140 Years of Research on the Hallstatt Period Burial Site of Frög in Carinthia/Austria – and Now Some New Data

The Great Heuberg: An Iron Age ritual landscape on the Swabian Jura, SW Germany

Seven amber beads (Fig. 14.1; Table 14.1) were discovered in five graves (0.9% of all graves) at the Świbie cemetery. They differ in the overall shape of the body. Following the typology proposed by M. Chytráček et al. (2017) for amber beads from HaC–D1 found in the Czech Republic, Moravia and Slovakia, one formal type (A2) can be distinguished in the analysed material, and it is represented by three variants (A2a, A2c, A2d); in addition, one specimen does not fit into the classification of M. Chytráček et al. (2017). All variants mentioned are long-lived, found before and after the Hallstatt period. In the Early Iron Age, they are known from present-day Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia, as well as from lands further south-west, such as Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. In central Europe, amber artefacts of HaC–D1 date are found most abundantly in the areas of Greater Poland (Fig. 14.2), central Silesia, Bohemia, and Moravia. Upper Silesia and western Lesser Poland are very poor in finds of this type (Figs 14.3 and 14.4). The paucity of amber finds in the Częstochowa-Gliwice area cannot be explained by the cremation of the deceased together with their furnishings, as biritual rites prevailed there during the Hallstatt period and inhumation burials predominated over cremations. Other factors (possibly fashion or customs) that influenced the rare furnishing of the deceased with amber ornaments must therefore be taken into account.

Pathological findings from early Iron Age inhumation burials from three cemeteries of the Hallstatt Period (Beilngries, Dietfurt and Schirndorf) in the Upper Palatinate (Bavaria) were compiled. Particular stress was laid upon possible conclusions concerning environmental conditions. The infrequency of cribra orbitalia demonstrates that the studied groups did not suffer from a deficiency of iron. The uncommon fractures of the extremity bones and lesions of the skull give at present the image of a peaceful era during the Hallstatt period in the Upper Palatinate. Caries could be ascertained by 5.4% of the adults from Dietfurt, by 4.9% of those from Schirndorf. In the Dürrnberg the percentage of such cases was lower (2.2%). This can be explained on the one side by the earlier death-rate climax on the Dürrnberg and on the other by differing nutritional habits. The teeth of the adult population from Dietfurt show enamel hypoplasia in only 14.9% of all cases. This low percentage gives cause to suppose that sufficient Vitamin A, C and D were present in the nutrition of the studied populations.

The cemetery in Gogolin is one of the flat cemeteries with a biritual funeral rite typical for the Upper Silesian-Lesser Poland group of the Lusatian culture. In the north and south-west range of this group, the Częstochowa-Gliwice subgroup was distinguished. In the classic stage of this subgroup, i.e. at the end of the Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Hallstatt period, a distinctive feature of the funeral rites is the prevalence of cemeteries with more inhumations than cremations. The necropolis in Gogolin is the most southwestern site of this subgroup. Inhumation burials dominate at most biritual cemeteries, although there are also some where cremation graves prevail. It is worth emphasising the peripheral location of the cemetery within the Upper Silesian-Lesser Poland group, because the communities from the western bank of Oder river, representing the Silesian group of the Lusatian culture, practiced cremation burial rite exclusively. At the analysed necropolis 71 graves were examined, including 38 inhumation and 29 cremation burials. The cremation graves varied from simple, small pits with concentrations of bones suggesting their original placement in an organic container, to graves imitating inhumation burials in respect of the grave pit size and furnishing. In three cases, the type of burial rite could not be established because the burials were almost completely destroyed.

Burial customs underwent gradual changes during the Iron Age, sometimes revealing significant upheavals occurring in the socio-spiritual sphere of the time. Both commonalities and differences between Western and Eastern Europe can be observed in the development of Iron Age burial practices. Particular attention is paid to the differences between the western and eastern parts of Central Europe, which come to the forefront in LT C2 and are probably related to the radical change in religious ideas in the eastern part of Central Europe. Interdisciplinary investigation of the disturbed princely barrow from the Late Hallstatt period in Rovná near Strakonice (South Bohemia) produced new information that has helped clarify the studied topic.