Iron Age (Archaeology)

m a g a z i n z u r r e g i o n a l e n k u l t u r u n d g e s c h i c h t e a u s g a b e 1 -2 0 1 3 saargeschichte|n e i n z e l p r e i s 4 , -e u r o i s s n 1 8 6 6 -5 7 3 x Ein Hauch von Weltgeschichte Ältestes römisches Militärlager auf deutschem Boden am »Hunnenring« Herausgeber: Historischer Verein für die Saargegend e.V. und Landesverband der historisch-kulturellen Vereine des Saarlandes e.V. Catherina Schreiber -Um die Ecke ins Exil -Das schwierige Leben der saarländischen Emigranten, die zwischen 1935 und 1940 Zuflucht in Luxemburg suchten. Kristine Marschall -Ein Stein macht noch keine Grenze -Drei lobenswerte Beispiele: In Rassweiler und Bischmisheim sowie im Kreis St. Wendel wurden Kleindenkmäler inventarisiert.

Poigt, Th., Les instruments de pesée en Europe occidentale aux âges des Métaux : Conception, usages et utilisateurs (XIVe-IIIe s. av. n.è.). In : Nordez M., Rousseau L. et Cervel M., Recherches sur l'âge du Bronze, Nouvelles approches et perspectives, Actes de la journée d'étude de l'Association pour la promotion des recherches archéologiques sur l'âge du Bronze, 28 février 2014, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Bulletin de l'APRAB, suppl. n° 1 (Nantes, 2015), p. 177-179.

Un résumé de la thèse en cours, portant le même titre, publié dans le supplément n°1 du bulletin de l'APRAB.

This paper aims at highlighting a methodological flaw in current biblical archaeology, which became apparent as a result of recent research in the Aravah's Iron Age copper production centers. In essence, this flaw, which cuts across all schools of biblical archaeology, is the prevailing, overly simplistic approach applied to the identification and interpretation of nomadic elements in biblical-era societies. These elements have typically been described as representing only one form of social organization, which is simple and almost negligible in historical reconstructions. However, the unique case of the Aravah demonstrates that the role of nomads in shaping the history of the southern Levant has been underestimated and downplayed in the research of the region, and that the total reliance on stone-built archaeological features in the identification of social complexity in the vast majority of recent studies has resulted in skewed historical reconstructions. Recognizing this "architectural bias" and understanding its sources have important implications on core issues in biblical archaeology today, as both "minimalists" and "maximalists" have been using stone-built architectural remains as the key to solving debated issues related to the geneses of Ancient Israel and neighboring polities (e.g., "high" vs. "low" Iron Age chronologies), in which-according to both biblical accounts and external sources-nomadic elements played a major role.

The aim of this study is to collect evidence for textile recycling from a prehistoric and historic perspective. The basis are original textile finds and not, as might be expected, written or pictorial sources. The material presented here focuses on archaeological finds, especially on prehistoric to early medieval evidence from Central Europe, also mentioning some interesting examples from medieval and Early Modern times.
This is not a comprehensive study of all possible secondary uses of textiles, but it shall demonstrate different interesting case studies such as re-use and recycling of garments with examples from Bronze Age till early modern period. We also learn from Early Medieval evidence that textile rags have been employed for production processes e.g. of ceramic vessels, clay figurines or for thin bronze objects. In the salt-mines Hallstatt and Dürrnberg in Austria, hundreds of textile scraps have been found, left back in the mines after secondary use as make-shift binding material or sanitary items.
Worn-out textiles were used for caulking wooden ships, as sealing for water-management in prehistoric copper mines and as insulation material for medieval castles. At least, textile scraps also ended in medieval and early modern latrinae – after they have been used as “toilet-paper”. The evidence collected demonstrates a careful resource-management.

Bu çalışma, "Ardahan Kale ve Kuleleri" adlı kitabın bölümlerinden biridir. Bu kitap içi bölümde, Ardahan'ın Eskiçağ'dan Türk fetihlerine kadar tarihçesi üzerinde durulmuş ve şehrin isminin kökenine ilişkin bir başlığa yer verilmiştir.
  Son yıllarda yapılan bilimsel araştırmalarla birlikte Eskiçağ ve Ortaçağ arkeolojik vaziyetinin Transkafkasya (Güney Kafkasya) arkeolojisiyle
oldukça örtüştüğü anlaşılan Ardahan, Doğu Karadeniz ve Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Bölgeleri ile Transkafkasya’yı birleştiren stratejik bir coğrafi konuma sahiptir. Batıda Karadeniz sahil şeridinin son ili Artvin ile
komşu olan Ardahan’ın güneyinde Erzurum ve Kars illeri, kuzeydoğusunda Gürcistan ve doğusunda Ermenistan yer alır. Transkafkasya ülkelerinde, özellikle Tunç ve Demir Çağları kültürlerine ilişkin hatırı sayılır araştırma ve arkeolojik kazı yapılmışsa da bu bölgenin komşusu olan Kuzeydoğu Anadolu için aynı değerlendirmeyi ne yazık ki yapamamaktayız. Özellikle Ardahan ili, Anadolu coğrafyasında arkeolojik araştırmaların en az yürütüldüğü yerlerden biri olmuştur. Bu nedenle şehrin tarihi ve arkeolojik geçmişi üzerine toplanan veriler, akademik anlamda tatmin edici bir düzeye erişememiştir. Yine de inanıyoruz ki, 2008 yılında kurulan Ardahan Üniversitesinin bünyesinde gerçekleştirilmekte olan ve yakın gelecekte daha da kapsamlı bir şekilde sürdürülecek bilimsel çalışmalar, şehrin tarihi, sanat tarihi ve arkeolojik
dokusunu çok daha detaylı bir şekilde yansıtacaktır.

הגילוי המקרי של שני הצוללים בנמל העתיק של קיסריה הוביל לחשיפת מטען ימי עתיק גדול ומרהיב ביופיו, של ספינת סוחר מלפני כ-1,600 שנים שטבעה בים. על הקרקעית נותרו חשופים שרידי ספינה: עוגני ברזל ועץ ואביזרים ששימשו לבניית כלי השייט ותפעולו. בסיוע צוללים של רשות העתיקות ומתנדבים תוך שימוש בציוד מתקדם, התגלו פריטים רבים שהיו במטען הספינה.

As an example and the result of a careful re-examination of archaeological collections kept for decades in museums without movement, several previously unknown stylized pictorial monuments on
Yukhnovskaya culture (the Early Iron Age of the forest belt of Eastern Europe) are given. They inform us about ancient agriculture and its accompanying cults. The material comes from the ancient settlement
of Lbische, excavated by V.A. Padin in the 1950s. They are kept in the funds of the Trubchevsk Museum of Local Lore.

Over the winter of 2012/13, a team from NAA
worked on behalf of the Environment Agency during
groundworks associated with the Tees Tidal Flood
Risk Management Strategy. The project included
construction of a new flood embankment and the
creation of salt flat, freshwater and grassland habitats
to the south-east of Greatham village, Hartlepool.
Evidence of human activity along the fringe of the
prehistoric and Roman salt marshes was recorded
close to Marsh House Farm. This included previously
unknown funerary and settlement evidence spanning
several thousand years of activity (approximately
4000BC to AD410).

En 2014 puis 2015, la fouille de la fortification du Frankenbourg à Neubois (67) a permis de mettre au jour les vestiges d’un rempart de la fin de l’âge du Fer. Celui-ci appartient à la catégorie des remparts à poteaux frontaux, dont l’architecture paraît bien connue pour la Protohistoire. À partir de cette étude de cas et de la comparaison avec six autres remparts de l’espace du Rhin supérieur, il est possible de proposer quelques pistes en faveur d’une révision de la typologie de ces monuments.
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In 2014 and 2015, the excavations on the fortification of the Frankenbourg at Neubois (67) permit to study the remains of a wall from the end of the Iron Age. This belongs to the category of ramparts with frontal posts, whose architecture is well known for the Protohistory. From this case study and the comparison with six other ramparts of the Upper Rhine area, it is possible to offer new ideas for a review of these monuments’ typology.

Recent archaeological researches in the eastern side of the Iron Age settlement from Saharna-Dealul Mănăstirii identified a pit with a wooden structure inside it, in which a skeleton belonging to a 35-45 years old male individual male individual was placed. The skeleton has a healed fracture of the right radius and a deformation of the distal epiphysis of the right ulna as a result of the joint use after the trauma occured. The frontal bone shows radiating fractures and the absence of a portion of the bone. This is either the result of a blunt force trauma, or the collapse of the wooden structure after an indefinite period of time following the deposition of the skeleton. The skeletal pathology indicates an individual that carried out intense physical activity throughout his life.

Recent excavations at Tel Gezer under the auspices of the Tandy Institute for Archaeology have systematically revealed a broad exposure west of the Iron Age gate complex (popularly referred to as the "Solomonic Gate"). This report focuses on the occupation layers of the 10th century BCE (our Strata 8 and 7, dated by 14C and ceramic analyses). Stratum 8 represents a unique period of Gezer's history when the city experienced a major shift in urban planning, as evidenced by a monumental administrative building and casemate fortifications that are associated with the Iron Age gate. This city was intensely destroyed, probably as a result of Sheshonq's campaign. Stratum 7, which was also destroyed, exhibits a major shift to domestic quarters.

Cette conférence a permis de présenter le Projet Collectif de Recherche "Le Chablais au second âge du Fer : la nécropole des Léchères à Chens-sur-Léman", qui vise à étudier un ensemble funéraire de La Tène ancienne / moyenne sur la rive méridionale du lac Léman (Haute-Savoie) afin de caractériser les communautés occupant à cette époque les marges nord-orientales du territoire allobroge, par une analyse archéo-anthropologique, paléométallurgique et céramologique.

OBJECTIVE: To report the analysis of 3 cases of ancient trepanation discovered
in the craniological collection (153 skulls) of the Pazyryk nomadic culture
(500e300 BC) from the Gorny Altai, Russia, and to evaluate the technique,
instrumentation, and materials used for cranial surgery as well as the motivation
for the trepanations in Scythian times.
- METHODS: A multidisciplinary approach was chosen to study the trepanned
skulls. Visual inspection and examination under magnification, multislice computed
tomography, high-field magnetic resonance imaging, and coupled plasma mass
spectrometry and synchrotron radiationeinduced x-ray fluorescence analysis of the
bone samples from the site of trephination were used.
- RESULTS: In the Pazyryk culture, trepanation was very likely used to perform
the intracranial procedures that were not yet indicated by Hippocrates. No signs
of bone infection were detected. Higher copper abundance found at the site of
trepanation showed that a bronze knife was the most likely tool used by
Scythian surgeons.
- CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the Scythian population of the Altai
Mountains had sufficient medical knowledge to perform sophisticated and
successful manipulations on the human skulls. Scraping technique with bronze
tools was quite effective for prevention of wound infection and resulted in a high
survival rate after surgery. In the era of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus, it may be useful to consider some ancient surgical technologies.

Zusammenfassung: Von 2007 bis 2016 untersuchte ein interdisziplinäres Projekt im Unterengadin (Graubünden, Schweiz) die alpine Weidewirtschaft. Im Fimbertal/Val Fenga wurden in über 2000 m Höhe spätbronzezeitliche bzw. hallstattzeitliche Baustrukturen entdeckt, die in Verbindung mit zeitgleichen Talsiedlungen um Ramosch als Nachweis für eigentliche Alpwirtschaft in prähistori-scher Zeit interpretiert werden. Um diese idealtypische Kombination eines gestuften Tal-Alp-Systems und die gesamtwirtschaftliche Bedeutung der Viehwirtschaft besser zu verstehen, wurde eine GIS-gestützte Szenario-evaluation der prähistorischen Landschaftsnutzung ausgeführt. Da zur Größe und Struktur der Siedlungen keine ausreichenden Daten vorhanden sind, wurde eine theoretische Berechnung der maximalen Bevölkerungs- bzw. Vieh-/Herdenzahl angestrebt. Die Basis dazu bildet ein komplexes Subsistenzmodell, das aus der archäologischen, physiologischen und landwirtschaftlichen Fachliteratur ausgearbeitet wurde und den Flächenbedarf von Ackerbau und Viehzucht berücksichtigt. Anhand separat modellierter landwirtschaftlicher Nutzungsflächen im Einzugsgebiet (site catchment) der jeweiligen Siedlung lässt sich so die maximale Tragkraft (carrying capacity) bzw. Bevölkerungszahl ermitteln. Die alpine Topografie wird dabei als landwirtschaftlich stark limitierender Faktor betrachtet, sodass eine wachsende Siedlung bzw. Bevölkerung dazu gezwungen wäre, das Vieh im Sommer auf weiter entfernte Hochweiden auszulagern. Aus den Modellen kann allerdings kein ökonomischer oder ökologischer Druck als primärer Grund für die Ausformung der Alpwirtschaft belegt werden. Es wäre in den Talsiedlungen möglich, Ackerbau und Viehwirtschaft für bis zu 200 Personen ganzjährig in unmittelbarer Siedlungsnähe zu bewerkstelligen. Die saisonale vertikale Mobilität muss daher aus anderen Gründen eingeführt worden sein, möglicherweise für die strategische Mehrproduktion landwirtschaftlicher Erzeugnisse für den inner- und transalpinen Gütertausch.

Schlüsselworte: Alpen; Landschaftsarchäologie; Vieh-wirtschaft; Alpwirtschaft; Subsistenzmodell; GIS; Tragfä-higkeit; Mehrproduktion; Bronzezeit; Eisenzeit.

Abstract: Between 2007 and 2016 an interdisciplinary project explored the Alpine pastoral economy in the Lower Engadine region (Grisons, Switzerland). Late Bronze Age or Hallstatt-period structures were discov-ered at 2000  m a.s.  l. in the Fimbertal/Val Fenga valley and were, in association with contemporary settlements in the valley around Ramosch, interpreted as evidence of an actual Alpine pastoral economy in prehistoric times. To gain a better understanding of such an ideal combination of a tiered Alp-valley system on one hand and the overall economic significance of livestock farming on the other, a GIS-based scenario evaluation of prehistoric land use was carried out. Since the data available on the size and structure of the settlement is not sufficiently large, the aim was to achieve a theoretical calculation of the maximum number of people and livestock. This calculation was based on a complex subsistence model which was devel-oped from archaeological, physiological and agricul-tural specialist literature and took into account the area required for crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Based on separately modelled areas of farmland within each site catchment, this allowed us to calculate the maximum car-rying capacity or population sizes. The Alpine topography was seen as a severely limiting factor with regard to agri-cultural output, which would mean that an expanding settlement or population group would be forced to move their livestock to higher pastures further afield during the summer months. The models, however, have not allowed us to state that economic or ecological pressure was the primary reason for the evolution of an Alpine pastoral economy. It would have been possible by means of crop cultivation and animal husbandry to sustain a population of up to 200 people living in or around each valley set-tlement all year round. Seasonal vertical mobility must therefore have been established for other reasons, possi-bly in order to increase the output of agricultural produce for exchange within and beyond the Alpine region.

Keywords: Alps; landscape archaeology; livestock farming; pastoral economy; subsistence model; GIS; car-rying capacity; produce of exchange; Bronze Age; Iron Age.

Résumé: De 2007 à 2016, un projet interdisciplinaire pour la Basse Engadine (canton des Grisons, Suisse) s’est consacré à l’économie pastorale en milieu alpin. A plus de 2000  m d’altitude, dans la vallée du Fimber/Val Fenga, on a découvert des structures d’habitat datant du Bronze final et de l’époque de Hallstatt. Elles peuvent être corré-lées avec certaines occupations contemporaines de fond de vallée s’articulant autour de Ramosch, et témoignent d’une véritable économie alpestre à l’époque préhisto-rique. Pour mieux comprendre un système qui correspond à une combinaison idéale entre vallée et alpages, de même que pour cerner l’importance économique de l’élevage, on a effectué une évaluation de différents scénarios d’ex-ploitation du paysage à l’époque préhistorique, basée sur les SIG. Comme on ne dispose pas de données suffisantes concernant les dimensions et la structuration des habi-tats, on a procédé au calcul de la population théorique maximale, répétant l’exercice pour le nombre d’animaux ou de troupeaux. A cette fin, on a eu recours à un modèle de subsistance complexe, mis en place grâce aux données fournies par la littérature spécialisée et tenant compte de données archéologiques, physiologiques et agricoles, sans oublier les surfaces nécessaires à l’agriculture et à l’élevage. Sur la base des zones d’exploitation agricole régionales, modélisées individuellement (site catchment) pour chacun des sites, on peut établir quels étaient la charge maximale (carrying capacity) et le nombre d’habi-tants. Dans ce modèle, la topographie du milieu alpin est considérée comme un facteur particulièrement contrai-gnant pour l’agriculture, impliquant que la croissance d’un village ou de sa population devait déboucher sur le déplacement du bétail durant l’été vers des pâturages d’al-titude éloignés. Ces modèles ne permettent toutefois pas d’établir la présence d’une pression économique ou écolo-gique qui aurait été la cause majeure de la mise en place d’une économie alpestre. Dans les habitats de vallée, il était possible de subvenir, grâce à l’agriculture et à l’éle-vage, aux besoins d’une communauté comptant jusqu’à 200 personnes, durant toute l’année et à proximité immé-diate des villages. La mobilité saisonnière, avec des dépla-cements en altitude, relève donc d’autres intentions, peut-être une surproduction stratégique de produits agricoles, destinée à l’échange de biens intra-alpin et transalpin.

Mots-clés: Alpes; archéologie du paysage; économie agro-pastorale; exploitation des alpages; modèle de sub-sistance; SIG; carrying capacity; surproduction; âge du Bronze; âge du Fer.

The paper aims on a type of hillforts characterized by its irregular shapes, very adapted to the conditions imposed by the geomorphological framework of its implantation, equipped with numerous works of dry stone fortification, described for the first time in lands of the Northwest of the Zamora province, but that, in the last years, it has been possible to register its presence in Leon, throughout its mountainous orography. According to the scarce signs of material culture that have so far been found in these sites, it is tentatively pointed out that they are related to last Iron Age, probably related to the fortification of their populations because the Roman presence in the most noroccidental part of the Duero Basin.

Abstract: Das Entstehen von protourbanen Zentren zeigt in den drei Modellregionen Etrurien, Venetien und Dolenjska zwar gewisse strukturelle Ähnlichkeiten, doch dürften diese Orte unabhängig voneinander entstanden sein. Ein globaler „protourban turn“ stand gewiss nicht dahinter. Allein ihre Dauerhaftigkeit spricht für geordnete
rechtliche Verhältnisse. Gemeinsam aber scheinen die stadtartigen Zentren auf Betreiben hegemonialer Familien entstanden zu sein. Die Struktur dieser solidarischen Familienverbunde findet in der Ethnologie den besten Vergleich im konischen Klan nach Paul Kirchhoff.

Schlüsselwörter: Protourbane Siedlungen, Siedlungsbildung, Zentralorte, Analyse der Nekropolen, ungeschriebene Gesetze, Sozialstrukturen, konischer Klan

In July 1971 a souterrain was excavated at Orquil, St Ola, Orkney. Although it is generally typical of many Orcadian souterrains, a lower subsidiary pit feature was identified during the course of excavation which appears to be a novel feature of souterrain construction.

Achille Solano, nasce a Nicotera nel 1932. Docente, storico, scrittore e archeologo. Conclusi gli studi classici, si iscrisse all'Università conseguendo la laurea con specializzazione in Topografia tardo-antica e medievale. Esercitò per qualche tempo la professione di insegnante. Ma la sua vera passione fu lo studio della storia e soprattutto dell'archeologia, discipline alle quali avrebbe poi dedicato tutta la sua vita. Ha collaborato a riviste scientifiche italiane e straniere e vanta numerose ricerche e pubblicazioni tra cui il volume Liguri, Siculi e Greci nella regione del Poro del 1967 e Bruttium paleocristiano (Premio "Sybaris Magna Graecia" del 1977 in ex aequo con Ettore Paratore). Tra i suoi studi si ricordano: Contributo per una lettura topografica delle fonti e primi orientamenti su un gruppo d'inediti nella Calabria meridionale normanna e Limbadi, località Braghò-Montalto: tombe ad incinerazione entro urna -su "Rogerius", Bollettino dell'Istituto della Biblioteca Calabrese; Calabria paleocristiana: nuove testimonianze per la storia e la topografia della Massa Nicoterana -su "Corriere calabrese", rivista di cultura, politica e letteratura; Contributo per una lettura topografica delle fonti e primi orientamenti su un gruppo d'inediti nella Calabria meridionale normanna e Fonti letterarie e problemi di topografia sul Monte Poro medievale -Istituto della Biblioteca Calabrese di Soriano e La cava romana di Nicotera. Esperto in topografia agiografica. Collaboratore scientifico del laboratorio di analisi dei materiali antichi (LAMA) Università DSA-IUAV Venezia e socio dell'Associazione Italiana di Archeometria dell'Università di Bologna e del Centro Studi Preistorici di Trento. Ha partecipato a molte campagne di scavo, scoprendo, tra l'altro: la cava romana di granito a Nicotera, lo scheletro di ragazzo neandertaliano rinvenuto sempre a Nicotera, la stazione paleolitica di San Calogero, l'insediamento rupestre di Zungri, il casale fortificato di Marmo presso Piperno in Lucania, la chiesetta rupestre bizantina con reliquie di santo presso San Gregorio d'Ippona e la grotta di S. Cristina presso Filandari. Sua infine l'intuizione che lo portò a scoprire l'uso di granito nicoterese presso il Foro di Traiano a Roma. Fondò nel 1969/70 il Museo civico archeologico e paleontologico e successivamente, nel 2002, il Museo provinciale di mineralogia e petrografia, di cui venne nominato Direttore, entrambi realizzati riuscendo a raccogliere intorno a sé gli studenti e laureandi nicoteresi, divenendo punto di sicuro riferimento per tutti coloro che si affacciavano allo studio delle discipline storiche e archeologiche. Partecipò con relazioni e interventi a convegni nazionali e internazionali -come quelli Nazionali di Etnoarcheologia e Archeometria tenutesi a Rimini e a Padova -e altri ne organizzò nella sua città natia e che si tennero presso la sala conferenze del Castello Ruffo. Attivo collaboratore della Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici della Calabria, condusse infine studi notevoli sulla civiltà rupestre tali da essere definito da Emilia Zinzi "Il Fonseca della Calabria". Si è spento a Nicotera nel 2012. A cura di Giovanni Durante con il patrocinio del COMUNE DI NICOTERA GIORNATA DI STUDIO in ricordo di ACHILLE SOLANO Sabato 25 aprile 2015 Sala Conferenze • Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra NICOTERA ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE SETTE SOLI

[FR v.infra] The aim of this paper is to question the traditional polis religion model as it presents an artificial, static and distorted image of the religious conditions in the Roman West. The religious experienceof the individual and his/her religious identity go far beyond the “civic cults”. Compared to the Iron Age, the Principate seems to be characterised by an enormous diversification of cults and cult practices. In every region and civitas, this diversity resulted from individual – and sometimes contradictory – choices concerning deities, theonyms, cult practices, architecture, sculpture, iconography, etc., with cults taking up substance from Greco-Roman, Greco-Oriental andindigenous traditions. This plurality is particularly characteristic for Gallia Narbonensis. Although media and architecture appear Greco-Roman in nature, “Romanitas”did not seem to play an important role for people’s religious expressions in Southern Gaul. Finally, we should not overestimate the role of the “Roman model” in the study of religions in the Roman West : the creation of a Roman-style municipality is only one step in the development of manylocal cults, notably in Southern Gaul where cults have already undergone profound transformations prior to the Roman conquest.
Résumé: L’objectif de cet article est de remettre en question le modèle de la religion poliade qui présenteune image artificielle, statique et déformée des conditions religieuses dans l’Occident romain. L’expérience et l’identité religieuses de l’individu vont au-delà des cultes civiques, car il faut tenircompte du grand choix de cultes disponibles sous le haut Empire : en comparaison avec la fin del’âge du Fer, le haut Empire se caractérise par une diversité de cultes et de pratiques cultuelles. Cette diversité, que l’on constate dans chaque région et dans chaque cité, résulte de choix individuels en ce qui concerne les divinités, les théonymes, les pratiques cultuelles, l’architecture, la sculpture, l’iconographie, etc. Les cultes tirent à la fois leur substance de traditionsgrécoromaine, gréco-orientale et indigène: cette pluralité est caractéristique des cultes de Gaule Narbonnaise. Bien que l’expression et l’architecture soient de tradition gréco-romaine, la Romanitas ne semble pas jouer un rôle important dans les expressions religieuses en Gaule méridionale. Finalement, il ne faut pas donner une importance excessive au modèle romain dansl’étude des religions de l’Occident: la création d’une municipalité romaine n’est qu’un pas dansl’évolution des cultes locaux, notamment en Gaule méridionale, où les cultes ont déjà connu des transformations profondes avant la conquête romaine.
Online version:
https://www.persee.fr/doc/ran_0557-7705_2010_num_43_1_1799
doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/ran.2010.1799

Since the incidental discovery of the famous “cult cart” in Strettweg near Judenburg 1851,
the site, situated in the large inner Alpine basin of Aichfeld in upper Styria, has become wellknown.
As part of an opulently equipped grave with numerous prestigious artefacts, it was
quickly established as a prime example of a “princely” burial of a member of the elite of the
Eastern Hallstatt Circle. Apart from this grave, the state of research (not only) in the Early Iron
Age stagnated for nearly 150 years in this region. Even the exact position of the former burial
mound fell into oblivion. It was only in the last 15 years that important new discoveries in
an intensifi ed, multidisciplinary research program within the application of new surveying
methods were made. The “cult cart grave” is part of a number of huge former burial mound
necropolises that surrounded the large-scale hilltop “central settlement” on the Falkenberg.
Together with a handful of further hilltop settlements surrounding the Aichfeld plain, they
are part of a large supra-regional network of contemporary settlement systems. Due to the
favourable position at the crossroad of important routes of trade, communication and cultural
exchange as well as to the richness in natural resources, the Strettweg “micro-region” became
one of the most important centres of the Eastern Hallstatt Circle.