Burial rituals inferred from palynological evidence: Results from a late Neolithic stone cist in southern Sweden

Soil samples from a late Neolithic stone cist in Hamneda, southern Sweden, were pollen analysed. The results of the analysis suggest that the local vegetation at the time of the burial was a half-open woodland with pasture and small-scale cereal growing, intermingled with stands ofTilia (lime),Quercus (oak) andCorylus (hazel). The analysis also gives unique information on the burial ritual. High pollen percentages ofHordeum type,Triticum type and undifferentiated Cerealia from among the shards of a pot deposited in the cist show that the pot originally contained cereal grains, bread, porridge, gruel or beer. Furthermore, the analysis shows that flowers ofAnemone nemorosa were deposited on or beneath the dead body in the cist.