1. Chronology and social significance of the "princely" barrow cemetery in Łęki Małe and the Central European Early Bronze Age.
- Author
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Czebreszuk J, Müller J, Szmyt M, Goslar T, Jaeger M, Hildebrandt-Radke I, Niebieszczański J, Gmińska-Nowak B, Ważny T, Kneisel J, Krause-Kyora B, Makowiecki D, Rewekant A, Kotova N, Rennwanz J, and Raese H
- Subjects
- Poland, Humans, Archaeology, History, Ancient, Europe, Cemeteries history
- Abstract
The "princely" barrows of Łęki Małe, Greater Poland are the oldest such monuments within the distribution area of Únětice societies in Central Europe. While in the Circum-Harz group and in Silesia similar rich furnished graves under mounds have appeared as single monuments as early as 1950 BC, Łęki Małe represents a chain of barrows constructed between 2150 BC and 1800 BC. Of the original 14 mounds, only four were preserved well enough that their complex biographies can now be reconstructed. They included ritual activities (before, during, and after the funeral), and also subsequent incursions, including robberies. The long lasting barrow cemetery at Łęki Małe can be linked to a nearby fortified site, Bruszczewo. Together, Łęki Małe and Bruszczewo represent a stable, socially differentiated society that existed for no less than 350-400 years. Therefore, it can be argued that the Early Bronze Age societies of Greater Poland were extremely sustainable in comparison to those of other Únětice regions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Czebreszuk et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
- Published
- 2024
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