Vorstengraf Oss - bronzen situla met inhoud en zwaard - 700 v Chr - RMO

The Vorstengraf (''

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

of the king'') in Oss is one of the largest

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The hill was 3 metres high and had a diameter of 54 metres.

First, second and third Vorstengraf

In 1933, the so-called Vorstengraf was uncovered during the construction of a trailer park on the

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

. It contained a bronze bucket containing a curved iron sword from 700 BC. The find was transferred to the

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden The (English: National Museum of Antiquities) is the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands, located in Leiden. It grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology. The ...

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. The site of the hill was later a junkyard. The mound is now partly restored, a portion of the circumference of the hill is marked with poles. In 2009, a second Vorstengraf was discovered a few hundred metres from the first Vorstengraf. The finds from this tomb are displayed in the Jan Cunen Museum in Oss. In 2011, it was announced that a third ''Vorstengraf'' was discovered in Uden.

Pile graves

The Vorstengraf is located at the interchange ''Paalgraven''. This node is named after the pile graves that have been found in the immediate vicinity. These tombs were built in the period of the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

to the Early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

(

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European Archaeological culture, culture of Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe ...

), between 2000 BC to 700 BC. To the east of Oss a new highway was built to connect the A50 and A59 from

Emmeloord Emmeloord is the administrative centre of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, Netherlands. In 2019, it had a population of 26,055. Overview At the heart of the Noordoostpolder, where the three main drainage canals Lemstervaart, ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

(formerly the junction with the N265

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

function. One of the hills is surrounded by a ditch. To the east and south of the Vorstengraf an urnfield was found dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Cremated remains are interred in an urn or cloth. Soon after the establishment of the Vorstengraf the burial ground was closed.

Seven Mounds

The area ''De Zevenbergen'' - ''Seven Mounds'' - was examined in 1964 and 1965 and seven burial mounds were found. When the junction was later modified the area had another investigation. Trial slots revealed that there had been a line of poles over a length of at least 100 meter in the area. In 2004 began the actual excavation of the multiple burial hills. In the 13th century a gallows was built on one of these hills. This was at a crossroads of continuous ruts on the heath and the remains of two victims were found nearby.

Myths

There are folk tales associated with the mound, local historian Jan Cunen (1884-1940) once recorded that a prince must have been buried in the heath. The hill is also called Hansjoppenmountain. There are several stories about the

Gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

Hans Joppen.

Gallery

File:Vorstengraf.JPG, Vorstengraf Oss File:Vorstengraf Oss.JPG, Vorstengraf Oss File:Vorstengraf3.JPG, The Vorstengraf with

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

s of the finds File:Paalkransheuvels.JPG, File:Kringgreppel en vlakgraven.JPG,

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