Continuities and interactions of burial behavior in cemeteries and settlements of the 3rd to 2nd millennium BC in southern Saxony-Anhalt and neighboring regions, based on finds documented since 1990
Submodule A 4/1 within DFG Research Group 550 (led by Prof. Dr. Francois Bertemes, University of Halle-Wittenberg, "The Dawn of New Horizons: The Nebra Finds in Saxony-Anhalt and Their Significance for the Bronze Age in Europe")
The objective of subproject A4/1 of DFG Research Group 550 is to edit and evaluate burials excavated since 1990 in graves and settlement contexts from the Early and Middle Bronze Age in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. Selected Late Neolithic cup cultures are used for comparison.
Due to the large amount of material, a time limit was set for the finds to be examined. The finds and findings, most of which came to light during modern large-scale excavations, open up new possibilities for comparative analysis of how death was dealt with by members of early to middle Bronze Age societies in southern Saxony-Anhalt and neighboring areas. Burials represent the most important material basis for understanding the social organization and ritual/religious constitution of these groups. A new methodological approach is planned in close cooperation with Module A3 of the research group: a comparative study of the interactions between contemporary settlements and burials. By incorporating various scientific analyses (14C analyses and, above all, anthropological analyses), new insights into the cultural and demographic development of societies in central Germany from the end of the 3rd to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC are expected. In addition to investigating burial customs, in particular the relationship between regular burials and the deposition of human individuals in settlement contexts, the focus is on answering questions about continuity and discontinuity in cultural development in the field of study.