Abstract: In recent years the ideological premises and practices of early medieval funerary rituals, which are extremely complex and largely still unexplored, have become a highly topical subject in the field of European historiography. Indeed, from Late Antiquity onwards the presence and integration of different cultural traditions, and the rapid establishment and spread of Christianity led to the development of new social models of behaviour, which are not always easy to decipher, in terms of both settlements and the relationship with death and the forms in which it was represented. While archaeological research allows us to make contact with the material results of these new models of behaviour, it is not always straightforward – particularly for funerary practices – to iden- tify the ensuing system of values and cultural models. In some cases we may suppose that material forms of apparently similar ritu- als are actually the fruit of different motivations and mental universes. Consequently, there is a strong need to acquire a better understanding of the process of reciprocal acculturation that occurred in the Roman–Byzantine and Germanic worlds between the 5 th and 7 th centuries in the sphere of funerary rituals and, in particular, the relationship between burials and places of worship, which appears to be the area able to offer the most useful clues regarding the methods and dating of the acquisition of Roman customs – at least on an outward level – by the Langobard elite. Keywords: power, funerary rituals, Langobard kingdom, Moravia, Italy, mausoleum, church The historical and archaeological reflection on the interpenetration stage of Gallic–Roman and Germanic traditions inaugurated in France by the fundamental studies of E. Salin and A. France–La Nord 1 continued with those of M. Bertram, E. Ewig, M. Fleury, M. Heinzelmann, M. Kazanski, M. Martin, W. Menghin, H. Neumayer, P. Périn, M. Rouche and J. Werner. Moreover, the important information gleaned from great European exhibitions 2 has also provided a starting point and a benchmark for the study of funerary rituals in Italy, particularly in the central and northern regions of the country, offering a wide and varied panorama of typical solutions for comparison and critical reflection, especially in the sphere of special burials. In northern Italy the discovery of numerous Langobard cemete- ries has allowed reflection on both the problem of the stratification of Langobard society, as revealed by the burial grounds, 3 and on the relationship between early medieval graves and religious buildings. 4 In more general terms, it has also boosted research on the ‘type of behaviour’ adopted by the founders of religious buildings in this part of the country. 5 This has made it possible to put together a preliminary picture in which we can distinguish at least some of the tendencies displayed by the Germanic commissions in the adoption of Late Antique Christian models. FORMS OF REPRESENTATION OF POWER AND ARISTOCRATIC FUNERARY RITUALS IN THE LANGOBARD KINGDOM IN NORTHERN ITALY P. DE VINGO University of Turin, Department of Historical Studies – via Giolitti 21/e 10123 Turin, ITALY Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 63 (2012) 117–154 0001-5210/$ 20.00 © 2012 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest DOI: 10.1556/AArch.63.2012.1.4 1 Salin 1952, 92–100. 2 Alamannen 1997; Burgundes 1981–1984; Bajuwaren 1988; Die Franken 1996; Die Langobarden 2008; Goti 1994; I Longo- bardi 1990; I Longobardi 2007; Les Burgundes 1995; Könige 2000; Kulturwandel in Mitteleuropa 2008; Rome and the Barbarians 2008. 3 RiemeR 2000, 302–485; ChRiStie 2006, 148–153; PaRoli 2007, 208–209. 4 BRogiolo–ChavaRRía aRnau 2008, 7–8; BRogiolo– ChavaRRía aRnau 2010, 51–57. 5 BRogiolo 2002, 29–31; BRogiolo 2005b, 74–75; BRo- giolo–ChavaRRía aRnau 2005, 15; la RoCCa 2005, 59–67; ChRiStie 2006, 112–121; ChavaRRía aRnau 2007, 127–146; BRogiolo–Cha- vaRRía aRnau 2008, 23–24; BRogiolo–ChavaRRía aRnau 2010, 57–59.