A Reconsideration of Building Techniques of Iron Age Tumuli in Western Europe

Abstract

Due to their early investigation, the exact construction of Iron Age burial mounds is not well known. However, with the Magdalenenberg near Villingen-Schwenningen and the so-called Fürstengrab of Eberdingen-Hochdorf, well-investigated contexts of the later Hallstatt Period are available. These tumuli showed radial structures of differing configurations as well as radially or zoned fills. Similar structures are also found in burial mounds of eastern France from the beginning of the Latène Period. In this paper these radial features will be presented and their possible function discussed. Did they have a static purpose or any significance for the workflow of the tumulus construction? Where they sighting aids or guiding walls for the regular deposits of fills or even ritual installations without practical function?