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[German version] Frankish king ( c. 436-482), son of the hḗrōs epónymos…

[German version] A 5th- to 1st-cent. BC Celtic necropolis at the village of V. near Châtillon-sur-Seine (in Burgundy). The best-known grave is that of the 'Princess of V.' in a tumulus with a voluminous wooden chamber; this early 5th-cent. BC princess's tomb (Prince's tomb) is richly furnished with imported Greek and Etruscan goods ( bronze krater, silver phiale/ patera , Greek pottery) and a gold torque (Torques) and a state carriage. Attached to the necropolis was a fortified settlement as a princely seat on the neighbouring Mont Lassois and a small early 5th-cent. BC sanctuary with a square burial enclosure (similar to a Viereckschanze) with fragments of limestone figures (warrior, women e.g. with torques, as well as the remains of a sacrificial meal). Celtic Archaeology Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography …

[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Weapons were among the earliest artefacts fashioned by humans and their ancestors. Stone arrowheads and blades were the first recognizable weapons in the ancient Near East into the Neolithic Period ( …

[German version] A. General Celtic archaeology (CA) investigates the material legacy of groups of the population from the Iron Age, mostly in southern and south-western Central Europe, in addition to the  Germanic archaeology, which borders onto it to the north and north-east. This concerns the  Hallstatt culture of the early and the  La Tène culture of the late Iron Age. The equating of this archaeologically knowable cultures with the ethnicity of the  Celts is not constantly and unambiguously poss…

[German version] There is indirect evid…

[German version] A. General points In most periods of ancient and early European history- as also in other ancient cultures (e.g. Mycenae, Anatolia, Etruria) - some burials can be identified as standing out particularly from the mass of 'normal graves', and these are mainly described as 'princely graves' (PG) [5; 14; 22]. Right through to the early Middle Ages, there is no direct information available about the actual status of these dead, so that PG is only a useful label. Accordingly, other descrip…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In both the Ancient Orient and Egypt the WC was a single-axle open chariot with spoked wheels pulled by horses. WCs were predominantly made of wood and in some cases clad in metal. The first evidence of WCs is on 2nd millennium BC seal rolls in Anatolia, and then in Syria (Seals). Their origin is disputed. In particular Hittite texts record the military significance of WCs (battle of Qadesh in 1275 BC between Muwatalli II and Ramses [2] II). There is also ev…

[German version] I. Introduction The Greek word νεκρόπολις/ nekrópolis, ‘city of the dead’, is attested in Antiquity only in Strabo (17,1,10,14) as the name of a suburb of Alexandria [1] (Necropolis). Modern scholarship transfers the term necropolis to cemeteries of various cultures and time periods. General definitions as to shape and size do not exist. In this article, necropolis r…

(Hellenistic κοράλ(λ)ιον ( korállion), κουράλ(λ)ιον ( kourállion), Latin curalium, corallium). [German version] A. General comments The fact that coral does not consist of plants but of the calcareous skeletons of minuscule anthozoan coelenterates has only been known since the 19th cent. Theophrastus (De lapidibus 38), Pliny (HN 32,21-24, cf. Isid. Orig. 16,8,1), and Dioscorides (5,121 Wellmann = 5,138 Berendes) praise especially red coral, which was found near Naples, Trapani, on the islands of Huyères, and on the Aeolic islands. Darker coral is mentioned as lace by Plin. HN 3…

[German version] H.-Ditzingen, district of Ludwigsburg: finding-place of a stone s…

[German version] These mound dwellings (German: Wurte) originated as i…

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I. Roman [German version] [I 1] According to Veg. Mil. 3,8 ( Nam a castris diminutivo vocabulo sunt nuncupata castella) the castella are relatively small camps that are probably distinguishable from the permanent auxiliary camps and tended to be established in a rather ad hoc manner to secure supplies or as part of a larger fortification (Veg. Mil. ibid.). Castella are probably comparable in size and number of garrisons with the ‘small citadels’ of the limes or the burgi (Veg. Mil. 4,10: castellum parvulum, quem burgum vocant). Herz, Peter (Regensburg) [German version] [I 2] Rural part o…

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[German version] I. General Pins and needles (βελόνη/ belónē, περόνη/ perónē, ῥαφίς/ rhaphís, Latin acus) were put to a variety of uses in the ancient household: they were used for hair, garments and sewing. They were also a utensil, for example, in the work of doctors (Surgical instruments), sailmakers etc. Tattoos were also done using special needles. The shape of the pin, long and thin with one sharp end, has not changed since prehistoric times. In sewing needles, the head is generally unadorned and flat; …

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I. Near East and Egypt [German version] A. Introduction In the Near Orient (particularly the southern Levant and Syria) and Egypt, a fundamental change in the history of mankind occurred 12,000 years ago: the transition from the hunter-gatherer life of paleolithic times to neolithic agrarian society. In the so-called ‘fertile crescent’ and in Egypt, agriculture almost always included livestock farming. Agriculture also encompassed the planting of fruit trees, viticulture and horticulture. The methods of food production led to increasing freedom from dependency on e…

[German version] Method of constructing fortifications from wood, stones and soil widespread through Central Europe during the Iron Age, in which the dry-stone wall fronts had vertical gaps positioned at regular intervals. Basically two types can be distinguished according to their construction: one in which the rear of the wall was similar, and layers of crossbeams were incorporated in the body of the wall, linking the two surfaces (Altkönig-Preist type), and another in which a raised earth ramp …