Ältereisenzeitlicher Bernstein an der Heuneburg

Neue Erkenntnisse zur Herkunft des Bernsteinrohmaterials und seiner Verarbeitung

Abstract

Early Iron Age Amber at the Heuneburg. New Insights into the Origin of the Amber Raw Material and its Processing

As part of a research project funded by the Czech Science Foundation and the German Research Foundation, amber objects from various Central European contexts of the Early Iron Age (Ha C – Lt A) are to be analysed using scientific methods between 2023 and 2026. The focus is on determining the origin of the amber, reconstructing long-distance trade networks and analysing socio-economic and craft aspects. The project began with an investigation of the amber from the important late Hallstatt power centre of the Heuneburg. While the raw material for the amber artefacts from the Heuneburg itself came from the area between the Polish and Lithuanian Baltic coasts, the material from Bettelbühl burial mound 4 originated in the North Sea area and the western region of the Baltic Sea (Denmark/Northern Germany). This offers fascinating insights into the trade and exchange networks of the Early Iron Age.