The necropolis of Potzneusiedl (Burgenland, Austria)

The planned monograph presents the interdisciplinary archaeological evaluation of an early Roman inhumation burial group and the associated cremations. These graves were discovered in 2011 in the run-up to the construction of a wind turbine near Potzneusiedl, in present-day Burgenland, and were archaeologically explored by the Austrian Federal Monuments Office during construction. The early Roman necropolis is of outstanding international importance, as with this discovery, inhumation graves from the first half of the first century AD have become known in this region for the first time. These burials deviate from typical urban Roman burial traditions. This is recognisable by the fact that they are body graves. In addition, several fibulae, which were worn on the clothing, were found in numerous body graves. This makes it clear that the people buried in the 31 body graves must have been an indigenous group. They had already been living in this region before the arrival of the first Roman military troops. From the immediate pre-Roman period, i.e. before the Roman provincialisation, no archaeological evidence was known that would have proven a settlement in this region. As a result, this area was considered to be empty of settlements. The inhumations as well as the cremations were analysed archaeologically, i.e. by means of an analysis of the find material and the graves, as well as by natural sciences. The interweaving of these disciplines - the natural sciences include archaeozoological, botanical, genetic and anthropological studies - with the archaeological evaluation provides the first comprehensive insight into the way of life and burial traditions of the immediate pre-Roman period.