The Distant Past of a Distant Past …: Perception and Appropriation of Deep History During the Iron Ages in Northern Germany (Pre-Roman Iron Age, Roman Iron Age, and Migration Period)

Abstract

AbstractThe reuse of ancient burial grounds in prehistory is a practice that has long been testified through archaeological investigations for several periods in European prehistory. As burial mounds form a distinctive feature in the landscape—to some extent even today—the perception and appropriation of these does not come as a great surprise. Still, this appropriation and reuse for burial or other non-funerary activities offers insights into cultural practices that have only recently been frequently discussed in the field. Normally these reuses are interpreted as ancestor veneration—be it of putative or real ancestors—or the use of these monuments is considered in terms of legitimation of power structures and social distinction by elites. The diversity, frequency, and distribution of such reuses nevertheless indicate that through time older monuments are reused not only by social elites but also by other parts of these societies, and by different forms of communities. This paper will focus on northern Central Europe during the Iron Ages (Pre-Roman Iron Age, Roman Iron Age, Migration Period) and discuss how different societies (‘culture groups’) reused ancient burial places as well as other locations and objects through time and space. These findings show the importance of the long-gone dead in Iron Age Europe and form the basis for a discussion of different possible interpretations of appropriations of the distant past.