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1 results

  • Buried with sickles: early modern interments from Drawsko, Poland

  • Part of
  • Marek Polcyn, Elżbieta Gajda
  • Journal:
    Antiquity / Volume 89 / Issue 348 / December 2015
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    07 December 2015, pp. 1373-1387
    Print publication:
    December 2015
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  • In Central Europe, medieval and early modern burials sometimes contain iron sickles placed on the body or in direct contact with the deceased. Previous interpretations have considered them as markers of social status or occupation, or as magical and apotropaic. Detailed analysis of sickle burials from a cemetery at Drawsko in Poland leads to a discussion of demonology beliefs, dual faith and a resurgence in paganism following the Counter-Reformation. The results illustrate how the sickle might have served as an indicator of social identity, the nature of the individual's death and the way the deceased was perceived within their community.