In this article the author deals with the problem of deposition respectively tossing of children's skeletons within settlement structures. The published finds dating from the Neolithic to the Bronze age that have been excavated in southwestern Slovakia, serve as the main source of information. However, it must be mentioned that the available information is scarce since the issue has not received sufficient attention from the scholars yet. The first part of the paper questions the commonly used terminology as inaccurate or misleading and suggests modifications of expressions that would meet the accuracy requirements of modern science. For example, the term 'grave' or 'burial' is considered inadequate in case when a child's skeleton is found without signs of proper burial or when the corpse looks as if being tossed without grave goods. For such cases the author proposes to apply the term 'skeleton within settlement structure' (e. g. child's skeleton tossed into a cultural pit). then the expression 'grave within settlement structure' would indicate only those individuals that have been properly buried (body position according to the rites, accompanied by grave goods, etc.). In the second part the author analyzes the finds from different time periods and on the basis of common features he divides them into eight groups (from A to H). Group a includes cases when a single skeleton was deposited in settlement structure, group B covers cases when skeletons were placed within settlement structure together with isolated (understand disarticulated) human bones, group C contains children's skeletons thrown into ditches, D includes cases when a child was buried within a structure together with an adult individual, E represents multiple children's graves in settlement structure (more than two skeletons), F contains cases when children's skeletons are found in Chalcolithic layers in so-called 'mass graves', G covers cases when two children's skeletons are found together, and group H represents skeletons from the early Bronze age so-called 'mass graves'. The author concludes that the appearance of some of the groups (esp. B and H) is characteristic for a particular period or is directly connected to a specific culture. Thus the writer considers these finds an exceptional expression of rites with a peculiar significance that is not well understood and explained by the scholars yet. Chronology of the other groups (esp. group a) is relative due to the stage of research in southwestern Slovakia since similar, though older or younger finds are known from both, close and more distant areas, but not from the discussed region. It is believed that ongoing research, utilizing the potential of natural sciences in particular, would bring clues to the issue.
