Human burials and funeral rite of the Linear Pottery Culture from Poland area

Abstract

Human burials of the Linear Pottery culture in Poland are not common. The recent discovery in Modlniczka of the first – and thus far the only – LBK cemetery in Poland was therefore a significant one. Presently, there are only 17 other known sites with burials. Thirteen sites are in south-eastern Poland, four in Kuyavia, and one in the Odra River valley. In comparison with other burial sites in Central and Western Europe, the graves of the LBK in Poland do not provide many clues about the funerary customs of this culture. Their small number and the very limited proportion of preserved human remains make it impossible to perform many types of analyses. However, despite the small amount of evidence, we can observe general patterns, which are typical of the entire European LBK – in terms of both settlements and burials.