A child with a bucket. A study of grave goods in children’s graves in the Polish lands in the Early Middle Ages

The paper presents stave-built wooden vessels (buckets) as grave goods in children’s inhumation graves in the Polish lands (10th–12th century). The source base consists of children’s burials identified anthropologically in which remains of these vessels have been found. In the light of the current state of research, 15 such graves, from 11 cemeteries, are known from the examined area. The vessels taken into consideration are open containers made of wooden staves and a bottom, with various metal elements, mainly hoops, handles and handle attachments. The presence of buckets in children’s burials may have been related to the cult of the dead or constituted a component of initiation rites. The smallest containers can also be identified as playing accessories. However, it seems that most of the data weigh in favour of the theory according to which burying buckets in graves was an important element of establishing and communicating the social status of the dead, which does not mean that the previously mentioned interpretations are wrong

il. ; 24 cm

ill. ; 24 cm