The social meaning of multiple burials in the Corded Ware culture

Although multiple burial contexts are uncommon, they are a typical feature of Corded Ware funerary behaviour. This paper focuses on various aspects of Corded Ware multiple burials in Bohemia and the adjacent regions of Central Europe. Particular attention is given to the occurrence of burials in the antipode position and the age, gender and possible familial relationship of the individuals in such graves. A unique example of multiple burials is the biritual Grave 1/95 in Slaný (Kladno District) in Bohemia, which contained a minimum of seven individuals (men, women and children), four of which were cremated. Despite the exceptional use of the cremation method of burial, the Slaný grave fits the well-defined collective type of Corded Ware burials usually known from Bohemia, such as in Třebusice (Kladno District); Bylany (Kolín District); Chrášťany (Prague-west District). Similar, but not identical collective burials are known from Obrnice (Most District) and Určice (Prostějov District) in Moravia and Święte, site 20 (Grave 43) in Little Poland. Similar examples are also known from Saxony-Anhalt in the case of the Eulau collective burial. It appears these communal burials represent a particular variety of funerary practices (ritual) rather than evidence of a specific event. New archaeogenetic data may shed more light on the questions of whether these burials represent a nuclear family, what can we learn about the familial ties and the meaning of a collective funerary event. Some cases (Eulau) presume the multiple burials as a result of a violent occurrence (conflict or sacrifice) while others may be the result of disease or the special status of particular members of the community.