
Transformation through Destruction
A monumental and extraordinary Early Iron Age Hallstatt C barrow from the ritual landscape of Oss-Zevenbergen
Sidestone Press
Published on 30. April 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
348 pages
978-90-8890-102-7 (ISBN)
Description
Some 2800 years ago, a man died in what is now the municipality of Oss, the Netherlands. His death must have been a significant event in the life of local communities, for he received an extraordinary funeral, which ended with the construction of an impressive barrow. Based on the meticulous excavation and a range of specialist and comprehensive studies of finds, a prehistoric burial ritual now can be brought to life in surprising detail. An Iron Age community used extraordinary objects that find their closest counterpart in the elite graves of the Hallstatt culture in Central Europe. This book will discuss how lavishly decorated items were dismantled and taken apart to be connected with the body of the deceased, all to be destroyed by fire. In what appears to be a meaningful pars pro toto ritual, the remains of his body, the pyre, and the objects were searched through and moved about, with various elements being manipulated, intentionally broken, and interred or removed. In essence, a person and a place were transformed through destruction. The book shows how the mourners carefully, almost lovingly covered the funeral remains with a barrow. Attention is also given to another remarkable monument, long mound 6, located immediately adjacent to mound 7. Excavations show how mound 7 was part of an age-old ritual heath landscape that was entirely restructured during the Early Iron Age, when it became the setting for the building of no less than three huge Hallstatt C barrows. Thousands of years later, during the Late Middle Ages, this landscape underwent a complete transformation of meaning when the prehistoric barrows became the scenery for a macabre display of the cadavers of executed criminals.
This publication is part of the Ancestral Mounds Research Project of the University of Leiden.
This publication is part of the Ancestral Mounds Research Project of the University of Leiden.
Reviews / Votes
Transformation through Destruction is a title with many meanings. Due to the great level of detail this book reads like a good detective story. What happened here 2700 years ago? -- NRC NRCMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
39x01 | 189x02
Dimensions
Height: 297 mm
Width: 210 mm
ISBN-13
978-90-8890-102-7 (9789088901027)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Richard Jansen is fulltime lecturer in Applied Archaeology and European Prehistory at the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Leiden. Between 2008 and 2018 he also was the municipal-archaeologist of Oss. His (PhD-)research focuses on the long-term structuring of the (settlement) landscape from the late prehistory until the Roman Period, especially on the extensively researched sandy soils of Oss, but also within the larger MSD-region.