The tumulus field Weitendorf/Kaiserwald – a Roman burial ground on the Kaiserwald terrace. With 50 easily recognizable burial mounds, the tumulus field represents the largest area of its kind in the Kaiserwald.
It proves an important, so far not localized Roman settlement in the area of the Kainach river valley near the basalt quarry of Weitendorf. Excavations in 1939 proved a use of this burial place in the 2nd century A.D. Grave forms and grave goods testify to the adoption of Roman burial customs by the local pre-Roman population.
The tumulus field Weitendorf/Kaiserwald is located at the southern end of the Kaiserwald, northeast of the basalt quarry Weitendorf. Like other burial mounds on the gravel terrace of the Kaiserwald, this area is located in an elevated position on the edge of the Kainach river valley (314-323 m a.s.l.). The area of the burial ground is separated from the south-west facing basalt stock by an up to 8 m deep artificial incision in the terrain, through which the main traffic connection to Zwaring and the Kainach river valley ran upstream until the late 19th century. Since a part of the tumuli (group I) is oriented to this linear incision, it is likely that it was already present in Roman times.
The 50 mounds
The 50 tumuli are distributed over an area of 500 m in west-east direction and 300 m in north-south direction in four groups. The tumuli of groups II and III are arranged in rows; in the latter group they are located on both sides of a west-east running path. Large tumuli with a diameter of more than 20 m are located away from these groups (mounds 1, 2, 27 and 48). It is possible that these are large dromos burials of the 2nd century A.D., but they could also be graves of the Hallstatt period. Hallstatt-period graves in or near Roman-period tumuli have been attested elsewhere, most famously at Altenmarkt near Flavia Solva, but also at Zettling/Forst in the Kaiserwald. The other 46 burial mounds have diameters of 8 to 20 m and heights of 0.30 to 2 m, some of which have been heavily abraded by natural erosion and illegal excavations.
Excavations in 1939
Archaeological excavations took place in 1939 by the Joanneum Regional Museum. At that time, five burial mounds were investigated, three in Group I (Mounds 7, 8 and 15) and one each in Group II (Mound 23) and III (Mound 37). According to the excavation documents, two mounds contained stone fixtures. Mound 8 contained an approximately quadrangular stone setting with a burnt layer, formed by six sandstone blocks. Mound 7 had a rectangular chamber enclosed on three sides, the walls of which were built dry from hewn basalt pieces, i.e. without mortar bond. Inside there was a floor made of boulders, with a burnt layer above it. According to the find material, the tumulus was used as a burial ground in the second half of the 2nd century A.D.
Classification of the graves
The tumuli of Weitendorf/Kaiserwald belong to a type of burial common in central Styria, northern Slovenia, Burgenland, and western and southern Hungary, called Noric-Pannonian tumuli. The custom of raising simple mounds over cremation burials began in Augustan times, around the time of the birth of Christ. Tumuli were mostly simple cremation burials with mounds of earth, sometimes containing simple fixtures of wood or stone. It was not until the 2nd century A.D. that tumuli became more elaborately furnished, for example with a masonry burial chamber, access (dromos) and representative exterior elements, such as grave stelae or slabs with inscriptions or portraits. These dromos tombs, designed in the Italic style, are evidence of the Romanization of the local population. The grave form remained in use until the 3rd entury A.D.
Other tumuli
Tumuli are clearly visible and sometimes impressive terrain features. In the Hengist region, 214 tumuli from the Hallstatt and Roman periods can currently be identified. Of these, 34 tumuli have base areas of more than 300 m², which corresponds to a diameter of more than 20 m. Burial mounds cannot be dated solely on the basis of their size; only mounds with a base area of more than 750 m² (30 m in diameter) can be dated to the Hallstatt period, as in the case of the examples in the mound burial fields or groups Galgenkogel, Buchkogel/Nordhang and Grafenkogel hills. Roman period tumuli fields are mostly less than 500 m from settlement sites. The tumulus field Leitersdorf North therefore represented the burial place of the Roman villa Leitersdorf/Gamsäcker just north of the road section of the Roman Lassnitztal road from Leitersdorf South. Only the tumulus burial ground Treffling East lies, with its 800 m distance to the Roman villa Stangersdorf/Breitwiesen, clearly beyond this rule mark. For many burial mounds no associated settlement sites can be named at all at present. In the case of the tumulus field Weitendorf/Kaiserwald there is no evidence so far for the location of the associated settlement, which probably existed on the left valley edge of the Kainach river.
Text: Mag. Dr. Stephan Karl
