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Prehistorical burial ground - Zabytek.pl

Prehistorical burial ground


cemetery Kietrz

Address
Kietrz

Location
woj. opolskie, pow. głubczycki, gm. Kietrz - miasto

The prehistoric, multicultural burial ground in Kietrz is one of the largest necropolises discovered in our country.

More than 4 thousand graves from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages have been recorded and examined at the site. However, the vast majority of burials belong to the people of the so-called Lusatian culture and, as a result, the burial ground in Kietrz is the largest Bronze Age and early Iron Age necropolis discovered in Central Europe. This archaeological site, unique not only in Silesia or even in Poland, has provided a significant amount of scientific data and movable artefacts, which are an invaluable source of knowledge about the oldest history of our lands.

History of the structure

The prehistoric necropolis (actually, a complex of burial grounds) in Kietrz (site 1 Kietrz, AZP 102-38/1) functioned, intermittently, from the end of the Neolithic era, i.e. from the 3rd century B.C., until the beginning of the migration of peoples, in the first half of the 5th century A.D. Graves of several archaeological cultures have been recorded at the site. These include, in chronological order: the Corded Ware Culture, the Bell Beaker Culture, the Tumulus - pre-Lusatian Culture, Lusatian, Celtic - La Tene Culture and Przeworsk Culture. Simplifying, the main phase of use of the burial ground falls on the period from the middle Bronze Age to the end of the early Iron Age (ca. 1300 - 400 B.C.) and is associated with the population of the Lusatian Culture, which inhabited almost the entire area of present-day Poland.

Several graves of the Neolithic people of the so-called Corded Ware Culture (dating to the 3rd century B.C.) and the Bell Beaker Culture (dating to the end of the 3rd century B.C.) were discovered at the site. At the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., in the so-called early (first) Bronze Age period (2300 - 1600 B.C.), the burial ground in Kietrz was not used and there are no burials from this period. The area of the necropolis was used again in the so-called older (second) period of the Bronze Age (ca. 1600 - 1300 B.C.), this time by the people of the so-called Tumulus - pre-Lusatian Culture. However, the number of burials associated with this culture is also small.

The prehistoric burial ground in Kietrz is primarily associated with the people of the so-called Lusatian culture, who buried their dead here (in general) in the middle, younger and late Bronze Age (i.e. from the third to the fifth period, that is from approximately 1300 B.C. to approximately 750 B.C.) and in the Early Iron Age (750 - 400 B.C.). The earliest graves of the Lusatian culture are contemporaneous with the Celtic graves of the La Tene B period (ca. 400 – 250 B.C.). Thus, the people of the Lusatian Culture used the Kietrz necropolis for about a thousand years.

The burial ground also contains 37 Celtic graves from the La Tene B and C periods (ca. 400 - 100 B.C.) and it must be emphasized that this theoretically small burial ground is the largest discovered and excavated Celtic necropolis in Poland (dating primarily to the La Tene B period). In addition, burials of the so-called Przeworsk Culture have also been found, which is dated from approximately 200 B.C. to approximately 450 A.D., but functioned in the Kietrz area mainly in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., i.e. in the first two centuries of the so-called Roman influence period.

Description of the structure

The site is located south of the centre of Kietrz, on a slightly elevated terrain, in the vicinity of two rivers, i.e. east of the Morawka River and south of the Troja River. The monument was partially destroyed and then almost entirely excavated.

The site has been known in the literature since 1867. In 1930-1942, the German archaeologist Georg Raschke conducted archaeological rescue excavations on the site - discovering 471 graves. From 1956 to 1983 excavations were carried out under the direction of Marek Gedel of the Jagiellonian University, who recorded over 3700 graves. In total, it is estimated that the prehistoric necropolis covered an area of over 10 ha and, as already mentioned, a total of over 4 000 graves were discovered and examined

The cemetery was dominated by burials of the Lusatian Culture, which generally functioned here from the middle Bronze Age to the La Tene B period. This culture belonged to the circle of Urnfield cultures, which spread over a large area of Europe.

In general, Lusatian Culture burial grounds are characterized by long, several hundred years of use, hundreds or even thousands of graves, and the fact that they are large in area. The graves of the people of this culture were usually flat, with cremation and urn burials dominant, i.e. the burnt remains were placed in clay vessels - urns, which were very often accompanied by additional vessels containing grave offerings. It can be added that in total the remains of 2790 individuals from the Lusatian Culture period were identified. The child mortality rate was found to be approximately 30%. The greatest number of deaths, 45.5%, occurred in the 20-30 age group, and the average life expectancy was 28.7 years. The necropolis in Kietrz was probably used by several communities living in neighbouring settlements. The site probably had an important function in integrating the local community of the Lusatian Culture. Several differently dated zones were noted in the burial ground. Thanks to the clear horizontal stratigraphy and the discovery of numerous graves with movable artefacts, the necropolis became a flagship site for the Lusatian Culture.

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that over 2800 burial grounds of the Lusatian Culture have been discovered in present-day Poland, but many of them have been irretrievably destroyed and only a few have been excavated by archaeologists.

Visitor access. The site is accessible all year round.

Author of the note: Michał Bugaj, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Katowice, 07.08.2017.

Bibliography

  • Blajer W., Epoka brązu i okres halsztacki, [in:] E. Tomczak (ed.), Archeologia. Górny Śląsk, Katowice 2013, pp. 79-109.
  • Dąbrowski J., Polska przed trzema tysiącami lat. Czasy kultury łużyckiej, Warsaw 2009.
  • Foltyn E. M., Foltyn E., Ziemie Górnego Śląska od epoki kamienia do wczesnego średniowiecza, Katowice 2012.
  • Gedl M., Kultura łużycka na Górnym Śląsku, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków 1962.
  • Gedl M., O wielkich cmentarzyskach z epoki brązu i z wczesnej epoki żelaza – słowo wstępne, [in:] M. Gedl (ed.), Wielkie cmentarzyska z epoki brązu i wczesnej epoki żelaza, Warsaw 2002, pp. 9-18.
  • Gedl M., Wielkie cmentarzysko z epoki brązu i wczesnej epoki żelaza w Kietrzu, pow. Głubczyce na Górnym Śląsku, [in:] M. Gedl (ed.), Wielkie cmentarzyska z epoki brązu i wczesnej epoki żelaza, Warsaw 2002, pp. 75-116.
  • Gedl M., Kietrz – popielnicowa nekropola nad Troją, Alma Mater Vol. 99, Kraków 2008, pp. 99-104.
  • Kaczanowski P., Kozłowski J. K., Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.), Wielka Historia Polski Vol. 1, Kraków 1998

Category: cemetery

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_A_16_AR.6756, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_16_AR.481136