Connected by More Than Exceptional Imports: Performance and Identity in Hallstatt C/D Elite Burials of the Low Countries

Abstract

The Low Countries' Early Iron Age is marked by the emergence of lavish burials known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. These extraordinary elite burials of the Hallstatt C/D period contain weaponry, bronze vessels as well as decorated wagons and horse-gear imported from the Hallstatt culture of Central Europe, where the same objects are found in the famous Fürstengräber. While the connection between these regions has long been recognized, the nature of this contact remains poorly understood. Here we present the preliminary results of an on-going re-examination of elite funerary practices in both regions and the likely direct long-distance interactions reflected in them. Similarities and differences in the treatment of objects and the dead in funerary rituals indicate that, to a certain extent at least, these geographically separated social groups were integrated in a specific elite burial practice, indicating frequent contact across hundreds of kilometres.

Protohistoric metal-urn cremation burials (1400–100 BC): a pan-European phenomenon

“…In this way, the elite demonstrated awareness of both past and contemporary traditions, as well as the real or imagined behaviour of their European peers. The selection and use of these objects materialised the shared codes of conduct, which are recognised as one of the characteristics of ‘globalised’ behaviour (van der Vaart-Verschoof & Schumann 2017: 12). Shared ritual behaviour and modes of social distinction imply an awareness of both self and other; it also implies a community of ideas.…”

“…Unfortunately, many of these burials are generally poorly documented. Objects recovered from the well-known Oss-Vorstengraf burial in the Netherlands attest to an area of exchange between southern Germany, the Netherlands, Bohemia, Slovenia and Italy (van der Vaart-Verschoof & Schumann 2017: 13).…”

A not so isolated fringe: Dutch later prehistoric (c. 2200 BCE-AD 0) bronze alloy networks from compositional analyses on metals and corrosion layers

“…The usage of arsenic-only bronze (alloy group 2) for ornaments such as neckand armrings is another notable pattern, albeit that some of the bronze situlae in Early Iron Age 'chieftain graves' such as those of Oss, Ede and Baarlo (cf. Van der Vaart-Verschoof, 2017) were also crafted from alloy 2 (in both low-and high-lead varieties).…”

Echoes of the Past: Women, Memories and Disc-on-Bow Brooches in Vendel- and Viking-period Scandinavia

“…The separate discs and crowns, as well as the otherwise complete brooches with missing discs, reveal how the brooches must have been reworked and manipulated, subjected to negotiations about how their different parts and associated affects were to be distributed among the families and groups to which they belonged. The practice of fragmentation could also be interpreted as an act of pars pro toto (Brück & Fontijn, 2012; Van der Vaart-Verschoof & Schumann, 2020) in which the separate fragments, with discs and crowns being particularly expressive, carried the ideological and social connotations of the complete brooch, thereby preserving the connection between the previous owners, the deceased, and the brooch as a social, mnemonic object. Fragments then would not only transmit the symbolism of their intact form, but also the enchained connotations of past makers and owners (Chapman, 2000: 39).…”