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Burial Site

Burial practices at the Hallstatt burial site

Archaeological evidence of death rituals and belief in the afterlife stretches back to the Old Stone Age. Graves are as diversified and individual as living people: no two of them are ever the same. And yet, the various burial forms reflect a common culture sharing common ideals. This picture of a possible burial ceremony in the High Valley is based on the interpretation of old and new excavation findings, completed by new results from the research into textile, dyeing, leather and costumes and into the population of Iron Age Hallstatt.

Reconstruction of a burial ceremony
Partial cremation

 

Burial site reconstruction

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Burial practices

There are two types of burials in the Hallstatt field grave, inhumation and cremation. Burial gifts were placed into the graves of the deceased. So far no evidence has been found of wooden coffins or similar containers. During cremations the body was burnt before the ashes were either placed in an urn or scattered into the grave containing burial objects. In a few cases it has been shown that the ashes and objects were placed in a wooden construction.

 

Partial cremation

Scholars initially assumed a third type of burial, the so-called partial cremation, which may now be excluded on recent excavation evidence. The rather unprofessional records and sketches prepared credulously by Ramsauer led to misinterpretations and to the development of a theory of the existence of the allegedly unique mixed type of burial, with a partial cremation of parts of the body. In fact, Ramsauer’s documents show the superposition, overlapping and intermingling of different graves.

(Kern, A. – Loew, C.)

: Gesamtplan des Gräberfeldes aus den Jahren 1846 bis 1863 (Bild: Fundaktenarchiv PA NHM)
Gesamtplan des Gräberfeldes aus den Jahren 1846 bis 1863 (Bild: Fundaktenarchiv PA NHM)
: Detail eines Aquarells aus der Grabungsdokumentation von J. G. Ramsauer mit der Darstellung einer sogenannten „Teilverbrennung“ (Bild: Fundaktenarchiv PA NHM)
Detail eines Aquarells aus der Grabungsdokumentation von J. G. Ramsauer mit der Darstellung einer sogenannten „Teilverbrennung“ (Bild: Fundaktenarchiv PA NHM)
  
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