Chronology of a group of stone-cist graves in northern Estonia

Radiocarbon dates from Lastekangrud at Rebala

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12636446
AutoresMargot Laneman (University of Tartu, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume25
Fascículo2
Páginas113-139
Data de publicação2021-06-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEstonian Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1406-2933 • E-ISSN: 1736-7484
EditoraEstonian Academy Publishers (PUBLISHER • EE)
DOI10.3176/arch.2021.2.02
OpenAlexW3176455273
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas15

Twenty-two radiocarbon dates of human bone were obtained to clarify the chronology of five stone-cist graves at Rebala, northern Estonia. The calibrated dates of the cist burials mostly span the Hallstatt plateau of the calibration curve, i.e. 800â 400 BC. The cemetery was probably present around 600 BC at the latest, but there is no firm evidence to further constrict the date of the cist burials. The results do not overlap with the previously obtained radiocarbon dates of the charcoal from beneath the graves, which indicate the 13thâ 9th centuries BC. A few radiocarbon-dated burials outside the cists show that the cemetery was still in use after 400 BC, but it remains unclear whether the use was continuous from the Bronze into the Pre-Roman Iron Age or consisted of temporally separate episodes. Whether the latest interments in the Pre-Roman Iron Age coincided with the establishment or use of the block-shaped fields around the graves remains also undecided. The case exemplifies the difficulties in pinpointing the end of the stone-cist burial tradition in Estonia. In addition to the prehistoric burials, grave II contained at least nine infant skeletons, most likely from the 15th century AD, and thus served as an example of the well-known cultural phenomenon of secluded infant burial

Ancient history · Archaeology · Bronze Age · Chronology · Geography · Grave goods · Plateau (mathematics · Prehistory · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History