Christian antiquities -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities
Scandinavia was apparently in a state of transition from barrow burial
to small-mound burial at a later date, namely, during the Viking Age
(A.D. 700-1000). At that period it became the habit to make low barrows
for the poorer folk, the “warrior houes” being reserved for the families
of powerful chieftains[647]. And one cannot doubt that the collaterals
of the Scandinavians--the Anglo-Saxons--developed their burial customs
along similar lines. In addition, it must be remembered that these
latter peoples, when settled in England, had a marked predilection for
burial in the older and larger barrows which they found already in
existence. Such “secondary burials” are familiar to the archaeologist,
and are discriminated by the level and posture of the skeletons, as well
as by the associated objects. When the conversion of the people to
Christianity became more general, such practices were discountenanced.
Down to the eighth century, however, it was usual to bury the
illegitimate offspring of nuns and others in these older mounds.
The Capitularies of Charlemagne (A.D. 789) order the burial of
Christians in cemeteries, and expressly forbid the pagan practice of
barrow-burial: “_Jubemus, ut corpora Christianorum Saxonum ad
coemiteria_ [al. _coemeteria_] _Ecclesiae deferantur, et non ad tumulos
paganorum_[648].” The burial-ground soon became known in Germany as
“Gottes-acker” (God’s Acre). This change, too, completed the break
between cremation and simple burial of the corpse. Orientation of graves
now became a fixed rule. Keysler suggests, and his view has since been
largely upheld, that the transfer of custom was due to the doctrine of
the Resurrection, as epitomized in I Cor. xv. 5 et seqq. and St John
xii. 24[649]. In other words, the new religion discouraged cremation,
and enjoined simple earth burial, thus curiously reviving the primitive
habit (cf. p. 264 _infra_).
If we desire, to-day, to see folk who represent the transitional stage
of culture which connects the large tumulus with the smaller and more
insignificant mound, we may visit the natives of the Pandsh valley, in
the district of the Pamirs. Recently it has been discovered by Olufsen
that these “equine-faced” folk raise a burial-mound over the dead, and
surround it by high stones or a clay wall, according to the social
standing, riches, or holiness of the deceased man[650]. The
distinctions of rank have ever been preserved by the tomb, in spite of
proverbial wisdom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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