Fictitious Tradition and Cultural Memory - The Appropriation of the Past in the Settlement Record of La Tène Period Central Europe

Published: 2014-01-01 | DOI: 10.54799/BJVX5053

Abstract

The frequent spatial reference of prehistoric burial mounds and La Tène-period fortified farmsteads (so called Viereckschanzen) is rather no coincidence. Sometimes, the rectangular enclosures incorporate an ancient burial monument or were constructed in direct vicinity of mounds. A sample analysis of southern German Viereckschanzen reveals patterns of position and correlation which might be explained by cosmological beliefs of a Celtic population. The deliberate choice of position near a visible grave suggests a conscious ideological reference to eminent memorial places. Prehistoric and ethnographic examples of similar phenomena of combined settlements and burial places help to interpret Iron Age memorial culture of Central Europe. The ostentatious recourse on ancient monuments aimed at the appropriation of the past and the creation of (fictitious) traditions. This ideological reference legitimised and consolidated economic and political power.

How to Cite

Wendling, Holger. 2014. “Fictitious Tradition and Cultural Memory - The Appropriation of the Past in the Settlement Record of La Tène Period Central Europe”. EAZ – Ethnographisch-Archaeologische Zeitschrift 55 (1/2):91-118. https://doi.org/10.54799/BJVX5053.
Obermarchtal. Positional correspondence of a Late Latène quadrangular enclosure and a Hallstatt barrow field (after Bittel/Kimmig/Schiek 1981, 93 Fig. 30)
Obermarchtal. Positional correspondence of a Late Latène quadrangular enclosure and a Hallstatt barrow field (after Bittel/Kimmig/Schiek 1981, 93 Fig. 30)
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