Early Phase of Lusatian Culture barrow burial ground in Lower Silesia at Mikowice, Opole Voivodship site 1

Abstract

To the west of the village of Mikowice (which lies 40 krn southeast of Wrocław) inside a large wooded tract on an extensive kame plateau a dozen or so barrow fields were discovered (FIGURE 1) in the 1920s-30s. The two largest burial grounds (the ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ fields) comprise some 3 to 4 score tumuli (FIGURE 2) .The ‘western’ burial ground has for many years attracted the attention of archaeologists. Following a meticulous recording and preparation of a contour plan of the site between 1926 and 1934 (Hellmich 1938: 226–28), 11 features were excavated under the supervision of L.F. Zotz, G. Raschke, K. Tackenberg and K. Petersen of Breslau (modern Wroclaw) (Zotz 1930: 81–4; 1934: 108–12). The excavations had a rescue character as intensive extraction in adjacent sand pits was seriously damaging the cemetery, having reduced the surviving number of barrows to 24.

Between east and west: Archaeology in the new eastern Europe

“…Although some attempts have been made to infer social distinctions from mortuary remains, there is much work to be done in integrating these data with information on substance and settlement. Some beginnings have been made in this direction (e.g., Furmfinek, 1990;Kadrow, 1991a, b (Klosifiska, 1991) is accompanied by other significant developments, such as the construction of mortuary buildings over certain graves (Gedl, 1984). In southeastern Europe, the existence of large stratified sites begs for study of local patterns of resource use and exchange.…”