The La Tène period cemetery of Kutná Hora-Karlov (okr. Kutná Hora / CZ). A rescue excavation from 1988-1989

Abstract

The La Tène period cemetery in the suburb of Karlov in Kutná Hora lies in a region, in which older burial features are quite intensively concentrated along the rivers Vrchlice and Klejnárka. With its 49 from originally around 55 burials the almost fully excavated area can act as a model for contemporary cemeteries. According to the anthropological analyses the graves of adults dominate, including some with weapons and richly furnished female burials. These date from phase Lt B1b-c onwards, the weapon graves occur more intensively in phase Lt B2. The cemetery was abandoned before the beginning of phase Lt C1. Apart from documenting the finds and features, as well as signs of the treatment of the grave-goods and the graves, the investigation of this find-spot also allows one to gain new knowledge on the development of the structure of the cemetery itself and the mechanisms of employing native and foreign elements associated with the dynamics of the contemporary historical development. Thereby the results of the archaeological analyses should be checked and supplemented using modern methods of investigating the anthropological material by stable isotope analysis.