<< Our Photo Pages >> Bronze Urn of Gevelinghausen - Round Barrow(s) in Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia
Submitted by Harald_Platta on Wednesday, 26 August 2015 Page Views: 3240
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Bronze Urn of Gevelinghausen Alternative Name: Urne von Gevelinghausen, Amphore von GevelinghausenCountry: Germany Land: North Rhine-Westphalia Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Olsberg Nearest Village: Gevelinghausen
Latitude: 51.349558N Longitude: 8.446232E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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The bronze urn of Gevelinghausen was found in Olsberg (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) in 1961. It exhibits several ornaments, including “Bird-Sun-Boats“, which are a rare example of a pictorial representation of religious beliefs from the Bronze Age. Moreover, certain ornaments of the urn seem to resemble a calender.
The discovery of the bronze urn has been regarded as one of the most important German finds of the last century. Today, there are only 11 comparable amphorae-like vessels known in Europe. The amphora of Gevelinghausn has been called the most beautiful bronze vessel of Germany.
The amphora of Gevelinghausen is 36.2 cm high and stems from the Bronze Age (ca. 9th – 8th century BC).
The amphora displays a rich decoration with ornaments. It exhibits 10500 bosses of different diameter. Some of them form rowing boats. They have bows and sterns that are reminsicent of stylised birds. The rowing boats seem to transport circular structures that might resemble the sun. These so called “Bird-Sun-Boats“ (Vogel-Sonnen-Barken) are recognised as a rare pictorial representation of religious beliefs from the Bronze Age.
Moreover, the amphora displays a calender. The central bosses can be assigned to the days.
One of the two bronze handles was already torn off in ancient times.
The urn contained the cremated remains of a man. The first reports stating that the remains belong to a woman have been disproven. Radiocarbon dating suggested that the man had died between 772 and 400 BC. The only grave good were two small decorated bone tiles of unknown function.
It is not known, how the burial site looked like, but it can be speculated that it had a tumulus.
The origin and original function of the amphora are a matter of debate. One hypothesis is, that it originally was a sacral item and had been used for religious rites. The owner possibly died during a journey through today`s middle Germany. His cremated remains were placed in the amphora after it was desecrated by tearing off one handle.
The amphora had been removed from the original place of discovery (see coordinates at the top of the page). Today, the amphora of Gevelinghausen is part of the permanent exhibition in the LWL-Museum für Archäologie in Herne.
Text References:
[01] May, J.: Ausgeleuchtet. Die Bronzenen Amphoren Aus Seddin Und Herzberg Im Lichte Neuer Dokumentationsmethoden. In: Archäologie In Berlin Und Brandenburg (2012).
[02] Jockenhövel, A.: Die Bronzeamphore von Gevelinghausen:“Vogel-Sonnen-Barke“ in Westfalen. In: Westfalen in der Bronzezeit (2008).
[03] May, J.: „Die gefangene Zeit“. Vergleichende Untersuchungen
zu den Kalenderamphoren von Seddin, Herzberg, Rørbæk, Unia und Gevelinghausen. In: Acta Praehist. et Arch. 40 (2008).
[04] Steinrücken, B.: Untersuchung des Fundortes der Bronzeurne von Gevelinghausen auf astronomische Auffälligkeiten.
[05] Jockenhövel, A.: Die Vogel-Sonnen-Barke: Symbol der mitteleuropäischen Urnenfelderkultur. In: Von der Höhlenkunst zur Pyramide: Vorzeit und Altertum (1997).
[06] Probst, E.: Die ältere Niederrheinische Grabhügel-Kultur. In: Deutschland in der Bronzezeit (1996).
[07] Jockenhövel, A.: Eine Bronzeamphore des 8. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Von Gevelinghausen, Kr Meschede (Sauerland). In: Germania Bd. 52 (1974).
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