Small aspergle
The Kleinaspergle is a grave mound from the early La Tène period around 1000 meters south of the Hohenasperg between Asperg and Möglingen in Baden-Württemberg .
The burial mound
The burial mound has a diameter of 60 m and a height of 7.60 m. It is surrounded by a circular moat 1.20 m deep and 2.50 m wide. So far two wood-paneled burial chambers of the same structure have been found in the hill . The stolen central main burial chamber is 3 m by 4 m in size and 2.80 m deep in the natural ground. The undisturbed secondary burial chamber in the western section is 2 m by 3 m in size and at ground level. It is believed that the mound was backfilled in two steps, first a small mound 40 m in diameter for the main grave and then an extension of this mound for the secondary grave. The heaped up material contains traces of settlement rubble and must have been removed over a large area in the vicinity, as the excavation of the trench system is not sufficient. The usual stone setting is completely missing.
The grave is so far the youngest pompous grave discovered around the Hohenasperg.
excavation
The Kleinaspergle was archaeologically examined by Oscar Fraas in the early summer of 1879 . However, due to the complicated ownership structure, only a narrow plot was available for the excavation. Fraas therefore decided on a mining excavation with a radial and a concentric tunnel.
The excavation was very extensively documented for the time. There are excavation diaries as well as sketches and drawings by Carl von Häberlin and Eberhard Fraas , the then 17-year-old son of the excavator.
Finds from the adjoining chamber
The grave contained, among other things, valuable costume elements, including a sapropelite bangle , an iron belt hook and a gold-plated jewelry disc. The disc is decorated with pearl circles, lyre, leaf and flower motifs, once there were also coral inlays. The construction with a compass was necessary for the precise composition. The decorative disk was probably originally attached to leather or a piece of clothing. Due to the rarity of such decorative discs, this is probably a kind of badge that was reserved for a certain group of people. Comparative pieces are only found in men's or weapons graves.
Other additions include a Greek stamnos (wine mixing vessel) made in the Vulci area in central Italy and a Celtic jug . Both vessels have a handle with satyr heads. In the case of the Stamnos, these satyrs are finely chiseled, while the handle of the Celtic jug consists of chubby satyrs with large bulging eyes and pointed ears. The beard and curls are dissolved into an ornament. This transition from figurative to ornament is typical of Celtic art. The artist who made the jug was inspired by the Stamnos, but still used his own Celtic style
The drinking service, which was intended for two people, also includes a bronze bucket for mixing or providing alcoholic beverages, which was made around 430 BC. Was made in Ticino. This is an import item, but similar vessels were also made in the region. This includes a sieve based on the Etruscan model, which was used to filter spices from alcoholic beverages. Of this sieve, however, only the handle and the spoon bowl are preserved, both are decorated with palmettes, leaf and spiral motifs, which were constructed with the compass. There was also a large bronze kettle with a wooden scoop in the grave.
Two drinking horns were also part of the equipment of the deceased buried in the side grave of Kleinaspergle. The drinking horns have precious golden end fittings and are thus a testament to the masterful blacksmithing of the Celts. The fittings each consist of five individual parts, which are connected with ring-shaped cuffs decorated with pearl wire. The horns end in stylized rams' heads with almond-shaped eyes and curved brows. Although these motifs are alien to the Latène culture , they are not imports, but rather the inspiration of local craftsmen through nomadic representations of the steppe. One of the drinking horns features classic Greek patterns, the other Celtic wavy tendrils. The remains of an aurochs horn were found in one of the fittings during the excavation.
The side grave of Kleinaspergle is also the only grand grave in the region that contains ceramics. These are two drinking bowls imported from Greece. They were made around 450 BC. Manufactured in an Attic workshop. The red-figure drinking bowl comes from the so-called Amphitrite painter and depicts a woman with a torch in front of a burning altar and an offering table. It is also decorated with an ivy wreath on the inner edge. According to the excavation report, the now black bowl was once painted. The faded paint today consisted of a myrtle branch with fruits in yellow-green color. Both bowls were broken antique and were repaired and decorated by a local craftsman with the help of gold appliqués with typical Celtic patterns.
A clear gender assignment is not possible with this inventory and nothing of the corpse burn found has survived today, so that it is not possible to determine the sex of the deceased. Relatively chronologically , the finds are dated as Latène A. Next to the tomb, a workshop was found in which some pieces had been gilded before the burial.
The suspected corpse burn contained gold flakes , which the excavator interpreted as the gold decoration of the funeral robes . However, doubts were also raised as to whether the suspected corpse fire was not the remains of a white precious coral .
Recreation
The Kleinaspergle is a stop on the 30-kilometer-long Keltenweg , which the “Grünes Strohgäu ” working group created. In addition to the Ludwigsburg district, this includes the municipalities of Asperg, Ditzingen , Eberdingen , Gerlingen , Hemmingen , Korntal-Münchingen , Leonberg , Markgröningen , Möglingen and Schwieberdingen .
In the vicinity of the burial mound is the Kleinaspergle House of Friends of Nature named after him with a large beer garden and children's playground.
literature
- Wolfgang Kimmig : The Kleinaspergle. Studies on a princely grave mound from the early La Tène period near Stuttgart . In: Research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg , Volume 30. Stuttgart 1988. ISBN 3-8062-0789-5 .
- Margot Klee : Archeology Guide Baden-Württemberg . Stuttgart 1986.
- Oscar Paret : The Kleinaspergle - a princely grave mound from the late Hallstatt period . In: Year Books for Prehistoric & Ethnographic Art , Vol. 17, 1943–1948. Berlin 1956.
- Harald von der Osten-Woldenburg: Geophysical prospecting of the grave mound Kleinaspergle - Asperg, Ludwigsburg district . In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg , 2009, pp. 114–117.
- Thomas Hoppe: True Treasures - Celts: State graves and centers of power from the 7th to 5th centuries BC in Württemberg, exhibition catalog of the Landesmuseum Württemberg, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart, June 3, 2016, pp. 52–56.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Thomas Hoppe: True Treasures - Celts: Prinkgräber and power centers of the 7th to the 5th century BC in Württemberg . Ed .: State Museum Württemberg. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart June 3, 2016, p. 52-56 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 53 '50.6 " N , 9 ° 8' 34.7" E