Stručni rad
Was there a custom of laying coins into late mediaeval/early modern graves in the region of northern Croatia?
Siniša Krznar
orcid.org/0000-0001-6709-4193
; Institut za arheologiju, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
This paper focuses on the custom of enclosing coins in the graves of the deceased on late mediaeval and early modern cemeteries in northern Croatia. The main problem encountered while studying this custom is
the lack of multidisciplinary research of the cemeteries of the mentioned time period and especially the lack of high quality publications. The discoveries from the graves can mainly be divided into three categories:
1. parts of traditional costumes, 2. jewellery and 3. objects tied to religious beliefs. The last category can further be divided into two groups. One group would consist of devotionals (crosses, rosaries, medallions
of saints...) which were relatively frequent in early modern graves and depict the personal religiousness of
the deceased within the regular Catholic system. The other group consists of objects which can be linked to superstitious or popular beliefs which were maintained parallel with the official religion. This group of
symbolic objects is comprised of scissors, knives, sickles, locks, keys, animal teeth and coins. Regardless of the Christian (mainly Catholic) ban of enclosing contributions in graves, coins can be found in many
cemeteries from this time period. Coins are commonly connected to the Greek myth about Haron in archaeological literature. The ethnological data, which is much closer to the observed graves in terms of time
and culture, gives a much more diverse range of reasons for the monetary contributions - so the deceased
can pay for their house, to pay for peace on Earth, to pay for their space, to prevent them from becoming a vampire, to not return, to not leave empty handed, to be paid out, to pay out for the remaining estate or
cattle so the deceased would not pull it with them. The coins also served as a reward for paying for the transport, crossing the river, transport to the island of the Blessed, for paying off space or a house in the
other world or so that the deceased can pay off his sins. Within the Christian context, as we can see, money and other objects which are occasionally included get a new purpose and serve as a help to the deceased
in the passage from life to death and on their journey through purgatory and renewed life during Judgment Day. Based on the archaeological and ethnological data, we can therefore cite several reasons for enclosing
coins in a grave on late mediaeval and early modern graves:
1. coins ended up in the grave by accident.
2. coins were placed in the grave next to the deceased on purpose. In this case, the coins had a symbolic
role and served for the protection of the living from the deceased or for numerous necessities the deceased
may have had in the other world.
3. coins served as decoration, they were placed in the grave because they were sewn onto clothing or
repurposed for jewellery
4. coins which are the personal ownership of the deceased. They were placed into the grave as part of a
sack on a belt or sewn/hidden in the clothing of the deceased.
5. other reasons which cannot be interpreted to date.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
164558
URI
Datum izdavanja:
23.6.2014.
Posjeta: 1.898 *