The cemetery is located in the south-west of Pottenbrunn, on plot "Steinfeld" (15°41´05"/48°13´55"). Discovered in 1930, it had already yielded objects dating to the early La Tène period. In 1981, road construction revealed further finds which initiated rescue excavations by the Bundesdenkmalamt (State Office for Protection of Historical Monuments) under the guidance of J.-W. Neugebauer (Ramsl 2002a(Ramsl , 13) in 1981(Ramsl and 1982. A total of 42 graves with 45 burials (single and double inhumations, and cremations) have been documented. Some burials were severely disturbed (by ancient activities such as grave robbing and/or contemporary construction work), and some were set within fenced enclosures ("Grabgärten"). Three (of 22) samples of charcoal and bone fragments taken by Peter Stadler (Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna) in the course of the FWFproject "Absolute Chronology for Early Civilisations in Austria and Central Europe" returned AMS dates of 410-200 cal BCE (grave 520), 550-200 cal BCE (grave 565) and 380-350 cal BCE (grave 1005) (Ramsl 2002b, 359). The cremation burials were not included in the initial osteological analysis, but 31 inhumed individuals were studied (Gerold 2002). Petrous bones from three of these were successfully analyzed for aDNA. Sample I11699 (female) derived from an individual (inv. no. 26.238) aged c. 20 years in grave 89 which, despite disturbance in antiquity, was accompanied by fibulae and ceramic vessels. Sample I11701 (male) derived from an individual (inv. no. 26.249) aged c. 18 years in grave 570, which also included shears, fibulae, and ceramic vessels. Evidence for bone porosity in the mandible and maxilla suggest possible Vitamin C deficiency, while enamel hypoplasia points to malnutrition or illness during childhood. Sample I11708 (female) derived from an individual (inv.no. 26.250) aged c. 25-35 years in grave 574/2, who was richly adorned with fibulae, bronze, iron and silver-rings, an amber ring, a bracelet, a glass bead, and a worked bone artefact.
ZusammenfassungVorgestellt wird die Analyse keramischer Funde des bronzezeitlichen Gräberfeldes von Bonyhád (Ungarn), einem Fundplatz der Kultur Inkrustierter Keramik. Hier konnten deutliche Korrelationen zwischen Gefäßdekoration und -größen mit jenen in den Gräbern bestatteten Personen und ihrem Sterbealter erkannt werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellte sich den Verfassern die Frage nach der Natur der Gefäßverzierungen: Handelt es sich bei den bemerkenswert vielfältigen und weit verbreiteten Motiven um nur dekorative Elemente, oder waren diese eher Bestandteil eines komplexen Zeichensystem mit jeweils spezifischer Bedeutung? Warum nahm die Verwendung inkrustierter Keramik erheblich zu, als es zu einem deutlichen Wandel der Bestattungsriten kam, genauer als die Bestattungsformen der Urnenfelderzeit durch Körperbestattungen ersetzt wurden? Die Autoren gingen diesen Fragen mittels der Analyse von mehr als zweitausend Motiven, unterteilt in nahezu 500 Typen von mehr als 100 unterschiedlichen Gefäßformen, nach. In Verwendung der Klassifizierung von C. Reich wurde eine umfangreiche Datenbank auf Grundlage der Funde des Gräberfeldes von Bonyhád erarbeitet, das den gesamten Zeitraum dieser bronzezeitlichen Kultur umfasst. Als primäres Gruppierungskriterium für die Datensätze wurde das anhand der anthropologischen Überreste ermittelte morphologische Geschlecht in Verbindung zur Position, Frequenz und Kombination unterschiedlicher Motive auf den Gefäßen verwendet. Die Auswertungen ergaben zwei deutliche voneinander zu unterscheidende Gefäßverzierungen, die sich männlichen oder weiblichen Bestattungen zuweisen lassen.
A comparative study was undertaken to adopt and evaluate a radiocarbon (14C) preparation procedure for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements of cremated bones at our laboratory, including different types of archaeological samples (cremated bone, bone, charcoal, charred grain). All 14C analyses were performed using the EnvironMICADAS AMS instrument at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies (HEKAL) and the ancillary analyses were also performed at the Institute for Nuclear Research (ATOMKI). After the physical and chemical cleaning of cremated bones, CO2 was extracted by acid hydrolysis followed by sealed-tube graphitization and 14C measurement. The supplementary δ13C measurements were also performed on CO2 gas while FTIR was measured on the powder fraction. Based on the FTIR and 14C analyses, our chemical pretreatment protocol was successful in removing contamination from the samples. Good reproducibility was obtained for the 0.2–0.3 mm fraction of blind-tested cremated samples and a maximum age difference of only 150 yr was found for the remaining case studies. This confirms the reliability of our procedure for 14C dating of cremated bones. However, in one case study, the age difference of 300 yr between two cremated fragments originating from the same urn shows that other processes affecting the cremated samples in the post-burial environment can substantially influence the 14C age, so caution must be exercised.
Our paper produces results on production techniques of prehistoric metal artefacts using non-destructive neutron-based methods, considering aspects of heritage protection.
Archaeological research is currently redefining how large-scale changes occurred in prehistoric times. In addition to the long-standing theoretical dichotomy between ‘cultural transmission’ and ‘demic diffusion’, many alternative models borrowed from sociology can be used to explain the spread of innovations. The emergence of urnfields in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe is certainly one of these large-scale phenomena; its wide distribution has been traditionally emphasized by the use of the general term Urnenfelderkultur/zeit (starting around 1300 BC). Thanks to new evidence, we are now able to draw a more comprehensive picture, which shows a variety of regional responses to the introduction of the new funerary custom. The earliest ‘urnfields’ can be identified in central Hungary, among the tell communities of the late Nagyrév/Vatya Culture, around 2000 BC. From the nineteenth century BC onwards, the urnfield model is documented among communities in northeastern Serbia, south of the Iron Gates. During the subsequent collapse of the tell system, around 1500 BC, the urnfield model spread into some of the neighbouring regions. The adoption, however, appears more radical in the southern Po plain, as well as in the Sava/Drava/Lower Tisza plains, while in Lower Austria, Transdanubia and in the northern Po plain it seems more gradual and appears to have been subject to processes of syncretism/hybridization with traditional rites. Other areas seem to reject the novelty, at least until the latest phases of the Bronze Age. We argue that a possible explanation for these varied responses relates to the degree of interconnectedness and homophily among communities in the previous phases.
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