The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

中文翻译：

---

火葬VS。葬礼：使用 14C 数据的核密度分析模拟比利时从中石器时代到中世纪的殡葬习俗的文化变化

采用具有所有社会和认知意义的新丧葬仪式对于理解过去社会的社会转型非常重要。在与现代比利时相对应的领土上，已知的第一次火葬可以追溯到中石器时代。从新石器时代末期开始，火葬习俗的特点是这种仪式占主导地位的时期和收缩时期，即这种葬礼仪式的使用减少。本文旨在通过 1428 放射性碳的核密度分析模拟埋葬实践中的不连续性，首次量化这种现象。14C) 可追溯到中石器时代至中世纪位于比利时的 311 个考古遗址。尽管可能存在埋葬和采样偏差，但结果强调了火葬仪式大量吸收的时期的存在，随后是收缩时期；这种不连续性与当地社区的社会经济结构的变化有关，例如在青铜时代后期和罗马时代末期。