GRAB 3 AUS DEM AUNJETITZER GRÄBERFELD VON GEITZENDORF. DER ERSTE NACHWEIS EINER METALLVERARBEITERIN IN DER FRÜHBRONZEZEIT NIEDERÖSTERREICHS

• Authors: Ernst Lauermann , Doris Pany-Kucera

Title variants

EN

Grave 3 from the Unetice Culture cemetery of Geitzendorf. The first evidence for a female metal worker in the Early Bronze Age in Lower Austria

• Languages of publication: DE

Abstracts

EN

The cemetery of Geitzendorf with 15 documented graves provides an important contribution to the knowledge of Únětice Culture in Lower Austria. Among the grave group, the female grave V3 certainly represents the most important one. In a depth of 70 cm below the actual surface the grave shaft was clearly visible. In a depth of 120 cm a brown layer with an extension of 160 x 58 cm can be interpreted as wooden coffin. The skeleton was severely disturbed in the pelvis and the thorax regions. Like all the graves from Geitzendorf, this burial was robbed in ancient times. Besides the preserved jewellery like rings or spiral tubes, two amber beads were found as well. Among the ceramic finds the imitation of a leather poach is worth to be mentioned. Four cushion stones could have been used as tools for metal working. The stones were found dispersed in the back of the burial, outside the dark layer. Stone ST22 was covered by a small cup, immediately behind the skull. Anthropological examination of the skull – the pelvis is not preserved – point to the woman who died at the age of 45 – 60 years. The skeletal remains also showed some pathology. The arthrotic transformations were visible at the right temporomandibular joint as well as at the corresponding Fossa mandibularis of the skull. The right clavicle shows a severe, but healed fracture. The female goldsmith buried in Geitzendorf seems to be a unique phenomenon and raises new questions regarding the role of women in the Early Bronze Age society. It is not quite sure whether the stone tools in the burial represent the complete tool set of a goldsmith. The objects could also be regarded a pars pro toto. In the Early Bronze Age area of study, nonambiguous burials of the metal workers have been rarely found. Overall, the badly preserved finds from the cemetery, consisting mainly of ceramics, can be dated into the classic phase BA2 of the Únětice Culture.

Keywords

EN

LOWER AUSTRIA; EARLY BRONZE AGE; ÚNĚTICE CULTURE; BURIALS; METALWORKERS; WOMAN

• Publisher: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Institute
• Journal: Slovenská archeológia (Slovak Archaeology)
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 93 – 106

Contributors

author

Ernst Lauermann

• Niederösterreichisches Museum für Urgeschichte, Schlossgasse 1, A – 2151 Asparn/Zaya, Austria

author

Doris Pany-Kucera