ABSTRACT
The funeral ritual has strong archaic reminiscences in the 19th, even 20th, century Romanian village. Documents as those from Zapodeni (Vaslui county), dating from 1847 and 1860, give us some clues about the funeral ritual, that contains strong pre-Christian signs.
The feasts or charities were done after 3, 9, 20 and 40 days, 6 months, 1 year, and then annually, until 7 years were elapsed from the death, when the un-burial of the deceased took place. They are, in fact, archaic expiatory customs, that facilitate the journey of the soul to the Other World. The water charity has the same role: in his long journey the soul should not suffer from thirst and should reach the Other World well. There has always been a blessing service after building a well, mentioning the deceased soul.
An ethnological study based on documents as those presented in this paper gives us a vision on the ancestral mentality of the 19th century peasant.