Changes in the burial customs in the Early and Late Iron Age in Central Europe

Abstract

Burial customs underwent gradual changes during the Iron Age, sometimes revealing significant upheavals occurring in the socio-spiritual sphere of the time. Both commonalities and differences between Western and Eastern Europe can be observed in the development of Iron Age burial practices. Particular attention is paid to the differences between the western and eastern parts of Central Europe, which come to the forefront in LT C2 and are probably related to the radical change in religious ideas in the eastern part of Central Europe. Interdisciplinary investigation of the disturbed princely barrow from the Late Hallstatt period in Rovná near Strakonice (South Bohemia) produced new information that has helped clarify the studied topic.