CRYPT BURIALS FROM THE CLOISTER CHURCH OF RIESA (GERMANY) – CHANGES OF FUNERARY CUSTOMS, BODY TREATMENT, AND ATTITUDES TO DEATH

The cloister church of Riesa (Saxony) contains two burial crypts which were used from the 17th to 19th century AD by the local
noble families von Felgenhauer, von Odeleben and von Welck. During the last two centuries, the crypts have experienced severe
changes, which could partly be reconstructed through archive records, photographs and oral history.
The aim of the investigations, supported by the parish and the city museum, was to document the current state-of-preservation
and to identify the inhumations by combining different types of evidence. The crypt beneath the altar originally contained 50
inhumations of which nowadays 30 are still preserved, either as coffins and/or mummies, while eight individuals were entombed
in the northern above-ground crypt.
The coffins were visually inspected and dated by typo-chronological comparisons, and inscriptions were transliterated whenever
possible. Materials, fabrication, clothing type, and dating of the garments were determined during textile analysis, preceded
by surface cleaning. The mummified remains were subjected to a physical anthropological investigation, including X-ray and/or
computed tomography. Different body treatments resulting in natural or artificial mummification could be observed. The X-ray
images also revealed hidden fasteners of the garments as well as funerary objects placed in the coffins´ padding. In selected
cases, samples for aDNA analysis were taken in order to test the kinship between individuals, and stable isotope analysis was
performed for the reconstruction of diet, provenance, and age of weaning. Probable identification could only be achieved for the
individuals with contextual information; however, the bioarchaeological analyses are still ongoing.
The coffin ornamentation and inscriptions as well as the garments show chronological as well as individual changes from the
17th to 19th century, most distinctive for children burials. They also express a changing attitude to death, reflecting at first
devotion and hope of resurrection, later familial affiliation and individual status.