'Ritual feasting' in the Late Bronze Age in the northwestern Carpathian area - archaeological and scientific aspects

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Carola Metzner-Nebelsick
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 287419687

Due to the complete excavation of a multiphase Late Bronze Age cult building in the Lapus-Valley of north-western Romania a hitherto unknown type of monument was discovered. It revealed a complex stratigraphy which offered an insight into intricate ritual behavior. A crucial aspect of the rituals revealed in the archaeological record of this site were deposits of feasting activities, presumably for a larger group of people. They were found in the immediate vicinity of the multi-phased cult building and other similarly structured mounds, as could be recognized as a result of geomagnetic surveys. It is the objective of the application to reconstruct the character and extent of these banquets and the depending sacrificial activities in a micro- and supra-regional context. The evaluation and complex analyses of a former excavation project are not part of the proposal at hand.Due to ritual violence the pottery used during the ritual feasting activities underwent a process of severe and deliberate fragmentation. Because of this highly fragmented character of the ceramic findings the project intends to develop new methodological approaches in order to analyze the material from an archaeological, i.e. cultural historical as well as statistical perspective.On the basis of extensive restoration work, micro-stratigraphic observations and by means of the modelling of radiocarbon dates the sequence and frequency of the repetitive feasting rituals shall be resolved into individual chronologically separable events. To gain accurate insights into the nature of the ritual meals, residue analyzes will be carried out; botanical macro fossil analyses and the analyses of animal bones will be done as well. An additional project part comprises of a geomagnetic survey at the site of Bicaz in the western part of the county of Maramures. It should clarify whether the findings in the upper Lapus valley can actually be considered as exceptional or if also here traces of comparable banquets can be discerned.We expect that our hitherto unsatisfactory knowledge of ritual behavior such as ritual feasting in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian area and its long-ranging connectivity be will improved.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants