Celtic graves in Zollikon
The so-called Celtic graves are burial sites of the Celts from the Hallstatt period in the municipality of Zollikon in the Swiss canton of Zurich .
The burial mounds are located on Feufbühl , a wooded hilltop in the west of the Zollikerberg settlement at an altitude of 636 meters. The hills from the Hallstatt period are the first traces of settlement in the Zollikons municipality.
Two of the original five mounds were excavated by laypeople in 1838 and nearly removed. Nothing is known about any finds. In August 1862 a third attempt was successful. The main hill was carefully examined under the direction of Ferdinand Keller . A cremation grave with several pots, bowls and plates was found within a stone setting . The vessels were checkerboard-like and decorated with notches.
In the same mound there was a later body grave 120 cm higher with one, possibly two burials. Inside was a round-bottomed bronze kettle with a diameter of 32 cm with two iron ring handles, a bronze belt plate from local production as well as pieces of jewelry such as fibulas , bronze and glass rings and two grindstones. The finds suggest a woman's grave; possibly the grindstones come from a second grave of a man. No skeletal remains were found. The main grave was dated around 650 BC. The second grave was established about 100 years earlier.
Keller discovered that a pit was first dug for the first dead person on the hilltop, which was probably unwooded at the time and with a wide view of the lake and land, in which, as remains of coal show, a pyre was possibly piled up for the cremation of the dead person. The remains were then placed in a decorated urn in the center of the grave and surrounded by a dozen storage jars. Then the pit was surrounded with a stone ring and the death chamber was roofed with a vault-like stone chamber. A stone circle was placed around the base of the hill to demarcate the realms of the living and the dead. In addition, it was more difficult to wash away the thrown earth. Halfway up the barrow, Keller also discovered seven hearths and a wreath of small menhirs between the fires and the top of the hill.
The originals of the finds are kept in the Swiss National Museum; Copies are on display in the Zollikon local museum.
Burial mound
Drawing of the burial mound
Additional vessels
Bronze kettle
literature
- Zolliker yearbook 1987, contributions by Emil Walder and Biljana Schmid-Sikimic
- U. Bräm: Zollikon - a local customer. 1990.
- H. Bruppacher: The old Zollikon. 1899.
- P. Guyer: 1000 years of Zollikon. Schulthess-Verlag, Zurich 1946.
- A. Heer: Our Zollikon. Zollikon 1968.
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '23 " N , 8 ° 35' 49" E ; CH1903: six hundred and eighty-seven thousand five hundred thirty-seven / 243853