Propylaeum

This work presents part of the results of an excavation carried out from 1991 to 1995 at the Oespeler Bach in the west of the city of Dortmund. The archaeological investigations yielded surprisingly diverse results. Apart from the prehistoric burial ground expected at this site, Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age and Roman Iron Age settlement features were found here. In the present volume, the Late Bronze Age cemetery was analysed.
A total of 269 burials and 69 ditches were documented – exclusively cremation burials in urns or organic containers, of which about a quarter was integrated into a ditch. Keyhole-shaped grave ditches occur most frequently and are the southernmost representatives of their type. Investigations of the cremations and the remains of the pyre complete the picture of the burial ground, which was used in two phases (Ha A to Ha B2/3).

Early medieval cemeteries are rare in Westphalia, even more so in the Ruhr area. Therefore, it was particularly gratifying that in Dortmund-Asseln, during a systematic excavation, fourteen female and ten male individuals could be examined in predominantly undisturbed and, by Westphalian standards, well preserved and excellently equipped inhumation graves. In addition, a horse grave and a dog grave were unearthed. Despite the most difficult soil conditions, the excavator Bernhard Sicherl achieved a maximum of information about the archaeological features, which – combined with the rich find material – provide an excellent basis for the analysis of the graves. The cemetery of Dortmund-Asseln is of particular importance, because models for conceivable social structures could be worked out here on a small scale, which can also contribute to the understanding of ways of life in other places in the Merovingian Period.