Konstantin I. Panchenko

Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: pakoi@mail.ru

Keywords: late Middle Ages, Christianity, funeral rite, vessels

The article considers Christian burials with vessels of the late 14th – mid-17th century. During this period, burial vessels became an important part of the funeral rite of Muscovy. The volume of material sufficient for statistical processing made it possible to reveal the most characteristic features of the funeral ritual with a vessel in the grave. The following signs were selected for study: areas where such burials occur, persons who were buried this way, and the locations in which a vessel was placed in the grave. Archaeological evidence has confirmed the emergence of this burial tradition primarily in Moscow and the surrounding area. This burial rite was more common in monasteries and elite necropolises. Vessel was not a required object. They are more often found in male burials than in female ones. The results of the study indicate that in performing the funeral ritual people tried to adhere to a certain single tradition while clear canonical rules were lacking. Thus, it was the priest conducting the ceremony who decided whom with and where to place a vessel in the grave.

DOI: 10.31857/S086960630009956-0