Seite - 193 - in Das linearbandkeramische Gräberfeld von Kleinhadersdorf

Zusammenfassung 193 supplements of the inventory of the Prehistoric Department of the Natural History Museum in Vienna and of the little information published by V. Lebzelter. The complex docu- mentation of the grave-pits and the burials investigated be- tween 1987 and 1991 is given in summary in two tables (chapter 4.2 – Tabelle 2, 3). 67  % of the burial pits contained inhumations, in which the anthropologists could identify 57 individuals (see part II: Anthropology). As far as we can see, they were single burials with only two exceptions: a young woman was bur- ied together with a new-born child (Verf. 5) and also an- other grave contained two small children of the same age (G. 17 a, b). The orientation is only known for 48 burials (Ta- belle 4). More than half of the bodies (55  %) were oriented with the head to the SE, with another major group (19  %) with the head to NW, as well a few heads to W (10  %), the E or the NE (6  %) and the N (4  %), but no orientation was found to SSE–NNW – WSW–ENE (Abb.  15, 16a). The male burials show the most extreme domination of the ori- entation to SE (61  % – Abb.  16b), closely followed by the children (57  %). The last-named are the only ones also bur- ied in a W–E direction (31  % – Abb.  16d). The impressive dominance of the orientation SE–NW is shared by the other graveyards of east Central Europe (Těšetice-Kyjovice, Ve- drovice, Nitra), but with variations in other regions of the LBK. Most bodies of the deceased were placed in a more or less crouched position on the left side (85  %), much more sel- dom on the right side (15  %). More than half of the bodies (65  %) lay on their side with hands before the face, quite often (32  %) the upper part of the bodies lay on the back, only in few cases (3  %) on the belly while the legs are crouched and put on the side (Abb.  18–21). The intensity of constricting the legs is extremely varied and seems mainly to be due to the form and extent of the grave pit. The extreme dominance of the crouched position on the left side is once again shared by Vedrovice and Nitra, but also by other LBK graveyards such as Flomborn, Sengkofen and Mangolding. The custom of scattering red ochre on the dead bodies is a very old burial tradition in Central Europe, with varying importance within the LBK. At Kleinhadersdorf, it is only proven for nine individuals around their heads (Abb.  22). Some traces of red ochre on grinding stones indicate the fur- ther use of this mineral (Tabelle 27; Tafel 60), maybe for painting the body, but these traces might not be related to the burial ritual. There are seven pits with scarce traces of burned bones, but only four of them might have been the remains of cre- mation burials (Tabelle 5). Unfortunately, all supposed cre- mated human bones are lost and so anthropological control of the evidence is lacking. 26 of the grave pits investigated between 1987 and 1991 didn’t contain any inhumation or only scanty remains of such a burial, but they had exactly the same shape and size as the grave pits containing a burial (Tabelle 6).The high number of these empty graves seems to be a specific feature of the Kleinhadersdorf graveyard. Half of them contained some ceramic fragments, only two an axe (fragment) and one a fragment of a grinding plate. Flint objects or personal ornaments are lacking completely. 11 of these graves had no grave goods at all (Tabelle 7, Abb.  24). The shape of the pits and the situation of the few findings give the impression that the body – maybe enveloped in some textile or other – had been taken out carefully, with the loss of some grave goods or the decision to leave behind grave goods of less impor- tance. As in some other LBK graveyards, these empty grave pits don’t show the necessary characteristics of “cenotaphs” – i.e. fully equipped graves of absent persons. Compared to other LBK sites, the percentage of 29  % of all graves, as well as the amount of grave goods in the empty graves, is above average for LBK cemeteries (Tabelle 8). From an analysis of the grave goods and their position in the pits we got the impression that, in many cases, there is spare room for some items which are not preserved (Abb.  28). Therefore it doesn’t seem correct to speak of “rich” or “poor” graves, but only of graves with many, some, few or no preserved grave goods. As we can’t estimate the value of the lost goods at all, we should not interpret the amount of preserved goods as indicators for the social status of the buried person. Nevertheless it is very interesting to compare the preserved situation for the individuals of dif- ferent sex and age, also with those in other LBK graveyards which share the Kleinhadersdorf situation. The position of the different grave goods in the pits clearly shows a preference for the area around the head, es- pecially for ceramics, as well as around the upper body. Only few of the preserved grave goods were placed on or beside the mostly strongly crouched legs (Abb.  29). This phenomenon might be more due to the practical reason of lacking spare space than of a “taboo” to put things close to the legs, since, in other LBK cemeteries, the area of the legs is used more often for the deposition of several gifts. The structure of grave goods and the quantity of the pre- served objects differ considerably. As in most LBK grave- yards, the majority of males was equipped with the greatest variety and the highest amounts of preserved grave goods. The typical equipment of men in Kleinhadersdorf, as well as in other LBK sites, consists of polished stone adzes, flint