A Corded Ware culture grave from Nezabylice in northwestern Bohemia

On the construction of chamber graves in the Late Eneolithic in Central Europe

Abstract

The subject of the article is an inhumation Corded Ware culture grave with a unique stone lining investigated in northwest Bohemian Nezabylice in 2017. The work is based on a detailed description of the find situation accompanied by the following analyses. These include a standard analysis of the applied burial ritual and related finds, with heightened attention being paid to the issue of the chronological homogeneity of the assemblage supported by two radiocarbon dates. Also addressed is the position of the discussed unit in the context of grave construction practices of not only the bearers of the Bohemian Corded Ware culture but also similar central European groups. Against the background of presented parallels, the conclusion lines an image of the original form of the tomb, including the subsequent related post-depositional processes.