Discontinuity of Funerary Rites in Late Praehistory of the Central Balkans

Abstract

Starting from the fact that the present knowledge of the late praehistory of the Central Balkans is based almost exclusively upon interpretations of funerary remains, the aim of this paper is to investigate the theoretical premises of the archaeological research into burials in this region. Problems and limitations of the traditional culture-historical approach to funerary practices are discussed, and the second part of the paper aims to demonstrate that the shift in theoretical perspective may result in fundamentally different insights into the explanatory potential of funerary rites in archaeology.

Keywords

• funerary rite
• dis/continuity of funerary practice
• theory of practice
• late praehistory of the Central Balkans
• Glasinac