Discuss Gender Roles With Regard To Hallstatt And La Tène Bu

Gender, age, cultural or ethnic identity and various roles in the society help determine the types of burials adopted, it’s associated ritual and the religion objects buried with the dead.

The discussion of women’s roles and status in Iron Age Europe has been poor due to benign neglect, particularly with regard to the interpretation of the wealthy inhumations called Fürstengräber or ‘princely graves’.

The site of Hallstatt is located in the Alps in Austria. It was first uncovered by George Ramsauer in 1846. Ramsauer kept very little records. He was more interested in gold and metals etc. Bones and pottery were all disposed of. It was discovered that there was a local salt mine and this natural resource had supported a local economy near Hallstatt for up to 4500 years. It was used to preserve food and used by iron smelters.

Great numbers of graves have been excavated, primarily by Duchess Mechenbaum. The early graves were found to contain small numbers of iron whereas the later graves generally held larger quantities. Hallstatt is the first period of prehistory that can be linked with the Celts.

The Hallstatt cultural period of the Celts lasted from between 800/700 BC – 600/500 BC therefore La Tène denotes a period which took over from Hallstatt culture.

It was previously thought that the idea of feasting and drinking vessels was mainly associated with males. It wasn’t until much later and within more modern burial interpretations that it was realised that many of these graves were in fact those of female individuals.

Burial practices denote differences in understanding death and have a message for society and future generations. They are rituals for those who remain alive, constructing the idea of ancestry and create a social place for the dead through the delimitation of a specific space (i.e. grave), which gives an identity and status to the dead before the living society.

Historians, archaeologists and anthropologists have faced death, its remains and meanings and social relationships in many different ways throughout time and history. Through study and comparison of ancient and modern societies, singularities in mortuary rites and burial places, which vary from society to society as well as within the same society over time, depending on social and historical context.

Some topics in this essay:
La Tène, Alps Historians, Vix Princess, Iron Age, Age Europe, Hochmichele Hochdorff, George Ramsauer, Hallstatt D1, Practice Gender, Nuchatel Switzerland, la tène, iron age, burial practices, male female, metal drinking, drinking vessels, female burials, iron age europe, female elite, elite burials, mont lassois, male female elite, female elite burials, hallstatt la tène, iron age society,