Ein Kriegerbrandgrab aus der mittleren Römischen Kaiserzeit aus Vlkov nad Lesy, Bez. Nymburk (Nimburg)

Abstract

The cremation grave at Vlkov nad Lesy/Lišice (also known as Vlkov u Městce Králové) has been known to experts since 1919, when it was first published by Jan Hellich. The circumstances of discovery are outlined on the basis of sources stored at the Polabské Museum in Poděbrady. They primarily comprise notes taken by Jan Hellich and stored in the archaeological department’s archives. Most importantly, the material associated with the site of Vlkov nad Lesy (inventory no. H 13852) includes a short letter from the local teacher J. Laštovka to the pharmacist J. Hellich informing him of the discovery of a cremation grave. He believed the grave to have been discovered in a sand/gravel pit in an area known as “Vyšehrad”. The ashes had been placed in a bronze cauldron of the NE 3 Westland type, Hauken 1. In addition to the urn, the grave also contained two iron stoolshaped spurs from the Roman IIa group, a twisted sword and other small artefacts, i.e. casket or drinking-horn hinge fittings and curved ironwork on the sword’s scabbard. The grave follows the Early Roman period tradition of burials in metal vessels which appears to have been a status symbol of the Barbarian élite. The circumstances of the discovery, in the absence of further research on the site, make it impossible to answer the question whether other graves from the Roman era existed there. If this was the case, they could also contain weaponry and artefacts of significant status value. The area is known to have been frequented from the Early to Late Roman periods. However, the number of archaeological sites that have been documented and archaeologically examined in the region, which is situated on the border between present-day central and eastern Bohemia in the Cidlina River Basin, is insufficient. Most of the discoveries were made in the early and first half of the 20th century, and mainly comprised chance finds of grave complexes (Nepolisy, Lovčice, Žiželice), and some artefacts have recently been discovered using metal detectors. Nevertheless, we can state that the Nepolisy cremation grave from phases B2b and B2/C1, whose ashes were placed in a late E 41 barrel-type bucket, and the inhumation grave at Lovčice which has been attributed to stage C3,  exhibited attributes typical of the richer burials from the Roman period. Further research and the publication of artefacts obtained by metal detecting is required to determine if the region represented an important settlement area in the Early to Late Roman periods in the eastern and central Bohemian region of the Elbe River.