Artefacts, skulls and written sources: the social ranking of a Celtic family buried at Münsingen-Rain

Müller, Felix; Jud, Peter; Alt, Kurt W.

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00096940

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The extraordinary abundance of grave goods and the continuity of the cemetery led to the assumption that the entire Münsingen population was of high social status. Additionally, the relatively long occupation time (from 420 to 240BC) of the cemetery is exceptional (Müller et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

Moghaddam

Müller

Hafner

et al. 2014

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The Iron Age cemetery of Münsingen in Switzerland with 220 abundantly equipped burials marked a milestone for Iron Age research. The horizontal spread throughout the time of its occupancy laid the foundation for the chronology system of the Late Iron Age. Today, skulls of 77 individuals and some postcranial bones are still preserved. The aim of the study was to obtain information about diet, mobility and social stratification of the individuals. Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur were analysed for 63 individuals. For all of them, C 3 plants were found to be the staple food. There are significant differences between males and females in δ

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the position of weapons such as swords and lances in male graves suggested how they might have been carried (Wyss et al 2002). In some graves, traces of wooden coffins and stone settings were found (Müller et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

Moghaddam

Müller

Hafner

et al. 2014

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…The cemetery of Münsingen-Rain (Canton Berne, Switzerland) was occupied from the end of the 5th century BCE to the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, and yielded jewels and weapons of high quality, some of them enamelled. DNA results identify two different families and a long practice of endogamy (for at least eight generations); exogamy was also practised, leading to the emergence of nobility in a sense of social class (Alt et al 2005;Müller et al 2008). 8…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies

Kirleis¹

2019

Scales of Transformation

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In which chronological, spatial, and social contexts is gender a relevant social category that is noticeable in the archaeological material? How can transformations in social gender relations and identity be recognized archaeologically? Is the identity of prehistoric people defined by gender? If so, what is the accompanying cultural context? What about gender equality among the scientists working in archaeology? In what degree are research teams, as well as their scientific approaches, biased today? These and other burning questions are intensively discussed in this volume, which comprises 25 contributions presented at the international workshop ‘Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’, organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 of Kiel University funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The workshop offered a platform to discuss a broad range of approaches on the inter-dependencies between gender relations and socio-environmental transformation processes. Beyond a focus on the archaeology of women, gender archaeology offers a variety of possibilities to reconstruct the contribution of social groups differentiated e.g. by age, gender, and activities related to cultural transformation, based on the archaeological material. Thus, this volume includes papers dealing with different socio-economic units, from south-western Europe to Central Asia, between 15,000 and 1 BCE, paying particular attention to the scale of social reach. Since gender archaeology, and in particular feminist archaeology, also addresses the issue of scientific objectivity or bias, parts of this volume are dedicated to equal opportunity matters in archaeological academia across the globe. This is realised by bringing together feminist and female experiences from a range of countries, each with its own specific individual, cultural, and social perspectives and traditions. The papers are organised along three central topics: ‘Gendering fieldwork’, ‘Tracing gender transformations’, and ‘Gendering and shaping the environment’. By gendering the archaeological discussion on transformation processes, the contributions aim to more firmly embed gender-sensitive research in the archaeological agenda, not just in Europe, but world-wide.

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“…The high frequency in Münsingen could be due to the fact that the Münsingen population was of high social status (Müller et al, 2008). Additionally, males had a "special" role in the population as stated by stable isotope analysis (Moghaddam et al, 2014).…”

Section: Trepanation In Ancient Timesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival after trepanation—Early cranial surgery from Late Iron Age Switzerland

Moghaddam

Mailler-Burch

Kara

et al. 2015

International Journal of Paleopathology

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Trepanation is defined as the intentional perforation of the cranial vault with removal of a piece of skull bone. In Europe, trepanation is known to have been practiced at least since the Neolithic, and it can still be found today in East African native tribes. Two skulls with lesions from the Late Iron Age site Münsingen-Rain (420-240 BC) were investigated. The aim of this study was to analyse the lesions and to determine whether they were caused by surgical interventions. Both individuals were analysed by current morphologic-anthropological methods and radiological examinations were performed with a multislice CT-scanner. Additionally, this work surveys trepanations reported in Switzerland and calculates survival rates. In Switzerland, 34 individuals with trepanations have been published. As a tendency, the survival rate appears to be relatively high from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity but then decreases until Pre-Modern times. The 78% survival rate in Late Iron Age Switzerland indicates that the surgery was often performed successfully. Skull injuries sustained in conflicts could have been a reason for trepanation during the Iron Age.

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Artefacts, skulls and written sources: the social ranking of a Celtic family buried at Münsingen-Rain

Cited by 7 publications

References 3 publications

Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies

Survival after trepanation—Early cranial surgery from Late Iron Age Switzerland

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