološkim kontekstima u razdoblju od kasnoga brončanog do mlađega željeznog doba. Kombiniranim multidisciplinarnim pristupom, koji uključuje arheološku i antropološku analizu, zatim residio analize keramičkih posuda kao i analize stabilnih izotopa antropoloških uzoraka, istražuju se biološka i socijalna dob djece, zatim svakodnevne aktivnosti kojima su se djeca bavila – igra, usvajanje vještina, rad, odnos prema okolišu te rituali povezani s djecom. Dijakronim proučavanjem djece i djetinjstva kroz duži vremenski raspon od (1400. – 100. god. pr. Kr.) ukazuje se na položaj djece u različitim zajednicama i razdobljima te njihov doprinos prijenosu znanja i vještina u prošlim društvima.

Cemeteries are sacred and emotional zones as well as places of history, memory and identity. A diachronic approach in the research of burial sites can provide interesting historical and anthropological distinctions in their functions and characteristics. Throughout its history, Zagreb had many cemeteries which are nowadays forgotten, but in different periods were markers of economic, social, political and religious life. For our case study we have chosen the St George’s cemetery on Jurjevska Street. There are two main periods in the cemetery’s past, which are connected to local and national historical memory. The cemetery was first mentioned in 1622. At first it was used by poorer citizens, but soon it became a graveyard for the wealthy. In the 19th century, it was the last resting place of many intellectuals connected to the Illyrian Movement, as well as the first victims who died for the national cause (“July Victims”). In 1876 the cemetery was converted into a public park. St George’s cemetery is a good example of how the urban development and change in the function of public space can affect the social memory and identity of a place, as well as lead to a change in its role in the social life of communities.

Excavated cemeteries are the best sources for the Early Iron Age in the Danube region. Two of them – Sotin and Batina – have been excavated in the last decade: Sotin by the Institute of Archaeology since 2008, and Batina by the Archaeological Museum Osijek since 2010. The burial practice is cremation, and the funerary rites associate these two sites with the contemporary cemeteries along the Danube, especially upstream. Interdisciplinary analyses of excavated graves have revealed many details of life and death in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Sotin and Batina. This lecture will focus on the double and multiple graves in Sotin and Batina which indicate the identities of different age and sex groups in Iron Age communities. How the dead body was treated and laid in the grave, how the costume items and tools were placed in the grave, and what other goods are associated with the funerary rite – all of this depicts their life too. Some of the questions remain open, such as their family ties or relations that could have been a reason for burying them together. DNA analyses of cremated human remains are still in progress, so we cannot discuss these matters with certainty. It is possible to determine the age of death and the way of life, which is partly preserved in the anthropological remains and can be partly gleaned from the grave finds and the archaeological context. Most multiple graves in Sotin and Batina contain women, often with children, so we will try to present their social status in these Early Iron Age communities.

The Lika Regiment was part of a unique military institution – the Austrian Military Frontier (Militärgrenze, Vojna krajina) – that existed along the entire boundary with the Ottoman Empire from the first quarter of the 16th century until 1881. The original purpose of this frontier establishment was to protect the Habsburgs from the Ottoman attacks. In the course of time, it became a reservoir of cheap and good soldiers governed by military officials and military law, without civil authority. All frontiersmen capable of bearing arms were part of an ever-ready military force who in return enjoyed special privileges as free peasant-soldiers (land fiefs and religious freedom). In order to gain personal and bioanthropological data of all enlisted men from the Lika Regiment born between 1770 and 1830, we have collected and processed materials from the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb and Austrian State Archives in Vienna. In this study, the secular change in height and disease occurence in 530 adult soldiers (17+ year- olds), who served in the Frontier administration, were analyzed in the context of natural hazards and war activities. The analysis showed a significant, non-linear increase in height. A decline in height detected in the 1790-1799 birth cohort correlates with the participation of the Lika Regiment in the Austro- Turkish War (1788-1791) and the War of the First Coalition (1792-1797), plus periods of hunger caused by long-term winters (1791). The health status of these soldiers was exceptional: only 6.4% had some health problems (the most frequent were respiratory tract problems, hernia and tuberculosis), 17.6% of which ended fatally (caused by oedema, typhus, dysentery and tuberculosis). This preliminary analysis will contribute to our knowledge on the life and health of men from the Lika Regiment soldiers.

Anthropological analysis of cemeteries from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the southern Carpathian Basin (Poljana Križevačka, Slatina, Belišće, Batina, Sotin, Dolina) revealed a large number of child burials. In our study, the term “child” is used for individuals younger than 20 years. Their biological age, estimated by standard anthropological methods, differs from their social age. The chosen cemeteries, dated from the 14th to the 7th century BC, are analysed in order to gain more information on burial practice. We shall analyse all the available evidence of burial practice such as body treatment, selection of the urn and grave goods, and body ornaments. One of the important questions is the change of identity from child to adult, and the way in which that transition was marked. Based on the available data, almost all children from the Late Bronze Age, were buried in their own graves as equal members of the community. Some of the child graves dated from the 14th to the 12th century, were exceptionally rich in grave goods which may indicate their life stage. In the 11th century, urns were chosen according to their size and shape, while in the 9th century some communities used organic recipients as a bone dispenser. From the 11th century, we can also find evidence of funeral feasts.

A case of a hydrocephalus was identified in early modern age cemetery located around the chapel of St. Anna in Nuštar, eastern Croatia. Skeletal remains belong to a child younger than 1 year. Abnormal and enlarged morphology and increased cranial capacity are indicative of the hydrocephalus. Along with enlarged cranium, macroscopic analysis of the remains revealed set of lesions both on the skull and the long bones. In our study we focus on changes on both cranial and postcranial remains in order to better understand anatomical and behavioural consequences of hydrocephalus. We will include a thorough differential diagnosis of athological features in order to establish their relationship to hydrocephalus. Furthermore, the observed case will provide additional information about the health conditions in the community from Nuštar, given that despite its condition, the child was buried along other members of the community.

Knjiga se bavi spaljenim ljudskim ostacima pronađenim u arheološkom kontekstu iz perspektive arheologije i antropologije.

U ovoj knjizi objavljuje se groblje iz 11. st. pr. Kr. iz Slatine. Uz podatke o grobovima i nalazima u njima koji su obrađeni u arheološkoj analizi, obavljene su antropološke, zooarheološke i radiometrijske analize. Podaci dobiveni iz interdisciplinarnog istraživanja promatrani su u širem regionalnom okviru južnog dijela Karpatske kotline u 11. st. pr. Kr. Djelo je rezultat rada na uspostavnom istraživačkom projektu Hrvatske zaklade za znanost UIP 11-2013-5327 Pogrebni običaji i društvo kasnog brončanog doba na jugu Karpatske kotline.

Cemeteries are sacred and emotional zones as well as places of history, memory and identity. A diachronic approach in the research of burial sites can provide interesting historical and anthropological distinctions in their functions and characteristics. Throughout its history, Zagreb had many cemeteries which are nowadays forgotten, but in different periods were markers of economic, social, political and religious life. For our case study we have chosen the St. George's cemetery on Jurjevska Street. There are two main periods in the cemetery's past, which are connected to local and national historical memory. The cemetery was first mentioned in 1622. At first it was used by poorer citizens, but soon it became a graveyard for the wealthy. In the 19th century, it was the last resting place of many intellectuals connected to the Illyrian Movement, as well as the first victims who died for the national cause (“July Victims”). In 1876 the cemetery was converted into a public park. St. George's cemetery is a good example of how the urban development and change in the function of public space can affect the social memory and identity of a place, as well as lead to a change in its role in the social life of communities.

Analiza ljudskog skeletnog materijala iz osam grobova s nalazišta Rokovci.

In this paper we have examined two medieval mummies located in the sanctuary of the parish church of St. Blaise in Vodnjan, Istria, Croatia. The analysed mummified bodies belong to Saint Giovanni Olini (1215–1300) and Saint Nicolosa Borsa (1447–1512). They were brought from Venice in 1818 by the painter, restorer and art collector Gaetano Grezler. The bodies were dressed and kept in their sarcophagi along with their equipment and holy inscriptions. The goal of this investigation was to obtain information on the physical condition of the bodies and the possible traces of human interventions that could have had an impact both on the process of mummification and on the present state of preservation. Independent chemical examinations on skin samples showed that it was coated with a mix containing olive oil and saccharide-based resin. Similarities in the appearance and composition of the skin on the two bodies indicate that the coating was applied after the bodies had entered the same collection in the first half of 19th century. It is quite probable that this intervention was done by Gaetano Grezler. Detail visual examination showed that parts of bodies relating to sexuality were missing. This could be explained as the result of a medieval post-mortem ritual or removal of these parts as relics at a later time.

Analiza 16 nalaza ljudskih kosturnih ostataka prikupljenih prilikom arheoloških istraživanja na mjestu buduće zgrade Fakulteta elektrotehnike, računarstva i informacijskih tehnologija u Osijeku.

Tijekom zaštitnih arheoloških istraživanja na nalazištu Osijek – Ciglana i Zeleno polje 2015. godine pronađeni su ostaci višeslojnog naselja. Izdvaja se nalaz četiriju kosturnih grobova, od kojih se jedan nalazio izdvojeno na sjevernome dijelu istražene površine, a preostala su tri grupirana 260 m južnije. Svi su pokojnici bili pokopani u zgrčenom položaju na boku. S obzirom na činjenicu da u grobovima nisu nađeni prilozi ni dijelovi nošnje pokojnika, kao ni arheološki nalazi u njihovim zapunama, grobovi su datirani na osnovi rezultata radiokarbonskih analiza kostiju pokojnika. Grob smješten na sjevernom dijelu nalazišta (grob 1) datiran je u razdoblje kasnoga bakrenog doba i pripisan kasnoklasičnoj fazi vučedolske kulture. Tri groba evidentirana na južnome dijelu nalazišta (grobovi 2, 3 i 4) datirana su u rano brončano doba. Na temelju radiokarbonskog datuma i elemenata pogrebnog rituala, grobovi su pripisani Kisapostag kulturi. Spomenuti grobovi predstavljaju jedine kasnoeneolitičke i ranobrončanodobne nalaze s lokaliteta, a može se pretpostaviti postojanje istovremenih naselja u blizini. Analiza je ljudskih kosturnih ostataka pokazala da je u grobu 1 pokopana žena starija od 50 godina, u grobovima 2 i 4 muškarci u dobi od 35 do 50 godina, a u grobu 3 dijete u dobi od 10 do 15 godina.

Late Bronze Age Farewell was process with complex scenario according the material evidences/traces in cemeteries. The research project Late Bronze Age mortuary practices and societies in southern Carpathian Basin, funded by Croatian Science Foundation (IRP 11-2013- 5327), combined archaeology, anthropology and archaezoology in attempt to reconstruct burial customs and shed more light on societies that have practiced them. Research metodology was based on independent analyses in each field to bypass possible biases, followed by comparison and integration of all data in further discussion and interpretation.

U članku je prikazana grupa predmeta koji čine ostatke oštećene grobne cjeline pronađene ispod kaštela Stari Lupoglav, odnosno u blizini naselja Mariškići. Sakupljeni su ulomci keramike, među kojima se ističe gnathia olpe, staklene perle i ulomci brončanog nakita, koji se mogu datirati u razdoblje 3. i 2. st. pr. n. e. Analizom skromnih spaljenih koštanih ostataka utvrđeno je da se radi o ukopu odrasle osobe i djeteta.

Analiza ljudskog skeletnog materijala s nalazišta Nuštar – Sveta Ana, grobovi 1-6.

BAMPICa project, funded by Croatian Science Foundation, has been researching mortuary practices and society in the southern Carpathian Basin. This project proposes to combine archaeology, bioarchaeology, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating in order to expand the current knowledge of Late Bronze Age mortuary practices and society in the Carpathian Basin. It integrates analyses of burial features and associated artifacts with analyses of cremated human and animal remains from several urnfield cemeteries in northern Croatia, dated between 14th and 9th century BC.