Schöckingen women's grave

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Schöckingen women's grave is an archaeological site from the late Hallstatt period that was uncovered during construction work in 1951 in the Schöckingen district of the city of Ditzingen . At the time of its discovery it was considered to be one of the richest women's graves in southwest Germany.

Find history

On April 16, 1951, while renovating a stable building on his property in Backgässle (Backhausweg) behind the house at Schlossstrasse 4 at a depth of approx. 40 cm under the foundations of the old barn gable, the Schöckingen master wagon Eugen Gommel discovered first a metal ring, then skull remains, gold jewelry and on the following day more jewelry. After the state monuments office had been informed, state curator Oscar Paret managed the rescue of the find from April 18 to 21, 1951 as part of an emergency excavation.

About 20 meters away from it, excavations in a nearby garden in the area of ​​Schlossstrasse uncovered 8-12 post pits of medieval houses and another body grave facing south-north, which was already severely disturbed by ancient robbery. The find is interpreted either as a subsequent burial in the burial mound of the already known women's grave or as a separate barrow.

dig

The burial in south-north orientation is believed to have been around 500 BC. BC, i.e. the time of the Celtic prince of Hochdorf . It was presumably originally covered by a burial mound that has now been looped over. The skeleton was framed by rocks the size of a head. The bone finds were assigned to a female approximately 1.61 m tall and between 20 and 25 years of age. In 2003, genetic tests showed that she was related to the Celtic prince of Hochdorf in the maternal line.

The gifts consisted of six uniform gold bracelets, nine rings with five rows of pearls each, which perhaps formed the decoration of a bonnet, six needles with gold heads; In addition, a neck ring made of bronze, an anklet and at least three arm spirals with snake heads and tails at the ends and pierced eyes, one of which still had a coral inlay. At least four needles with coral heads were found on the head of the dead. A necklace was made up of at least eight pearls and a hollow ball, almost the size of a chicken egg, made from pieces of coral. The finds acquired by the State Monuments Office are now in the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart.

Paret described the deceased as a "high-ranking personality", perhaps a "Celtic princess". Despite the comparatively rich grave goods and the family ties to the Hochdorf "prince", the buried person is no longer counted among the upper class in view of the lack of characteristic accessories such as bronze dishes, wagons and imported goods. In contrast to the Hochdorf grave, the finding documents the hierarchically structured society of the Celts .

The site is part of the "Celtic Path" from Hohenasperg to Hirschlanden .

literature

  • Oscar Paret: The rich grave of Schöckingen from the late Hallstatt period . In: Derselbe (arr.): Find reports from Swabia . New episode XII. 1938-1951. Part 2. Stuttgart 1952, pp. 37-40.
  • Wolfgang Kimmig : The Kleinaspergle. Studies on a princely grave from the early Latène period near Stuttgart (= research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg 30). Stuttgart 1988, p. 30.
  • Ingo Stork: News on the surroundings of the Hallstatt splendid grave of Ditzingen-Schöckingen, Ludwigsburg district . In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 1999. Stuttgart 2000, pp. 68–70.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Freiherr von Gaisberg-Schöckingen: Schöckingen . Ditzingen-Schöckingen 1983, p. 17.
  2. ^ Ingo Stork: News on the area surrounding the Hallstatt splendid grave of Ditzingen-Schöckingen, Ludwigsburg district . In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 1999. Stuttgart 2000, p. 70.
  3. ↑ Martin Benz: The most famous Schöckingerin . In: Herbert Hoffmann: Schöckingen 814–2014. The book for the 1200 year celebration (= Ditzinger Schriften 4). Ditzingen 2014. p. 9.
  4. ^ Friedrich Freiherr von Gaisberg-Schöckingen: Schöckingen . Ditzingen-Schöckingen 1983, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Oscar Paret: The rich late Hallstatt period grave of Schöckingen . In: Derselbe (arr.): Find reports from Swabia . New episode XII. 1938-1951. Part 2. Stuttgart 1952, p. 40.
  6. ↑ Description on the website of the municipality of Hemmingen (accessed on May 13, 2019)