Novák, Jan
Fürstengrabhügel der Hallstattzeit bei Rovná in Südböhmen: Manifestationen der sozialen Eliten der Eisenzeit im Böhmischen Becken
In 2012-2013, an archaeological rescue excavation was carried out in the cadastral municipality of Rovná near Strakonice in Bohemia in the large Hallstatt period burial complex 1. The reason for the excavation was the illegal robbery in 2009, when five bronze vessels were torn out of the ground. Without context, the objects had only the value of a single find. In order to preserve this newly identified and immediately threatened burial complex with characteristics of a so-called princely tomb, it was necessary to carry out a rescue excavation within the framework of the programme for internal support of international cooperation projects of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The project focused on a detailed area excavation of the threatened burial mound with special attention to modern archaeological and bioarchaeological methods. The excavation as well as the research work was carried out in close cooperation between the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague, the South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice, the South Bohemian University in České Budějovice and the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz. The discovered features as well as the artefacts are unique in all of Central Europe: Two Hallstatt period elite burials with many extraordinary finds were uncovered, as well as a secondary Latène period burial pit and an early medieval child's grave. The bronze vessels and all other artefacts from Rovná are now owned by the South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice. This monograph contains the summary of all research results obtained during the investigation of burial mound 1 in Rovná, including the graphic and photographic documentation of the artefacts found as well as the archaeological contexts.
