Germańskie tabu. Obecność ozdób i brak broni w pochówkach gockich

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.