Burial cemetery at Mühlen Eichsen
The pre-Roman Iron Age cemetery of Mühlen Eichsen is located northwest of Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . With around 5000 burials, it is one of the most important burial grounds in the core area of the Jastorf culture . It was here from around 600 BC. Buried until 100 AD.
Since 1994 it has been continuously examined by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Office for Monument Preservation in cooperation with the Department for Prehistory and Protohistory of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena . The focus of the archaeological investigations are statements on the burial rite and grave construction, on the social differentiation of the buried within the cemetery complex, on demography, chronology, the environment at that time and the layout of the necropolis and its continuity in the context of the settlements in the vicinity.
Research history
The burial ground is about one kilometer south of Mühlen Eichsen between the country road leading to Schwerin and the Stepenitz river . The graves were found during road construction work at the beginning of the 20th century. Both the extraction of paving stones from the stone settlements and the search for valuable objects in the graves had a devastating effect on the burial ground. Today it is assumed that around 200 graves were destroyed at that time. In 1907 Robert Beltz undertook the first archaeological excavation on the area. However, the finds and the documentation of this investigation are lost. Only one photo shows that the urns were still in very good condition at the time .
The cemetery fell into oblivion and the agricultural use of the site, in particular the use of the deep plow , contributed to the further destruction of the cemetery. It was not until 1993 that the burial ground was rediscovered when a gas pipeline was built, to which 20 other graves fell victim. An excavation in 1994 showed that most of the burial ground was still undiscovered. Since then, due to the threat posed by agricultural use, it has been systematically excavated in annual campaigns by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Office for Monument Preservation in cooperation with the Chair for Prehistory and Protohistory at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . Site inspections and geophysical investigations made it possible to determine the extent of the burial ground, whereby the results of the georadar proved to be particularly effective. The recorded total area of about four hectares allows an estimate of the number of burials of about 5000 individuals. At the current status of the archaeological investigations (2004), around three quarters of the cemetery area has been excavated. So far, around 4000 graves have been documented and recovered on an area of 3.24 hectares.
Archaeological findings and finds
On the cemetery of mills Eichsen both urn come, some on open ground, partly under stone protection, and fire fill graves , though less represented numerically, above. Within the two types of graves, the graves vary widely in terms of their construction. Urns without stone protection, with sandstone, with partial and compact stone packing are occupied. Similar forms occur with fire graves : fire emptying without stone protection, with compact stone setting, in stone boxes or in stone circles.
The range of stone setting is also extremely variable. There are round and rectangular stone settings. They can be compact or as a single or double stone circle. In numerous cases it was observed that the curb stones and urn cover stones of the compact stone layers clearly stand out in size from the rest of the paving. In one case, a multilayered stone setting could be identified. The diameters of the stone settlements vary between less than 0.5 m to almost 5.0 m. In some disturbed areas of the burial ground, the stone setting could only be recorded or supplemented by stone traces.
There are no overlapping graves in the entire burial ground area. This suggests that the graves were marked above ground. Presumably all of the graves were originally mounded, but this has not yet been proven archaeologically.
Distribution of graves on the burial ground
The graves are not distributed homogeneously on the burial ground, but are concentrated in five to six groups, each with 500 to 800 burials. The core of these groups are graves with elaborate stone setting. Between and around them there are urn and incendiary graves of simpler design. Between the individual groups there is an area that has significantly fewer graves. Another peculiarity in the occupancy of the burial field can be found in the northeast area. An approximately circular area with a diameter of about 17 m is located here around a central grave ( stone box with a width of 1 m), which is sunk into the ground and consists of a floor slab and stone slabs placed on the side. It is very likely that this is an older burial mound, probably from the younger Bronze Age or the beginning of the older Iron Age , at the foot of which 160 younger burials are grouped, some in urns or bone beds with and without minor stone protection.
Archaeological finds
In addition to the urns, only jewelry and clothing components have been found from the burial ground. The great variety of shapes is striking. The majority of the metal finds are made of iron, but bronze has also been used, especially for fibulae and needles.
The most common metal additions are belt components, especially belt hooks and belt rings, which are usually made of iron. Iron clamps and bronze belt fittings are less numerous. Needles of various shapes are represented several times. In most cases, these are cranked shapes.
Among the types, the so-called Holstein needle made of bronze plays the biggest role. In contrast, winged needles are rather rare. In addition to the fibulae (ball fibulae, Pomeranian fibulae and brooches from the La Tène scheme ), arm and neck rings made of bronze and iron are found. A complete Holstein belt and an Altmark chain hanger came to light as special finds . They prove cultural contacts to Schleswig-Holstein and the central Elbe region.
Temporal and cultural classification
Without exception, the finds can be assigned to the Jastorf culture , in whose core area the burial ground is located. According to the additions, an occupancy from the pre-Roman Iron Age to the older Roman Empire is evident. Several old finds can be dated to the end of the Bronze Age and indicate that graves were already dug at this time. In absolute chronological terms, the occupancy begins in the 6th century BC. And runs until the 1st century AD, with a focus on the middle pre-Roman Iron Age. Based on the excavation results so far, a continuity in the burial custom and in the accessory custom can be determined. There is therefore no archaeological evidence of intercultural change or the immigration of other populations.
The size of the burial ground suggests that it was not a settlement cemetery, but a central burial place. The group structure on the cemetery area may represent a demarcation of the occupant groups.
One of the associated settlements was already recorded in 1994 in the immediate vicinity in the southwest of the burial ground. In 1999 and 2000, probe incisions were made to determine their extent and the preservation of the findings. This allowed the size of the settlement area to be estimated at around 1 hectare. Post pits , hearths and settlement pits were identified with ceramic finds from the earlier imperial era. A kiln northwest of the burial ground can be cited as further evidence of settlement . Systematic inspections of the surrounding regions are undertaken to find other associated settlements.
literature
- Peter Ettel : Mills Eichsen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 20, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, ISBN 3-11-017164-3 , pp. 296-299. (on-line)
- Peter Ettel, H. Discher, S. Fröbe, K. Gesterding, M. Häckel, C. Hoffmann, J. Huthmann, F. Matznohr, Th. Schierl, J. Schneevoigt, U. Trenkmann, C. Tschirschnitz, M. Vollbeding , M. Wehmer: The excavations in 2001 on the Iron Age burial ground of Mühlen Eichsen . In: Archaeological reports from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 9, 2002, 66 ff.
- Peter Ettel, M. Häckel, V. Maier, H. Pabst, I. Przemuß, S. Tamás: The excavations in 2002 on the Iron Age burial ground of Mühlen Eichsen . In: Archaeological reports from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 10, 2003, 68 ff.
- Peter Ettel, A. Dorl, V. Maier, N. Ludwig, H. Pabst, A. Schlote, N. Schumacher, S. Tamás: The excavations in 2003 on the Iron Age burial ground of Mühlen Eichsen . In: Archaeological reports from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 11, 2004, 15 ff.
Web links
- Mühlen Eichsen - a cremation cemetery from the pre-Roman Iron Age in Mecklenburg ( Memento from July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 53 ° 45 ′ 21 ″ N , 11 ° 15 ′ 32 ″ E
