Horse Graves, Sacrifice, and the Performers of Public Rituals
Volume 11 (2009): The Horse and Man in European Antiquity (Worldview, Burial Rites, and Military and Everyday Life), pp. 305–313
Pub. online: 30 August 2009
Type: Article
Open Access
Received
9 February 2009
9 February 2009
Revised
27 February 2009
27 February 2009
Accepted
12 June 2009
12 June 2009
Published
30 August 2009
30 August 2009
Abstract
Abundance of horse graves and very expressive horse-offering rituals are well known in the Central region of Lithuania. But principally the new material has been obtained after the investigations of burial ground in Marvelė. Horse graves are usually found separate from human graves, composing special parts of “horse graveyards” in the cemeteries. Arrangement of these parts with horse graves are related to local micro-landscape. The natural and cultural elements with memory signs embody the environmental cosmology and are involved into the mythology. The horse burial places suggest the ceremonies of public displays. The horse becomes a contributor which helps to cross the border between mythological spaces.