Research on urn cremations from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (c. 1350-500 BC) found in Northwestern continental Europe has been scarce over the last decades. Especially in terms of what...Show moreResearch on urn cremations from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (c. 1350-500 BC) found in Northwestern continental Europe has been scarce over the last decades. Especially in terms of what urn cremations contain, and if these contents are positioned in a certain way. This has resulted in the notion that Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age burials are simple graves, with simple funerary practices. However, this research reveals a variety of choices was made throughout the funerary process, which makes these funerary practices increasingly more complex than assumed. To study these past funerary practices, this research examined the choices made in terms of what Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age urn cremations contain, and the position of these contents. This was achieved through a literature study of sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, and by conducting a case study on a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age urn cremation from Venlo-Zaarderheiken (Limburg, the Netherlands). The latter allowed the examination of the contents and their position inside this urn cremation in detail. As a result, a variety of choices and actions concerning the contents and their position inside these urn cremations became visible through this dataset. This indicated funerary practices were more elaborate than thought; cremated human remains were carefully collected from the pyre remains, after which they were occasionally positioned inside the urn. Pyre remains were generally not added, in contrast to grave goods which often accompanied the dead on the pyre during cremation as well. Before the final deposition, the cremated human remains were covered with ceramics or stone slabs to prevent contamination with soil or to protect them from (accidental) digging activities. Thus, this research yielded a lot of new information on Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age funerary practices in Northwestern continental Europe, which proves these practices were more elaborate than initially thought.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
Towards the end of prehistory, the landscapes of Northwestern Europe developed into carefully organized places that feel more akin to those of historical and modern times. According to Mette...Show moreTowards the end of prehistory, the landscapes of Northwestern Europe developed into carefully organized places that feel more akin to those of historical and modern times. According to Mette Løvschal (2014), these landscapes saw the emergence of lines and boundaries with specific functions and meanings, especially in the Urnfield period (Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age). This thesis focuses on a number of micro-regions in the Netherlands: Epe-Niersen, Oss and Boxmeer-Sterckwijck. The aim of this study is to gain a nuanced, inter-regional understanding on how these organized landscapes developed in the long term, and what influence older, visual features from the past had on the way people dealt with them in the Urnfield period. Especially barrow alignments are notable. They clearly impacted the way people dealt with these ‘ancestral landscapes’, but in significantly different ways. At Epe-Niersen, the urnfields and Celtic field emerged solely near ancestral mounds outside of the barrow alignment. At Boxmeer-Sterckwijck, the opposite happened: The barrow line itself transformed into a dense urnfield. Thirdly, the barrow line of Oss-Zevenbergen was completely re-structured with the construction of large, monumental burial mounds, scattered urnfield-graves and post alignments. A close association between the funerary landscape and settlements is observed at Boxmeer-Sterckwijck. On the other hand, Oss-North and Oss-Ussen are a striking example of a landscape that lacked any older, visual features before the emergence of settlements in the Middle Bronze Age. Therefore, in the absence of pre-existing lines and boundaries, people ended up creating them themselves, after which they were referred to in similar ways during subsequent occupation phases. This study demonstrates that the past was unavoidable in the organization of landscapes in the Urnfield period. Furthermore, the general succession in which barrow lines, urnfields, Celtic fields and organized settlements emerged was time-transgressive in nature, meaning that they developed at different point in time at each site. Nonetheless, is seems that each region reached a certain ‘tipping point’ were the landscapes inevitably developed into highly organized areas in line with the past.Show less
This BA thesis focusses on one aspect of the burial tradition of the late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age in the South of the Netherlands and adjacent Belgium (1100-500 B.C.). During this period...Show moreThis BA thesis focusses on one aspect of the burial tradition of the late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age in the South of the Netherlands and adjacent Belgium (1100-500 B.C.). During this period of time, the vast majority of the population of North-western Europe was buried in large collective cemeteries; urnfields. Therefore, this period was also known as the Urnfield Period. The deceased were cremated and buried in small burial pits, with or without urns, to which small burial mounds and ring ditches were added. Nevertheless, in different locations, there are examples of burials in which the deceased were buried in much older burial mounds (secondary burials) or changes have been made to these burial mounds (modifications). This concerns an aberrant burial practice with re-use of burial monuments from a distant past. Although this phenomenon has been named in several publications, it lacked further analysis hitherto. This research, which is based on literature review, accommodates such analysis with a further categorization, with the underlying purpose to recover patterns. To achieve the recovery of patterns several things have been researched, among which are the type of burial mounds re-used, the manner in which they were heightened, expanded and cut through, the locations within the burial mounds where the deceased were buried, the type of grave goods that were present, the type of individuals that were buried and the correlation between them. In addition, the potential motivations for this phenomenon have been discussed, to which degree this corresponds with common burials in urnfields and whether this could have been a collective tradition. This has revealed a high degree of diversity in re-use, yet there appears to be indication of specific choices, and in particular two specific patterns have been revealed. Firstly, several individuals were potentially purposefully buried eccentrically within older burial mounds, whereas others were buried in the centre, disturbing the original graves. Therefore, in some cases, one could have been aware that people from a near or distant past were buried in these burial mounds. Secondly, the practice of secondary burials almost exclusively concerned female individuals; at least in the cases with sex estimations. Because this research was focused on aberrant burial practices, the amount number of available samples was, in fact, too small for definitive conclusions. Further research could be directed at the expansion of the research area (e.g. to Germany) and, if possible, to research the (osteological) “raw data” of sites with cases of re-use.Show less
In this thesis the context of several objects found near the Rhenense Meent has been studied. Since the Rhenense Meent and the surrounding area used to be wet lands, it is suggested that the...Show moreIn this thesis the context of several objects found near the Rhenense Meent has been studied. Since the Rhenense Meent and the surrounding area used to be wet lands, it is suggested that the objects found in this area are deliberate depositions in wet contexts. The practice of deposition occurred all over Europe, therefore one would expect the type of objects found in the research area to correspond with objects which have been found as deliberate depositions before. To see if this is the case the known traditions of depositions during Late Prehistory in the Netherlands have to be studied. To create a background for the analysis of the objects found in the research area, it is necessary to study the landscape surrounding the research area. Objects dated to the Neolithic period (5.300 BC – 2000 BC), Bronze Age (2000 BC – 800 BC) and Iron Age (800 BC- 12 BC) will be discussed in this thesis. ARCHIS was used for the analysis of the objects and landscape surrounding the research area. ARCHIS does not give a complete image of all findings of a certain area and therefore one should be cautious when using ARCHIS as a database. We can conclude that probably no deliberate depositions occurred during the Early and Middle Neolithic period. Objects found from this period are daily life objects and although daily life objects were deposited in these periods, the objects showed no clear deposition context. The area of peat was a lot smaller during the Early and Middle Neolithic period and it is possible that these objects did not derive from wet lands, but from dry locations. A changed occurred during the Late Neolithic period. In this period we see the emergence of depositions of special and non-local objects. The objects found in the research area dated to the Late Neolithic period correspond with literature about deliberate depositions during the Late Neolithic period. During the Early Bronze Age we see a possible decrease in the practice of deposition. This is remarkable since according to literature we should see an increase in the practice of deposition during this period with its culmination during the Middle Bronze Age. We do see a culmination of possible deposited objects in the research area during the Middle Bronze Age with again a decrease in possible deliberate depositions during the Late Bronze Age. No clear possible depositions have been found in the research area dated to the Iron Age. Even in later periods, such as the Roman period and the Early Medieval period, the practice of deposition was not forgotten. Indicating that the research area and its surrounding landscape was a possible persistent place.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
Archaeologists still have a lot to learn about the mortuary rituals of cremated human remains from the Bronze and Iron Age. Even though a large sample of burials from these periods contain cremated...Show moreArchaeologists still have a lot to learn about the mortuary rituals of cremated human remains from the Bronze and Iron Age. Even though a large sample of burials from these periods contain cremated remains, the main research focus has been on inhumated remains. Only recently, the importance of cremated remains became clear and the possibilities of investigating cremated human remains started to be explored. Yet, a lot of information might still be derived from these remains. With this thesis, the importance of careful and detailed excavation is studied through an examination of a human cremation burial from the Uddeler Heegde, Apeldoorn. This is done with the aim to study the funerary practices of the burial to its most extent. First, the concept of mortuary rituals is prospected through a modern (European) perspective. The excavation and determination of the case study burial are described in detail, providing a transparent study. By using concepts as personhood, social persona and the dramatis personae theory of Hertz, the relational identities of the deceased are studied. Hypotheses are used to define what mortuary practices could have been possible and which are rather implausible. Overall, this study demonstrates the additional possibilities acquired by high quality excavation of human cremation burials.Show less
The archaeological site Jelling in Denmark is a Viking Period monumental complex constructed by King Gorm and his son King Harald. Recent excavations here have shown that the traditional theories...Show moreThe archaeological site Jelling in Denmark is a Viking Period monumental complex constructed by King Gorm and his son King Harald. Recent excavations here have shown that the traditional theories about this monument need to be re-evaluated. This thesis endeavours a reconsideration of the site by studying why the monument was built on this location and what the purpose of the monument was. Through comparing Jelling to contemporary ring fortresses and settlements, surveying the archaeological composition of the area surrounding the monument, and analysing type-sites that shows parallels to Jelling, this thesis aims to further our understanding of the monumental complex. The results of the investigations reveal that Jelling’s location was probably chosen for several reasons. When King Gorm constructed the first phase of the monument, he chose a new location, purposely building it on a site with no past cult activity. He did, however, position Jelling in an ideal area for a central place in the kingdom. When King Harald expanded the monument during the second phase, he continued the use of this site probably due to an identification with the location, and its positioning in the centre of the country. The research also indicates that the Jelling complex possibly served more than one purpose. Along with the ring fortresses it formed part of a network for regional control, but shows more of an economic than military influence. Jelling is also an example of an aristocratic cult place, where the union of old and new religious symbols legitimised the conversion to Christianity. Finally, it served as a demonstration of the strength of the monarchy, illustrated by the standardisation of spatial organisation and the presence of authoritative cult symbols. In conclusion, the reconsideration of the Jelling complex indicates that the monument was constructed according to a long tradition of uniting cult and power in a central place.Show less
