Windschnur burial ground

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The Windschnur burial ground from the Hallstatt period is located in the corridor of the same name near the village of Niederrasen (municipality of Rasen-Antholz ) in South Tyrol .

Excavation history

The first Iron Age finds were observed as early as the 1930s at the Galgenbühel, near the Windschnur. Remnants of houses were discovered there. Construction workers discovered the associated burial ground in 1962 while building a high-voltage line. In several excavation campaigns (1962, 1964, 1966, 1992 and 1996) the cemetery was explored and its external dimensions became apparent.

Burial ground

So far, over 90 graves have been explored, and many grave sites are still unlikely to be discovered. The area excavated so far includes graves from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The graves are all urn graves and half of them also contain grave goods . A very good horizontal stratigraphy can be created on the basis of the grave field , as numerous grave sites overlap and overlap. Older graves are often overlaid by younger ones and form separate groups. It can therefore be assumed that there were also clan graves in which family members were buried.

A suspected superficial marking can no longer be proven today, as the area is now used as a field. The grave sites range from simple sunk pits to elaborate grave pits that are surrounded with stones and covered by a stone slab.

Findings

All dead were cremated, but there are big differences in the equipment. Common to all graves is the burial urn with a lid vessel in which the corpse burn was buried. In some graves there are additional sheet metal vessels, such as drinking bowls or buckets. Among these vessels, in grave 38, there is also the oldest vessel shape, which was later to become characteristic of the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture . This is a small bowl with an S-shaped profile and an omphalos (indentation on the underside).

In addition, brooches , hatchets, needles, knives and ceramics were recovered. The discovery of two crampons in grave 44, which could indicate a possible connection with the Rieserferner find, seems a bit strange . Typical weapons such as swords, lances or helmets are missing. In this context, the hatchets found could be interpreted as tools and the burial ground could thus be assigned to a farming community.

Exhibition of the finds

Some of the finds can be viewed today in the town hall of the municipality of Rasen-Antholz in Niederrasen.

literature

  • Stefan Demetz, Reimo Lunz, Luzia Brunner Renzler: Urn, hatchet & crampons. Archeology in turf wind cord and the puzzling Rieserferner find. Athesia, Bruneck 1997.
  • Reimo Lunz: Archaeological forays through South Tyrol. Volume 1: Val Pusteria and Eisack Valley. Athesia, Bozen 2005, ISBN 88-8266-258-6 .
  • Reimo Lunz: Prehistory of the Upper Puster Valley. Athesia, Bozen 1977 ( Archaeological-historical research in Tirol 2, ZDB -ID 571030-3 ).

Coordinates: 46 ° 46 ′ 26.4 "  N , 12 ° 2 ′ 21.5"  E