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.

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The Hosty tomb in southern Bohemia, new considerations. The example of conservation of the openwork belt-hook from Hosty has been used to demonstrate that the belt-hooks from Bohemia were as rich in decoration and construction elements as it is the case with bronze products of the Western - La Tène zone. At the same time the find concerned exposes the system of decoration of Early La Tène belt-hooks in Bohemia. The initial motif of the master of the beast of North Italian origin had been here, same as in the Rhineland, substituted by a schematized human mask. On the object of the study it is framed by series of symmetrically set pairs of S -shaped animal motifs. The masterly iron working in local workshops was capable to satisfy even the different aesthetic demands of East - La Tène zone.

Les motifs zoomorphes sont bien représentés dans l’art laténien du Ve siècle avant J.-C. de la Bohême. Ils y sont au contraire très rares au siècle suivant et leur nombre n’augmente qu’au IIIe siècle av. J.-C., notamment grâce aux agrafes de ceintures métalliques. La révision des matériaux a permis de distinguer au IIIe siècle avant J.-C. un certain nombre de motifs zoomorphes qui se trouvent associés à l’emploi des techniques jusqu’ici inconnues du faux filigrane et du «pastillage » et à l’apparition de nouvelles formes de parures. L’origine de ce courant doit être cherchée dans les conséquences de l’expansion celtique dans le sud-est de l’Europe. On peut observer au IIIe siècle avant J.-C. non seulement le retour d’individus et de groupes provenant de ces régions en Europe centrale mais également de fortes influences de l’art laténien de la cuvette karpatique sur la production de la Bohême.

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