Professor Heyd gave the keynote in Session 4 A diversity of barrows? – Early earthen grave mounds between the Caucasus and the Atlantic, organized by J. Brinkmann, M. Furholt, R. Hofmann, and M. Shatilo. The lecture, entitled The Many Facets of Early Burial Mounds, focused on the early Eastern European mounds.
Abstract of Heyd's keynote
Burials mounds are a world-wide phenomenon, spanning the last 6500 Years and connecting Continents not only of the ‘Old World’ but also including the Americas. In Europe, they seem --following current understanding-- to have their origins in two different geographical regions: 1) In the west, that is Atlantic France and here particularly Brittany; and 2) in the east, that is the Caspian-Pontic steppe and here the lower Volga-Don steppe. In both regions the dates may be as early as the mid-5th millennium BC and one wonders if there is a link in one way or another between the two? Whatsoever, my presentation will mostly focus on the eastern branch in which we observe an expansion of the idea of erecting a monument over the burial of one (or several) particular individual(s).Burials mounds are a world-wide phenomenon, spanning the last 6500 Years and connecting Continents not only of the ‘Old World’ but also including the Americas. In Europe, they seem --following current understanding-- to have their origins in two different geographical regions: 1) In the west, that is Atlantic France and here particularly Brittany; and 2) in the east, that is the Caspian-Pontic steppe and here the lower Volga-Don steppe. In both regions the dates may be as early as the mid-5th millennium BC and one wonders if there is a link in one way or another between the two? Whatsoever, my presentation will mostly focus on the eastern branch in which we observe an expansion of the idea of erecting a monument over the burial of one (or several) particular individual(s).
As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.As far as we can follow, the round mound custom reaches the west of the Black Sea already in the late 5th millennium BC, and regions further to the west up to the Elbe river catchment then in the mid 4th millennium, with monumental mounds also erected roughly contemporary in the Caucasus. However it remains open whether Central Europe was influenced rather from the east, or the west, or by both! At least from the later 4th millennium, we see the custom getting speed, and round burial mounds are now becoming a wider phenomenon in the steppes of eastern and southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Carpathian basin, with a question mark of their extension towards the west as there is now clearly an interference with the Megalithic world. In any case, this success story is then culminating in the 3rd millennium, when mounds are now mushrooming virtually everywhere in Europe.
At least from the 3rd millennium BC the burial mound is not only serving as a monument but also an ideological, social and perhaps political marker, and my lecture will highlight its multiple functions and links beyond their spread. It will also, however, make aware of the dire situation and the ongoing destruction of mounds particularly in the Southeast of Europe.At least from the 3rd millennium BC the burial mound is not only serving as a monument but also an ideological, social and perhaps political marker, and my lecture will highlight its multiple functions and links beyond their spread. It will also, however, make aware of the dire situation and the ongoing destruction of mounds particularly in the Southeast of Europe.At least from the 3rd millennium BC the burial mound is not only serving as a monument but also an ideological, social and perhaps political marker, and my lecture will highlight its multiple functions and links beyond their spread. It will also, however, make aware of the dire situation and the ongoing destruction of mounds particularly in the Southeast of Europe.At least from the 3rd millennium BC the burial mound is not only serving as a monument but also an ideological, social and perhaps political marker, and my lecture will highlight its multiple functions and links beyond their spread. It will also, however, make aware of the dire situation and the ongoing destruction of mounds particularly in the Southeast of Europe.