Bioarchaeological reconstruction of the funeral rite - case study based on organic material from the Hallstatt Period tumulus at the site Zahradka (South Bohemia,Czech Republic)
Abstract
The Hallstatt and Early La Tene Period (800-400/380 BC) burial mound no. 1 at the site Zahradka (cadaster Chabicovice, district Cesky Krumlov, South Bohemia, Czech Republic) was discovered accidentally in 2011. In subsequent small-scale excavations of the disturbed tumulus, two bronze hollow rings (anklets) with fragments of human tibia, and the remains of textile on the surface of one of these rings were found.
Thanks to the corrosion products (cooper salts and oxides) of the bronze rings, a wide range of organic material and textile fragments were preserved in their filling and surroundings. Ongoing interdisciplinary research involving macroremains, pollen, xylotomy, entomology, and archaeozoology analysis has yielded interesting data especially in terms of plant macroremains preserved in the grave and natural environment of the site during the Iron Age.
Based on obtained data, it was possible to partially reconstruct the burial rite and develop the methodology of burial rite reconstruction for graves with organic material, preserved thanks to large metal grave goods.