Bronze Age ancestral communities. New Research of Middle Bronze Age burials in the barrow landscapes of Apeldoorn-Wieselseweg

Abstract

In the natural reserves of the Veluwe in the centre of the Netherlands, there are hundreds of mounds that are registered as ‘prehistoric burial mounds’ (Fontijn 2011, table 1.1). Some are protected as National Heritage, but many are not. Only a small part has ever seen professional archaeological investigation, and there are many for which no more is known than that they are likely to represent ‘prehistoric burial sites’. This applies particularly to mounds in the municipality of Apeldoorn, where large numbers are known to exist and fortunately protected as heritage, but where in most cases not much is known on their dating, nature or potential significance as source of knowledge on the past. This article presents the results of a fieldwork campaign where three newly discovered, small barrows were investigated that are part of a much larger barrow landscape on which so far nothing was known. In spite of their small size and the fact that some were heavily damaged by forest ploughing, the research yielded detailed information on their use history and the social and ritual significance that they had in the Bronze Age. Even the most inconspicuous mound, of which it was initially seriously doubted whether it was a prehistoric monument, appears to contain the remains of many special prehistoric features. It is argued that this small group of three barrows dates to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, the period between the 18th and 15th centuries BC and probably represents what was perceived as one ‘community of ancestors’ among a larger ancestral whole. There are indications that it originated around a location that had an older – Late Neolithic – history. It is suggested that this monument had a special role and was the focus of ceremonial activities the likes of which have so far not been detected in the Netherlands: the deposition of loads of stones and pottery in a pit row directed at the location where a barrow would eventually be constructed. Deceased were buried at two locations nearby, both of whom were also covered by mounds. These were collective graves, in which many deceased of both sexes and all ages were buried and no clear distinctions between deceased were emphasized in the burial rituals. There are similarities in the mode of interment in both mounds, and we suggest these barrows are each other’s successors. The fieldwork at the Wieselseweg shows the high potential small-scale research of inconspicuous and damaged burial mounds can have to further our knowledge on the prehistoric legacy of the Netherlands.