1For Bulgarian medieval archaeologists the discovery of a mass grave near the town of Devnya is noteworthy moment in the history of a discipline which compares itself to detective work. Perhaps familiarity with the first find of this kind or lack of interest beyond identifying ethnic groups from funerary contexts limited conjecture about this remarkable site. Currently excavations of mass graves, especially those related to more recent historical episodes, receive more recognition due to advances in forensic and conflict archaeology. Such projects have stressed the moral consequences of archaeological practice and emphasized the need for culturally appropriate funerary rites to be enacted in order to bring some psychological and emotional comfort to surviving relatives. While this is objectively impossible when dealing with medieval mass graves, one can assume that people from a period when individual burial was the norm would express very similar attitudes. The current article will reopen the cold file of the mass grave from Devnya-3 to reassess its analysis and interpretation. Furthermore, the connection of the mass grave to specific historical episodes will be contextualized to allow a detailed and more nuanced reading of the site as the material manifestation of execution. Then, an argument for its potential to enrich the reconstruction of law enforcement and power structures at the time of the First Bulgarian Khanate/Tsardom (c. 680-1018) will be proposed.

The Mass Grave at Devnya

Archaeological context and grave structure

2The round (circular) mass grave at Devnya belongs to the necropolis designated as Devnya-3 and was excavated in 1968-1969 by a team led by Dimitar Dimitrov. The following description and analysis are based on rectified data from the primary publications and documentation from Dimitrov and his collaborators¹. The bi-ritual necropolis is associated with the early medieval settlements and fortress that emerged in the vicinity of the late Roman city of Marcianopolis, the necropoleis Devnya 1 and 2, and the cremation necropolis near Razdelna to the south. This densely inhabited area is important, because the other necropoleis with inhumations, particularly Devnya 3, provide a large number of individual deviant burials.

3The mass grave is located in the northeastern periphery of the necropolis (fig. 1.). The liminal position in comparison to the rest of the graves is important. Grave 114 from the latest Christian phase of the necropolis is situated in superposition above the round mass grave. This is the result of the continuous use and expansion of the cemetery with the earlier structure perhaps having been forgotten. The stratigraphy thus provides terminus ante quem for the mass grave at late 9th-early 10th c. U. Fiedler dates the grave before the 9th c. on the basis of a single earring, but this is problematic for two reasons: the earring is very simple and has a long chronological presence, but a single unspecific find has little dating value².

Fig. 1. General plan of the necropolis Devnya-3.

4The grave pit itself is a peculiar structure. The feature is almost perfectly ring-shaped, dug into yellow clay and has an outer diameter of between 5,48 m (N-S) and 5,78 m (W-E), an inner diameter of 3,06 m (N-S) and 3,34 m (W-E), and a maximum depth beneath the topsoil of 3,40m. The width of the pit tapers down and from 1,25m is as narrow as 0,2m in some places (fig. 2.). According to the archaeologist, the pit was carefully prepared for a previously calculated number of people and was filled once shortly afterwards, attested by the homogenous filling of humus with some inclusions of yellow clay.

Fig. 2. Mass grave from Devnya-3. Section and plan of the top layer. Extrait de Fiedler 1992, taf. 112/2.

Treatment of the deceased

Demographic characterization

5The bodies of up to 76 individuals were deposited in the pit. The analysis of the osteological material provides a detailed demography of the people buried in the mass grave. The first distinguishable pattern is the far greater number of females (fig. 3.). The significance of this pattern increases when it is compared to composition by age of the people buried (fig. 4. and 4.1.). The biological age at the time of death representing infants, juveniles and young adults is dominant. They contribute 79% of the individuals. The age profile of the male group is significantly different. Of the six male individuals, only one is under 15 years old, one is above 60, the oldest individual, two are unidentified and two reached adulthood (fig. 5.). Interestingly enough, one of these two adults suffered from osteoporosis that probably disabled him. The individuals’ age at the time of death in the mass grave fits the expected proportions of age categories for attritional and catastrophic mortality regimes (fig. 6.). The mortality rate in Devnya also corresponds to the demographic composition of civilian casualties during armed conflicts as recorded for prehistoric and modern warfare mass grave sites³.

Fig. 3. Sex ratio within the group.

Fig. 4a. Age structure of the victims in total numbers (below) and percentage (above).

Fig. 4b. Age profile of males.

Fig. 5. Triangular graph of mortality depicting the relative proportions of juvenile, prime-adult and old-adult individuals. The axes of the graph run from the middle of the sides of the triangle to the opposite apex. The expected proportions of the age categories for attritional and catastrophic mortality regimes are also indicated. Extrait de Chamberlain 2006, p. 18.

Fig. 6. Ratio of artificial skull deformation among the victims. Total number (left) and percentage (right).

6Another important characteristic is the ratio of artificial skull deformation among the deceased (fig. 7.). The practice of modifying the skull of the newborn is not unknown from other sites⁴. However, the frequency of 76% in the mass grave is remarkably high. In comparison, artificial skull deformation was recorded in 40% of the cases in Topola, 22% in Devnya-1 and in 14% in Novi Pazar. This practice is usually seen as one of the markers of Bulgar populations, with analogies among other nomad and semi-nomad cultures like the Huns or the Mongols⁵. The social significance of artificial skull deformation is yet to be understood, but arguably this somatic modification signifies particular social status and identity.

Fig. 7. Individual types of maltreatment occurring in the mass grave.

Pathologies

7Pathologies exhibited by the skeletal remains from the mass grave in Devnya-3 provide some insights into the living conditions and the mode of death. Besides the above-mentioned osteoporosis in one of the individuals, one female (n°74) was diagnosed with plagiocephaly⁶. She was further treated to cause prominent artificial skull deformation. Another characteristic trait is the generally good dental health and the minimal number of caries in the skeletons.

8Many skeletons demonstrate evidence of an extremely violent death. Flat cut marks from the edges of sharp cutting weapons (perhaps sabres) are displayed on bones in n°6, 13, 31, 38, and 65. Particularly clear are the cut marks on n°68, an adult female. Her skull is damaged on the left supraorbital ridge (arcus superciliaris), the left cheekbone (zygoma) and the mastoid part of the left temporal bone (os temporale). Another individual with distinctive cut marks is n°5, an adult female with artificial skull deformation. Her occipital bone (os occipitale) was wounded near the foramen magnum. Additionally, many skeletons were subject to decapitation and severe mutilations, including multiple instances of disintegration. Probably, all the victims suffered a similar fate. Although the level of violence suffered varies among the individuals, they were killed more or less simultaneously and perhaps at a single location not far from the place of disposal. Although injuries, including fatal ones, often leave no trace on the skeleton, the variations in the traces left from the massacre, notably the use of violence and mutilation, suggest selective and differentiated treatment within the sample.

Finds and grave goods

9Small finds are almost absent from the mass grave. One notable artifact is an iron ellipsis-shaped belt buckle found near the right foot of n°35. Three more iron belt buckles were discovered. There are two spherical ceramic beads associated with n°24. Two copper earrings belonging to n°71 were found in situ. One of them was decorated with small conical bone bead. Two corroded iron knives were also excavated from the pit. Occasional potsherds were found, including Roman ones, but these were probably transferred with the soil fill. The above-mentioned dating by U. Fiedler is problematic for two reasons: the earring is a simple type, has a long chronological presence and a single unspecific find has little dating value. Finally, disarticulated animal bones from one bovine and two sheep have been recorded. The limited finds are small dress fittings and personal items of little value. This neglect of standard funerary preparations opposed to the deliberate preparation of a grave pit with a particular shape points to a rather unusual and negative meaning ascribed to the performance of burial rites. Such a conclusion is further supported by the treatment of the deceased.

Isolating types of deviant burials

10The way in which the victims were disposed of creates an impression of the random clearance of a murder site. As noted above, the disposal of the bodies demonstrates a series of maltreatment taking place around the time of death and burial. Sometimes types of maltreatment were combined, and, importantly, many forms of maltreatment are not archaeologically or anthropologically recognizable. The types identified on the remains from the mass grave in Devnya-3 are tied limbs, disintegration, decapitation, prone position, contracted and crouched positions, position lying on the side, and weighed down by stones (fig. 8.). Some of these may have been caused by the nature of disposal, especially in narrow or dense parts of the pit but others were intentional treatment and are of particular interest for our study.

Fig. 8. Harris matrix showing the stratigraphic relationship between individual skeletons. Eastern (upper image) and western (lower image) half of the mass grave.

11The orientation of the dead is haphazard and is dependent more on their position inside the round pit rather than any cosmological appreciation of the cardinal directions. However, many skeletons are in direct stratigraphic relationship to each other reflecting the micro-chronological sequence of their deposition (fig. 9.). After the initial placement of several bodies at the bottom, a preference for bunching the victims together in heaps is identifiable. This practice left some space unused and resulted in the greater density of skeletal remains in the western half of the round pit than in the eastern half. It is contrary to the logic of most mass graves to save time and effort by maximizing the use of limited space. It is justifiable to suggest that such disrespectful treatment was another demonstration of social denial and a practice making an example of the victims.

Fig. 9. Age and sex of individuals with bound lower limbs.

12The evidence of restraint, both legs and arms tied, is a sign that the deceased were considered felons. Tied limbs are the most common treatment in the mass grave and are often recorded together with other practices without any discernible preference (fig. 10). Contracted position on the side may be considered as another sign of restricting the movement through binding. This is probably the case for n°63, a pregnant woman about 16-18 years old with artificial skull deformation, whose body was placed at the bottom. Tied lower limbs and severe mutilation are also evident in 4 out of 6 males.

Fig. 10. Patterns of maltreatment in the bottom layer.

13The individuals placed on the bottom of the pit, such as n°63, are perhaps the most important for our analysis. On one hand, the very fact of their literally lowest position has to be accounted for. On the other hand, these are the only skeletons found complete, hence giving the clearest account of the variety of treatment. The eight individuals there represent about half the instances where prone position, weighting with stones or side burial is recorded (fig. 11.). The prone position and body disintegration tend to correspond to artificial skull deformation, but it should be noted that deformations are quite common among all the victims (fig. 12.). Stone weighting is combined equally with prone and position on the side in this site and is generally rare. Weighing down is a secondary practice, an additional element of maltreatment and therefore can be considered another kind of distinction between deviant burials within the mass grave. The perfect example to illustrate this point is n°74. She was 30-35 year old woman with plagiocephaly and distinctive artificial skull deformation. She was placed in prone position at the bottom of the grave with her right hand under her body and the left one next to the head. Her body was tightly covered with 49 flat stones with the exception of her head and left hand. The last example of prone burials is n°53, a 15-18 year old female with prominent artificial skull deformation. Her head is thrown back in an unnatural way, the hands were flexed at the elbows under the body and the legs were also flexed. All these are symptoms of cadaveric spasm and high nervous tension upon death, which suggest live burial.

14Finally, decapitations seem to form a group displaying internal variations in the mode of deposition but without any clear age-specific pattern (fig. 13.). Decapitation is sometimes combined with other mutilations of the postcranial skeleton (fig. 14.).

Fig. 11. Maltreatment of individuals with artificial skull deformation.

Fig. 12. Decapitations in the mass grave from Devnya-3.

Fig. 13. Severe mutilation and disintegration in the mass grave from Devnya-3. Age and sex profile.

Sacrifice-War-Law. An Integrated Discussion

15The varied categories of deviant burials exhibited within a single mass grave further strengthen the impression of formalized killing with selective employment of diverse methods of killing. It is plausible that the choice behind the mode of death has been dictated by the association of each individual to a particular social group or, again, to a particular action or behavior condemned by society. As the victims did not receive normal burial, it is clear that the massacre burial was undertaken by the perpetrators of the slaughter rather than the victims’ own kinsmen. The archaeological record suggests the remains of a judicially sanctioned execution due to the felon-like treatment of the victims. The mass grave from Devnya-3 shares many functional characteristics with the execution cemeteries described in English publications⁷. The main differences can be explained by the short time span of the site-formative event.

16The probable cause of such a horrific deed necessitates the historical interpretation of the archaeological record. The lack of absolute dates for any of the skeletons is unfortunate, but there is sufficient evidence to speculate on the matter. Some information, like the presence of animal bones or the sexing of the victims, has been altered to imply one suggestion or another. Various proposals have been made, but all tend to seek a strictly religious ritual in the archaeological record: D. Dimitrov explains the mass grave as a sacrifice as part of Vladimir-Rassate’s (889-893) attempt to re-establish pagan religion in Bulgaria at the end of 9th c.⁸. This hypothesis is accepted by Z. Aladzov who emphasizes the solar semantics of the ring shape and links it to the cult of Tangra⁹. An extremely speculative explanation is provided by A. Kaloyanov on the basis of much later ethnographic data connecting the mass grave to a sacrifice at the time of the rise to power of Khan Telets in 760¹⁰.

17K. Melamed provides the most reasonable interpretation on the basis of the Responsa Nicolai pape ad consulta Bulgarorum¹¹. Following the account describing the aftermath of the rebellion against Boris-Michael and the conversion to Christianity in 865, she connects the mass grave to the severe punishment of the aristocratic houses that raised arms against him¹². Her opinion is echoed by K. Stanev and M. Christova with L. Doncheva-Petkova¹³.

18Indeed, the archaeological and anthropological data matches the account (Responsa, 577 n.  17). Particularly important is the information on the execution of all the leaders along with their children and wives¹⁴. Having in mind the demographic character of the mass grave, it is plausible to suggest that the people buried in the mass grave at Devnya-3 were executed for treason after the unsuccessful armed rebellion. Naturally, one must be careful when matching archaeological findings to specific historical episodes, even more so when the evidence is mainly circumstantial. The proposal of K. Melamed is perhaps an overly simplified equation between textual and archaeological information. However, reluctance to directly match the events from 865 to the mass grave from Devnya-3 does not mean that the archaeological site was not formed under a similar sociopolitical situation, probably about the same time.

19The realization that the archaeological situation at Devnya-3 is likely to be the outcome of internal social conflict is important to understand how deviancy occurs in mortuary behaviour. However, the mass grave cannot be seen as a simple function of military struggle. At the very least, its features are very different from those of almost all mass graves of battle victims. One instance of such difference is the early medieval mass grave n°80 from Kyulevcha, where the bodies of 25 young men were buried together in a single pit on the periphery of bi-ritual Bulgar necropolis. They seem to have been hastily buried in the closest burial ground to the battlefield by their peers¹⁵. Such a male-centered, warrior nature is analogous to many mass grave finds, recently Ridgeway Hill, to cite just one¹⁶.

20Despite this, the mass grave from Devnya-3 resembles another, from the site Na Tynici in the Bohemian stronghold, Budec, dated to the 10th c.¹⁷. The mass grave of up to 60 males is surrounded by a cemetery with an estimated 150 graves. Notable is the concentration of non-normative graves of women and children in the sections of the cemetery closest to the mass grave, while further away, the burial customs are normalized in orientation and forms of deposition. It is suggested that the deceased from the mass grave were the vanquished defenders of the stronghold following unrest after the death of Duke Wenceslas, while close to them were placed their relatives. The principal analogy between the Bohemian and Bulgar sites is the mass execution, probably resulting from internal challenges to central authority, and the very rapid formation of social outcasts.

21It is also logical that the conspicuous lack of male individuals of active fighting age is due to their involvement in combat away from their families. Historical sources inform us that the participants of the rebellion were from the outer provinces. They included representatives from all strata of Bulgar society and primates, maiores, and mediocres among the nobility. Although the Responsa claims that only the leaders (and their families) were executed and that most people were freed in an act of mercy, the differential treatment during the execution and burial demonstrates a more complex decision-making process than usually assumed. Especially in the case of burial practices it is clear that the performative potential of the funerary event has been thoroughly exploited to project a negative image onto the victims.

22Precisely the aspect of penal performance can be better used to explain the shape of the mass grave. The round central space surrounded by the ring ditch is the best candidate for an execution site that can be observed from everywhere. As seen in much later examples from Central Europe, many permanent gallows had a circular shape better serving the visual demonstration of the execution and the faith of the criminals¹⁸. In this sense, the grave can be a symbolic boundary between the execution site and the public, either present during the event or simply incorporated in the nearby communal burial ground. This also supports the existence of a law enforcement system designated to control people of certain social identities and likely to be involved in high treason.

23The contextualization with the Responsa has further implications for early medieval Bulgar legal culture. The first of them is the explicit consideration that treason and rebellion fall within the judiciary sphere of public life and, accordingly, its change to Christian morality. It is an insight into the internal operational mechanism of early state-controlled violence itself. For instance, the principle of guilt by association and collective responsibility is clearly manifested in the very act of mass execution and burial. There is also the potential for the mass grave to reflect the common acceptance of blood feud in Bulgar society, in traditional law and also in the social structure. The extension of the death penalty and its severity over all family members, as seen by the age and sex profile of the deceased, signals the continuous significance of kinship-based groups as discrete social units in the eyes of the law. Another observation that can be made is that at this point the full gravity of the law is brought to bear by the authorities principally on offenses representing great social risk. In other words, secular power structures were happy to delegate the inducement of social norms to local communities most of the time, but the increasingly centralized power took control over extreme cases of treason to itself or its subjects.

All for one or one for all: A comparative discussion

24Such dynamics of authority have to be accounted for when the physical evidence for legal activities is under the scrutiny of archaeologists and historians. The recognition of executions in the archaeological record illustrates the problem in a very sensitive manner. After all, executions are simply a form of (usually secular) authority-induced ritualized behavior. However, they lack the overly codified metaphorical formulas typical for other ceremonies. Their symbolism is often quite transparent and focused on exclusion and maltreatment of the wrong-doers. Likewise, the link between peri mortem conditions and the human remains from deviant burials are crucial methodologically. The primary marker for designating a burial as deviant is the direct physical treatment of the body as observable on the skeleton. Therefore, a comparison between the types of maltreatment detected in the context of the mass grave from Devnya-3 and the deviant burial practices from individual graves can be used to verify the validity of applying the categories of deviant burials known from elsewhere in Europe. Furthermore, the proposed reinterpretation of the mass grave as state-sanctioned execution instead of sacrifice may be an argument for similar appropriation of known deviant burials in a legal and sociopolitical context.

25Although a comprehensive study of medieval deviant burial customs from Southeastern Europe is under way, a significant number have been identified on the territory of present-day Bulgaria. The first steps towards the comparative perspective described above are made precisely with some individual cases from this collection.

26Naturally, some cases fit the narrative better and are better suited for such interpretation. The clearest example in this respect seems to be grave 81 from Kyulevcha. The grave is close to the mass grave in the peripheral cluster of the bi-ritual necropolis from the 8th-9th c. The male individual buried there was most likely bound before his execution, probably near the grave. He was decapitated as part of the disintegration of his body into three parts with a sword, as the cut-marks indicate. Then, his remains were disposed inside a round pit. The torso was in prone position on top of his head, while the contracted legs and pelvis were in the eastern side of the pit.

27The combination of several distinctive elements of deviant burial leaves strong impression of the severity of the maltreatment and presumably, the committed crime. It also serves as an illustration of the types of burial practice most easily associated with the graves of law-breakers. The prone position, decapitation and disintegration can be recognized as a marker of deviant social behaviour and a negative mode of dying, probably execution. The disintegration has particular meaning in this sense. It is not merely the act of enforcement of capital punishment, but involves the violent performance of destroying the physical identity of the convicted and by extension, his social personality. However, the interpretation mutilation burials does not have a single satisfying conclusion. This should not come as a surprise, because the deviant rites, including mutilation of the body, are the most common with the most internal diversity. All internal variability probably requires different contextualization.

28A noteworthy link between deviant burial rites and a circular shape of the grave structure occurs. The recent find of three rounded pits from 10th-11th c. containing deviant burials from the prehistoric site of Hauza near Kapitan Andreevo is significant. The pits are considerably deep, up to 1,5 m. On the bottom four individuals, showing different signs of maltreatment, were found. The analogy in the grave shapes of Hauza, Kyulevcha and Devnya should raise awareness of the performative functionality of all the elements of burial. The neglected mode of disposal, weighting with stones and decapitation probably signify these individuals as the remains of local people executed during a military campaign rather than a sacrifice, as suggested by the archaeologist excavating the site¹⁹. The use of pits for disposal of the bodies can be another meaningful form of disrespectful treatment. The question of the initial use of such pits is open and can raise doubts as to the use of the term grave in these cases . However, similar structures are also found in cemeteries.

Conclusion

29One all-embracing narrative cannot be equally valid for all features of deviant rites. Nevertheless, the detailed analysis of the mass grave from Devnya-3 juxtaposed to some initial observations on deviant burials from Bulgaria suggests that they are best understood as a way of maintaining social control over the dead. Hence, significant attention needs to be paid to the judicial connotations of mortuary behaviour at the time of the First Bulgarian Tsardom.