Für immer verschlossen? Zur transzendentalen (?) Bedeutung der frühkaiserzeitlichen Kästchenbeigabe

Ein Fallbeispiel aus Urmitz (Lkr. Mayen-Koblenz)

Abstract

Forever Closed? On the Transcendental (?) Meaning of the Early Imperial Grave-good of a Box. An Example from Urmitz (Lkr. Mayen-Koblenz)

Between 1978 and 1982, the Roman cremation cemetery »Auf’m Bungert« at Urmitz (near Koblenz) was excavated. From grave 1980_0054, feature 48 come, among other things, parts of an early Imperial barbed spring lock with parallels from the cemetery of Badenheim. For the first time, the find from Urmitz allows a technical reconstruction and raises questions about the function of the box in the context of Late La Tène period customs of grave-goods. Perhaps the box had a purely sepulchral function, since the possibility of opening it was lacking. Additionally, an iron collared brooch found in the grave allows a fundamental compilation and chronological classification of this type of fibula, which otherwise was always manufactured from bronze.