Die bronzezeitliche Deponierung aus Güttingen TG Im Rain

Abstract

The Middle Bronze Age Hoard from Güttingen TG Im Rain

During officially authorised prospection with a metal detector, a Middle Bronze Age hoard came to light in an area known as »Im Rain« in the Güttingen municipality in Kanton Thurgau, Switzerland. The hoard could be removed en bloc and excavated under laboratory conditions at the Thurgau Department of Archaeology. A total of over 158 objects was recovered. These include 14 spiked discs, eleven spirals, ca. 90 amber beads, a worked piece of jet, two spiral finger rings, eight gold spirals, a small ring, a finger ring fragment (?), two small spiral cylinder ornaments, an arrowhead, an awl point, a peg/rivet, a perforated bear’s canine tooth, a beaver tooth, a pyritised ammonite, a fossilised shark tooth, a quartz crystal fragment and 21 iron oxide nodules. Two ¹⁴C dates and the typological analysis date the hoard to the Early Middle Bronze Age (Bz B/C1, ca. 1500 BC). The combination of women’s jewellery, weapon components and uncommon natural objects suggests a ritual interpretation.