At this time in the west, early La Tenc burials occur mostly as secondary deposits in burial mounds of the preceding Hallstatt period. For this reason this period is referred to as the 'Hiigelgraber-LT’ (burial-mound LT) (Kramer 1985), By contrast in the eastern province - in Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, south-west Slovakia and western Hungary - flat cemeteries appear in considerable numbers at the end of the sixth century BC, and some are much earlier than this (Jerem 1987), These cemeteries are characterized by the contemporary co-cxistcncc of inhumation and cremation burials. In the case of the latter, the cremated remains are either deposited in urns or else placed directly in the soil (Figure 30.2). These differences may reflect factors such as sex, age, social status or ethnic group (Neugebauer 1992; Jerem 199a), A detailed comparative analysis of cemeteries excavated under modern conditions is still outstanding, but when this is available it will provide the key to reinterpreting some of the earlier cemetery excavations. It is, nevertheless, possible to observe certain trends in burial rite. Cremation continued to be common in the eastern area throughout the Hallstatt period. Inhumations occur in parallel with cremations but increase in number during the second half of the phase.
Figure yo. i Decorated terracotta vase with handles terminating in rams’ heads of a cremation grave from Csobaj (third century HC). (After Hcllcbrandt 1989, courtesy of Hermann Otto
Museum, Miskolc.)
Large-scale cemetery excavations (for example Frartzhausen, Reichersdorf, Herzog-enburg, Oberndorf, Ossarn in the Traisen valley. Lower Austria; Bucany In southwest Slovakia; Sopron-Krautacker and Pllismarot-Basaharc in Transdanubia) provide material for statistical analysis which shows how the ratio of the two burial types changes over time. Cremation became rarer and towards the end of the La Tcnc A period it disappeared altogether. The custom came into fashion again at the transition between the early and middle La Tone (Bujna-Romsauer 198}; Cizmar 1970, 1975; Jerem 1981a, 1981b, 1986; Kutzian 197;, Ncugebaucr 1985, 1992; Pauli 1978; Waldhauser 1987).
The most important burials were enclosed by circular or rectangular ditches and were often marked by roughly finished stelae, or by simple stones. The grave pit (chamber) itself was often elaborately constructed using stone settings, lining with stones or covering with stones; wooden linings and wooden coffins were also common. Most of the burials show a regular south-north or south-west-north-west orientation (Lorenz 1978, 19S0; Waldhauser 1987).
In cases in which the more recent early La Tcnc inhumations overlie older cremations or inhumations of the Hallstatt period, it is possible not only to make fine stratigraphic deductions, but also to show graphically how this orientation differs from the east-west direction favoured In Hallstatt times. The existence of multiple and consecutive burials in various forms allows one to begin to think in terms of family groups.
A recent analysis of the human skeletal material deriving from the eastern part of Austria furnishes valuable data not only of morphological or typological features but also regarding the population size and mortality rate of the early Celtic inhabitants (Renhart 1990a, 1990b, 1992). A continuity in both culture and population - similar to that observed among the western Celts - exists in the eastern province also. Here too there is significant typological heterogeneity and strong continuity of the earlier iron age population.
The major feature which distinguishes the eastern group from the west is the custom of providing the dead with food and drink (joints of meat, iron knives and pottery) (Figure 30.3); this is a continuation of Hallstatt rituals. Animal bones included in such deposits were always accompanied by a special knife (Haumesser) (Osterhaus 1981) and were most commonly from pig, followed by cattle, sheep and chicken. Sets of drinking vessels and sometimes cooking pots consisted mostly of types in use in domestic contexts and known from settlement excavations.
Pottery manufactured in local workshops shows a strong continuity of development until the introduction of new technology: the potter’s wheel. This led to both an increase in productivity and standardization in form. Decoration now reflected the new technology - for example cordons and grooves - and was integral to the form of the pot rather than being applied after the pot itself was made. Wheel-thrown wares appear already during the course of the fifth century BC (Dehn 1962/3; Lang 1974, 1976). In addition to the flask-shaped vessels (Linsenflasche) (Voigt 1969; Schwappach 1975, 1979) and bowls characteristic of the eastern alpine region (Dehn 1951), there is a special form of cup decorated with high handles which terminate either in the form of animal heads or alternatively animal horns (Jerem 1981a, 1987).
Decoration typical of the Hallstatt period, such as graphite painting and burnishing, was used into the early La Tene period. At the same time, stamped decoration was very popular. This decoration occurred initially on the outer surface of the pots (particularly flasks and bowls) and on the interior of drinking vessels. These stamps comprise a combination of circles and other shapes; cylinder stamps were also used. The designs were imitations of classical decoration and particular to metal vessels. It is of interest to note that the stamped decoration was sometimes effected with metal working tools (e. g. punches) and that the pottery vessels themselves were often skeuomorphs closely imitative in both form and decoration of metal prototypes (Figure 30.4) (Schwappach 1973; Jerem 1974-5, 1984)- Several manufacturing centres can be identified by means of analysing the fabric of the pots and their stylistic features and methods of decoration. Interdisciplinary investigation of the clay and inclusions used to temper it and of samples taken from pottery (petrographic and chemical analyses) conducted in Bohemia and western Hungary (Kardos et al. 1985; Gosden 1984, 1987; Jerem 1984; Salac 1992) prove that stamped ware is not only associated with particular workshops, but that it is also traded by means of a regional distribution network, which can, to some extent, be traced. There is certainly evidence of trans-regional contacts. Recently, the investigation of graphite-tempered pottery produced very similar results. In this case the relationship of sources of raw material, connected workshops and market areas has been analysed (Waldhauser 1992, 1994).
Figure 30.3 ‘Doctor’s grave’, no. 520 from Pottenbrunn cemetery. City Museum St Pbiten, Lower Austria (fourth century BC). (After Neugebauer 1992.)
Figure 30.4 Early Celtic stamp-dccoratcd pottery from Sopron-Krautackcr workshop, Archaeological Institute of the HAS, Budapest, Hungary (fifth-third century BC).
World History
