Eine ferne Vergangenheit in fernen Landen ... Vergangenheitsbezüge und interkulturelle Kommunikation bei frühmittelalterlichen Bestattungsplätzen mit skandinavischer Prägung im südlichen Ostseeraum.

This paper looks at a specific aspect of burial customs in the context of cultural interactions in the late Early Middle Ages in the Baltic Sea region: The re-use of old burial mound fields by Scandinavian groups on the southern Baltic coast. During this period increased contact between Scandinavian groups and communities settling on the southern Baltic coast is testified. In this context, Scandinavian groups founded trading posts and colonies on the southern Baltic coast. At various sites, the associated burial sites occupy old burial mounds. Here, this re-use represents an appropriation with which, on the one hand, internal social aspects, such as the strengthening of group identity, are negotiated and a (fictitious) collective memory is created. On the other hand, it takes place in the context of intercultural contacts and therefor offers to investigate the use of the past in such a setting. The subsequent use and appropriation of the burial sites may have aided in legitimizing the presence also vis-à-vis with the native settlement groups, the genesis of a cultural memory related to the localities and the overcoming of foreignness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]