Returns to Ancestral Monuments. The Transition of Funerary Areas During the 4th and 3rd Millennia BC in Bohemia

Abstract

The earliest manifestation of funerary monumentality in Central Europe is represented by long barrows from the 4th millennium BC. The latest discoveries suggest that it was the long barrows that initiated the tradition of shaping ritual landscapes. Besides their funerary function, these monuments also served as ancestral shrines. Current research indicates the existence of approximately a thousand-year hiatus in the use of these sacred places in Bohemia. Secondary burials associated with the Corded Ware and Únětice Cultures have been recorded in long barrows. Similar sequences can also be observed in other sites where evidence of long barrows is currently not secure. Beaker cultures of the 3rd millennium BC are represented primarily by funerary monuments in the form of round barrows. This form of funerary monuments did not evolve from the long barrows. On the contrary, it represents a new phenomenon originating from the North Pontic/Caspian region, associated with the Yamna Culture.