Burial below the starry sky: Early 'celtic' burial mound in Southwestern Germany represents the stars as visible in summer 618 BC

New research by  Allard Mees, archaeologist at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM), a research institute on prehistorical and early historical archaeology in Mainz, gives amazing insights in early celtic world view. Burials in the princely burial mound Magdalenenberg near Villingen-Schwenningen represent the starry sky as it could be seen in summer 618 BC.

Magdalenenberg near Villingen-Schwenningen
(Foto: PD, via Wikimedia Commons)

The burial mound has been excavated in the early 1970s. Dendrochronological data from the central burial chamber indicate its construction four years later. It has been recognised at several burial mounds of the Hallstatt- and early Latèneperiode, that certain geographic direction have been marked by constructions inside as well as outside the burial mound, as for example the wooden construction in the Magdalenenberg mound. According to Mees' result the moon played an important role for early celtic religion.

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Reference

• Allard W. Mees, Der Sternenhimmel von Magdalenenberg. Das Fürstengrab bei Villingen-Schwenningen - ein Kalenderwerk der Hallstattzeit. Jahrbuch Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum 54, 2007 (2011), 217-264.