Germańskie tabu. Obecność ozdób i brak broni w pochówkach gockich

• Authors: Kowalski Andrzej P.

Title variants

EN

Germanic taboo: the presence of jewellery and the absence of weapons in Gothic burials

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

The article is an attempt at interpreting a peculiar burial practice noted by archaeologists in the Wielbark culture, attributed to the Germanic Goths. In the first centuries AD on the territories of present-day northern and eastern Poland, graves contained jewellery, while weapons and tools were avoided. The visible contrast between silver jewellery and iron objects may correspond to certain social and mythological classifications. The author, using an anthropological structuralist analysis, puts forward the hypothesis that there was a taboo that stemmed from identifying the signs of masculinity, warlike spirit, and using weapons with life and openness. Objects associated with femininity, such as jewellery, may have been linked to the ‘other world’, the hidden funerary space. The contrast in question was an effect of political events involving Germanic tribes and a reflection of old mythical values concerning warriors, women, metallurgists, and objects associated with them.

Keywords

EN

Goths; Wielbark culture; burial rituals; taboo; Germanic mythology; Gothic vocabulary

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Polskiego Towarzystwa Historycznego
• Journal: Rocznik Antropologii Historii
• Year: 2014
• Issue: 1(6), Semiotyka historii
• Pages: 171–178

Contributors

author

Kowalski Andrzej P.

• Uniwersytet Gdański