The excavations in the ancient
village identified by some as Kaukana (Ragusa province) have yielded very interesting and unexpected results. The village consists of 22 houses and a church, and
has been dated to 350–650 CE. It is in one of the houses, dated to c. 600/650 CE,
that two rare finds were discovered. The first was a sarcophagus containing the
skeleton of a 25-year-old woman and a 4-year-old child, who was interred a number of
years after the woman. There are Christian symbols such as crosses and an
inscription quoting from the Bible, leaving no doubt as to their faith. This burial is rare
because a traditional burial in a town with a church would have
taken place either at the cemetery or in or near the church, not within a home. It has
been speculated that because the woman suffered from atretic
cephalocele – witnessed by a hole in her cranium – she is likely to have had seizures.
This perhaps would have been seen as ‘demonic
possession’ by the rest of the
Christian community, but likely held by her family as evidence that she was ‘holy’. A
nearby table and bench indicate that the family held funerary feasts for her, in
origin a pagan ritual. The second rare find appeared on the cover slabs of the
sarcophagus. One had a hole for the pouring of libations, also a pagan ritual, giving
further indication that the latter continued well into the Christian age. On another slab
was an inscription – ‘holy holy holy’, written backwards to make it more
‘magical’ – surrounded by a strange design. The design was drawn specifically on this
slab together with the text for this burial. Interestingly it also shows up in
Iron Age rock art in northern Italy, Portugal, Sweden and even England, datable
to the 6th century BCE through the 1st century BCE. It even appears on a wood
and gold item from shaft grave IV, grave circle A, in Mycenae, dating to 1500 BCE – but
nowhere else! Clearly it is another pagan symbol, probably a variant of the
swastika, used here uniquely in a Christian context. But how is it that almost identical examples have
been found scattered over Europe but in distinct chronological groupings widely
separated from one another? Dr. Wilson would be very interested in any
suggestions or ideas, and in particular to hear of any further parallels.
roger.wilson@ubc.ca
stone slab, Kaukana Iron Age rock carving
