Two necropolises from the migration period at Viminacium

Abstract

The necropolis known as Više Grobalja at Viminacium has undergone an anthropological revision. Namely, guided by the initially formulated archaeological criteria, the author interpreted the Migration Period necropolis as a single cemetery. However, the latest analysis has ascertained two necropolises simply abutting onto one another: an older, dated to the second half of the fifth century and containing 36 skeletons, and a younger dated to the second half of the sixth century and containing 58 skeletons. Both are attributed to the Gepidae, but the older has 26 skulls (72 percent) showing artificial deformation, and the younger only five (9 percent). The figures reflect a change that occurred in Gepidean funerary practices within about a century. It should be added that the two fully excavated necropolises are now anthropologically analyzed and interpreted as well.