Archaeological sources provide a wide range of information to help understand the social structure of human society in the past. In this paper, the authors deal with the information potential of grave pit modifi cations and wooden structures in graves at burial sites in the central region of Great Moravia (southeast Moravia, southwest Slovakia). The goal at this point is to defi ne the basic hypotheses and describe the methodological basis along with the research methodology. The authors treat the sources holistically, which means that one of the methodological foundations is the claim that the properties of the whole are not a simple sum of its parts. This means that all recognized elements of the funeral rite and their mutual relations and functions are the center of attention of this research. The primary basis for the research is the assumption that the presence of various wooden structures or wooden burial receptacles in the graves of the Great Moravian period is a common cultural occurrence. It further tests the hypothesis that there was intent behind choosing of these different wooden structures and grave pit modifi cations and their usage, as well as a potential differentiation based on age or gender in the frequency, quality and selection of these modifi cations/arrangements and structures. The main methodological tools are statistical and GIS analysis and the results are compared with published fi ndings from the wider Central European region., Marian Mazuch, Marek Hladík., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Hinkelstein ist der Name einer mittelneolithischen, am nördlichen Oberrhein heimischen Kulturgruppe an der Wende vom 6. zum 5. Jahrtausend v. Chr., deren erste Gräber 1866 in Monsheim bei Worms, Rheinhessen, nahe einem ebenso benannten Menhir entdeckt worden waren. Zwei große Gräberfelder von Worms, Rheingewann 1895 und Rheindürkheim 1898, blieben lange Zeit repräsentativ, bis 1988/89 in Trebur, Südhessen, ein großes Gräberfeld der Hinkelsteiner und Großgartacher Kultur planmäßig ausgegraben werden konnte. Hinkelstein ist eine Nachfolgekultur der Linienbandkeramik am Ort und eine Schwesterkultur der Stichbandkeramik im Osten. Dabei wurde die bandkeramische Hockerbestattung von einer Streckbestattung mit strenger Orientierung SO–NW abgelöst und eine reiche Gefäßornamentik in linienbandkeramischer Technik und stichbandkeramischer Struktur entwickelt. and HINKELSTEIN – THE CULTURAL PICTURE OF A NEOLITHIC GROUP. Hinkelstein is a Middle Neolithic cultural group spread across the upper Rhineland, and dated to the turn of the 5th Millennium BC. The first graves of this group were uncovered in 1866 at Monsheim near Worms (Hessen Rhineland), close to the menhir of the same name. Two large cemeteries at Worms – Rheingewann (1895) and Rheindürkheim (1898) – remained representative until 1988/89, when planned excavations were able to uncover a large cemetery at Trebur (south Hessen). Evidence of the Hinkelstein and Großgartach cultural groups was recovered. Hinkelstein is a group which here follows the Linear Pottery culture and corresponds to the Stroke–Ornamented Ware culture in the east. Flexed burials are now replaced by stretched ones with a precise SO–NW orientation. Its rich ornamentation uses the technique of Linear Pottery and the structures of Stroke–Ornamented Ware.