"Chained by her destiny” : The Grave of a female with a toddler at the La Tène cemetery in Nitra-Mlynárce

Abstract

The article pays attention to a specific inhumation grave of a female with a toddler uncovered together with 10 cremation graves from the Middle La Tène period (stage LTC1) at the site of Nitra-Mlynárce. The inhumation grave is dated to the end of stage LTC1 (C1b – c) and it can be characterized by several specific attributes: 1 rare orientation of the buried woman with her head to the east; 2 depositing of remains of the dead female in a flexed (“hocker”) position on the right side which can be associated with the baby in her arms; 3 specific costume garniture characterized by absence of anklets, by a chain belt and an armlet; 4 higher social status of the buried female indicated by textiles/ burial shroud decorated with gold; 5 chain of 23 mutually hooked cramp irons probably as a symbol of the kinship of the mother and her child. The remarkable grave complex is assessed in the context of analogous finds and palaeodemographic profile.