Mala Kopašnica – Sase graves: narrative of continuity

The graves with cremated burials labelled as Mala Kopašnica – Sase type, supposedly covering more than 70% of registered burials in Moesia Superior, are considered to be an autochthonous form, associated to pre-Roman population, characteristic for the Moesian-Dacian region from 1st to 3rd centuries, rarely spanning to the beginning of 4th century. The general similarity of burial form and relative homogeneity of grave goods are taken as arguments in the interpretation of the key concept of continuity of the prehistoric practices, but as well of unchanged burial practices and continuity of funerary customs lasting at least two centuries of the Roman domination, its cultural superiority, and visible transformation of local identities as a result of systemic and standardized Romanization, and finally, of identification of the autochthonous population of Moesia Superior as actors of this practice. The paper discusses the necropolis Gomilice near Guberevac, the only systematically investigated one in the area of Roman imperial mines at Kosmaj, with domineering burial type of Mala Kopašnica – Sase, as the starting point in reconsidering the current interpretation of this type of burial.