Connecting elites and regions : Perspectives on contacts, relations and differentiation during the Early Iron Age Hallstatt C period in Northwest and Central Europe

The Early Iron Age Hallstatt C period in Northwest and Central Europe is marked by the emergence of monumental tumuli with lavish burials, some of which are known as chieftain's or princely graves. This new burial rite reflects one of the most noteworthy developments in Early Iron Age Europe: the rise of a new and elaborate way of elite representation north of the Alps. These sumptuous burials contain beautiful weaponry, bronze vessels and extravagantly decorated wagons and horse-gear. They reflect long-distance connections in material culture and elite (burial) practices across the breadth of Northwest and Central Europe. Research into this period, however, tends to be regionally focused and poorly accessible to scholars from other areas - language barriers in particular are a hindering factor. In an attempt to overcome this, Connecting Elites and Regions brings together scholars from several research traditions and nations who present regional overviews and discussions of elite burials and material culture from all over Northwest and Central Europe. In many cases these are the first overviews available in English and together they make regional research accessible to a wider audience. As such this volume contributes to and hopes to stimulate research on the Early Iron Age Hallstatt C period on a European scale. Contents Preface Robert Schumann and Sasja van der Vaart-Verschoof Differentiation and globalization in Early Iron Age Europe. Reintegrating the Early Hallstatt period (Ha C) into the debate Sasja van der Vaart-Verschoof and Robert Schumann Moravia - a connecting Line between North, West and South. To the supra-regional connections and formation of elites in the Early Hallstatt period Erika Makarová The Iron Age cremation cemetery of Wörgl in Tyrol and the Early Hallstatt Mindelheim horizon Markus Egg Animals to honour the ancestors: on animal depositions in barrows of the northeast Alpine Hallstatt region Petra Kmetová Hallstatt C sword graves in Continental Gaul: rise of an elite or new system of representation of self in a context of crisis? Pierre-Yves Milcent Hallstatt elite burials in Bohemia from the perspective of interregional contacts Martin Trefnÿ A cluster of chieftains' graves in the Netherlands? Cremating and inhumating elites during Ha C on the Maashorst, the Netherlands Richard Jansen and Sasja van der Vaart-Verschoof Textile symbolism in Early Iron Age burials Christoph Huth and Monika Kondziella Identification and chronological aspects of western influence in northeast Alpine region of Hallstatt culture Laco Chmelo Elites before the Fürstensitze: Hallstatt C sumptuous graves between Main and Danube Manuel Fernández-Götz and Bettina Arnold The Early Iron Age in Belgium: earth and fire, and also water Eugène Warmenbol Textiles as Early Iron Age prestige goods - a discussion of visual qualities Karina Grömer 'Elite graves' in Bavaria. Considerations of practices, status and communication of Early Hallstatt communities Melanie Augstein New approaches to tracing (landscape) connections on the southeastern fringes of the Alps in the Early Iron Age: the state of (integrated) research in eastern Slovenia Matija CreSnar Elites in the cemetery at Hallstatt, Upper Austria Bettina Glunz-Hüsken French elite burials of the Early Iron Age Laurie Tremblay Cormier A practice perspective: understanding Early Iron Age elite burials in the southern Netherlands through event-based analysis Quentin Bourgeois and Sasja van der Vaart-Verschoof New research on sword graves of the Hallstatt C period in Hesse Wolfram Ney The Early Hallstatt elite burials in Belgium. An analysis of the funerary ritual Guy De Mulder At the crossroads of the Hallstatt East Carola