Burgstallkogel (Sulm valley)

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The Burgstallkogel from the West, as seen from the Georgenberg

The Burgstallkogel (458 m; also known as Grillkogel) is a hill situated near the
confluence of the Sulm and the Saggau river valleys in Southern Styria in Austria,
about 30 km south of Graz between Gleinsttten and Kleinklein. The hill hosted a
significant settlement of trans-regional importance from 800 BC to about 600 BC.
Surrounding the hill is one of the largest iron age necropolises in continental
Europe, originally composed of at least 2,000 tumuli.

Contents [hide]
1 Geography
2 Settlement history
3 The necropolis and its investigation
4 The chieftains' graves
5 References
6 External links
Geography[edit]
The Burgstallkogel is prominently situated on a ridge that runs from east to west,
straddling the southern banks of the Sulm valley, on a trade route that crossed the
Koralpe mountain range from Carinthia, connecting to the southern parts of the
basin of Graz and onward to the Hungarian plains. The settlement apparently
controlled long-distance trade along this route, which had been in use since
neolithic times, and prospered from it. The community exchanged goods far into
Italy and into the Balkans, and might have exploited the iron ore deposits that
exist on the hill.

Situation sketch of the Burgstallkogel settlement and its associated necropolis

Settlement history[edit]
The first significant habitation on the hill was established during the late
Urnfield culture period around 800 BC, when hilltop settlements became common in
continental Europe. Although the name Burgstallkogel (a generic German popular term
for a hill fortification) suggests that historical knowledge of the hill persisted
until the Middle Ages, very little was known to archaeological science until 1982-
1984 when an exploratory dig established facts which led to significant
improvements of our conception of the Sulm Valley Subgroup of the Eastern Hallstatt
culture.

A reconstruction of a Hallstatt-era bakery in the Burgstallkogel settlement

Four cultural layers were identified containing pottery ranging from the late
Urnfield culture to the mid-Hallstatt culture period (Ha B23 to Ha B3C1). Erosion
has destroyed the youngest layers of the late Hallstatt period, especially on the
summit where nobility is likely to have resided. While the earliest settlement
traces are believed to extend over much of the hill on all its sides (the southern
slopes are covered by vineyards and are almost impossible to investigate
archeologically), the settlement contracted towards the mountain top after it was
destroyed by fire twice (around 750 and 700 BC) during the subsequent Hallstatt
period. It was essentially abandoned shortly after 600 BC. The Burgstallkogel
settlement itself was not fortified (although a system of Hallstatt-era trenches
was found close to the Sulm valley bottom at the northwestern side of the hill,
which is most exposed to attacks), and archeology gives no indications that it ever
suffered from war; the two catastrophic fires seem to have been accidental.

One of these fires destroyed a house containing the largest vertical loom from the
Hallstatt era that has ever been identified in Central Europe. The fact that the
stone weights of this loom remained in situ when it collapsed allowed its
reconstruction, adding a valuable piece of knowledge to our conception of advanced
woven-textile manufacturing technology during the central European Iron Age. This
illustrates that the Burgstallkogel population had a comparatively high standard of
living (though not as high as is typical for the Western Hallstatt culture), which
can also be inferred from the fact that the inhabitants slaughtered their cattle at
a relatively young age.

In 2004, reconstructions of typical mid-Hallstatt period houses (a residential

building, a granary and a bakery) were erected on the western slope of the hill
employing experimental archaeology methods. However, the findings from the digs
offer no proof that these buildings resemble any actual situation at the
Burgstallkogel settlement during this period.

The necropolis and its investigation[edit]

Hallstatt-era tumulus in the Sulm valley necropolis

In contrast to the grave mounds in the Western Hallstatt zone where the deceased
were mostly buried intact, all Burgstallkogel dead were cremated, frequently
together with some of their personal articles, before the remains were deposited in
the stone grave chamber and earth was piled on it to erect the tumulus.

The common citizen tumuli of the Sulm valley necropolis (believed to have numbered
in excess of 2,000 before agriculture destroyed most of them) surrounded the
Burgstallkogel settlement on all sides, and originally they covered much of the
hill range between Gleinsttten and the village of Kleinklein, where a small area
had been set aside for the much larger tumuli of the chieftains. The oldest grave
mounds in the necropolis correspond to the youngest surviving settlement strata of
the Burgstallkogel settlement, while two later (Hallstatt B3C1) burial phases can
only be inferred from secondary deposits. Besides being larger than most other
necropolises in the Eastern Hallstatt area, the Sulm valley necropolis is set apart
by the fact that preserved non-aristocratic burials far outnumber the nobility's
graves.

Today the surviving tumuli appear clustered in well-defined and dense groups. Most
likely, this does not reflect a design from the Hallstatt period but rather the
persistence of larger tumuli which were better able to resist human interference
and natural erosion, or were protected from both by forest growing over them.

The hill graves have been a natural part of the local population's environment for
centuries, and were surrounded by much folklore. The first crude excavations date
back to 1844, and some finds were on display during the 1873 World Exposition in
Vienna. The first systematic scientific efforts were made by four officials E.
Pratobevera in 1856-1857, and Radimsk, Szombathy and Gurlitt between 1881 and 1883
on behalf of the Austro-Hungarian and Styrian Anthropological Societies.

The excavations continued throughout World War I and into the 1930s. After a long
lapse during World War II and the post-war era, they resumed in 1972. As is the
case at all other well-known archaeological sites, modern professional grave
robbers (many equipped with metal detectors which have only very recently been
outlawed in Austria) have since caused much damage through their unscientific
efforts but have also made finds of some significance which found their way into
the public domain.

There are also several flat graves in the Burgstallkogel area, which date back to
the 10th century BC.

The chieftains' graves[edit]

Bulls' head pottery from the Sulm valley necropolis

The rulers and their aristocracy, which prided itself on military leadership, had
the easternmost part of the necropolis to themselves. Naturally, their tumuli (of
which four are known - Hartnermichelkogel I and II, Pommerkogel and Krllkogel)
were the largest and richest ones, containing significant amounts of bronze vessels
and iron armament in addition to pottery. It is assumed that the chieftains' tumuli
were modeled on Etruscan tombs. The cremation places have not been found, but are
supposed to have been either near the grave site or near the hilltop.

The Krllkogel was the last hill grave to be set up for a chieftain ruling the
Burgstallkogel settlement, most likely dating to the first half of the 6th century
BC. It had been scientifically probed (and clandestinely robbed) many times from
the mid-1900s onward. (Among weapons and impressive bronze vessels, these early and
badly documented digs yielded the famous small face mask with the pair of hands
which subsequently became a symbol for the necropolis). A final and total
excavation of this large tumulus, conducted in 1995 following thorough geomagnetic
and geoelectric prospections, unveiled an astounding amount of previously ignored
pottery (much of it ritually smashed for the burial), and other very remarkable
findings, including osteological proof of cremation of three people (two male, one
female), several animals, and a bronze sword that was already about 200 years old
(and outmoded for actual combat) when it was burnt and buried alongside the
deceased ruler. The central burial chamber was 8 x 8 m in size. From measurements
and comparisons with similar graves in Slovenia, an original tumulus diameter of 40
m and an original height of 12 m could be inferred.

References[edit]
Kramer D Aus der Ur- und Frhgeschichte der Landschaft zwischen Sulm und Saggau.
Die Sulmtalnekropole. In Riegler J (Ed.), Geschichte der Marktgemeinde
Gleinsttten. Verlag Riegler, HausmannstttenGraz 2004. ISBN 3-901202-13-7
Egg M, Kramer D Krieger Feste Totenopfer. Der letzte Hallstattfrst von
Kleinklein in der Steiermark. Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz (Ed.), 2005. ISBN
3-88467-089-1
Dobiat C, Slonek W Der Burgstallkogel bei Kleinklein I. Die Ausgrabungen der Jahre
1982 und 1984. Marburger Studien zur Vor- und Frhgeschichte. Frey O-H, Bhme HW
and Dobiat C (Eds.), RahdenWestfalen 1990. ISBN 978-3-89646-125-4
Smolnik R Der Burgstallkogel bei Kleinklein. II. Die Keramik der vorgeschichtlichen
Siedlung. LIT edition 1994. ISBN 978-3-8258-2286-6