Eneolithic to the Early Middle Ages. The social status of the deceased has become a subject of a longrunning discussion, one that typically ends with a statement on the prominent standing of individuals mastering the processing of metal in ancient societies. This notion is inspired by the ideas of V.G. Childe, and modern attempts to connect the Marxist-Leninist approach with the completely opposing phenomenologist approach result in a vicious circle. Obvious burials of rulers and children with forging tools document that an interpretation seeking highly respected craftsmen in 'smiths' burials' is flawed. The author sees the origin of the habit of equipping burials with forging tools in ritual metallurgy: the attributes of buried leaders who, through the use of forging tools, secured the prosperity of their community during rituals, became themselves symbols of elite standing. As in the case of burial furnishings, the performance of ritual metallurgy also depended on the organization of society, thus resulting in differences in the chrono-geographical distribution of burials with forging tools: in the period in which burials furnished with forging tools decline in the Mediterranean, their number peaks in central Europe; their occurrence ends in Viking Age Scandinavia. Graves furnished with tools used in metalworking appear (not only) in Europe from the Eneolithic to the Early Middle Ages. This article focuses on the final phase of the occurrence of so-called 'smiths' burials' (or, more recently, 'metallurgists' burials'), which, however, help to shed light on the much older roots of the phenomenon. The burials often also contain indicators of the deceased individual's high social standing. The social status of such 'smiths' or 'goldsmiths' has therefore become a subject of discussion, one that typically ends with a general statement on the prominent standing of individuals mastering the metalwork process in ancient societies. Similarly popular are theories on the free status of gold/smiths (weapons are often found with forging or goldsmith's tools in the graves), on their high mobility or their travelling for work (graves are furnished with luxury artefacts of foreign origin) and their 'otherness', or even fear of these individuals (the burials are situated in isolated or exposed locations). Scholars have speculated whether the weapons, jewellery and other artefacts deposited in 'smiths' burials' were the products, articles of trade, models or raw material used by the buried individuals. Attempts at broader interpretations of early medieval graves with forging or goldsmith's tools (e.g.
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