Formation processes of a reopened early Bronze Age inhumation grave in Austria: The soil thin section analyses. (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aspöck, Edeltraud; Banerjea, Rowena Yvonne
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 10(2016)
• Page Start: 791
• Page End: 809
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Soil micromorphology -- Burial taphonomy -- Grave reopening -- Grave formation processes -- Bronze Age -- Wieselburg Gáta culture; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.07.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Abstract: Early Bronze Age and early medieval inhumation graves in (central) Europe had often been re-opened a short time after burial and, in most cases, grave goods were removed. To improve the understanding of the archaeological evidence of these graves, one re-opened grave from a large early Bronze Age (Wieselburg/Gáta culture) cemetery in Weiden am See, eastern Austria, was excavated using a microstratigraphic protocol to maximize data collection for the reconstruction of the context formation process and, consequently, the interpretation of the re-opening process. In this article the results of the soil thin section analyses are presented and discussed. Highlights: Distinguish archaeological stratigraphic units through deposit type classifications, inclusions and formation processes Defining the parameters of a re-opening pit Effects of the decaying body on deposition of sediments Refine archaeological stratigraphy through micromorphology Short- and long-term processes form the archaeological evidence of a grave