Previous archaeological excavations along the 'Ostlänken' Railway Corridor 1965:2012: Early Iron Age graves at Gerstaberg

SND-ID: snd2460-1. Version: 1.0. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5878/002840

Citation

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Swedish National Heritage Board UV Mitt

Research principal

Uppsala University rorId

Description

In October 1987, a small cemetery at Gerstaberg, Ytterjärna parish, Södermanland, was investigated & removed (Ancient monument 185). The excavation was preceeded by a trial excavation in order to establish whether the monuments were indeed ancient. Existing records showed a mound-like and a stone-setting-like structure.

The trial excavations revealed that the mound-like structure was modern, while the stone-setting like structure was in fact a group of burials, consisting of a square stone-setting and two or three smaller stone-settings. The subsequent investigation brought to light further burials, bringing the total to 17.

All graves has cremation burials, although the mode of burial was varied. Osteological analyses brought forth that all burials were adult, though none could be sexed. Four features lacked burials, and may have been children's graves. One feature (A18) may not have been a grave at all.

Burial assemblages consisted mainly of pottery, both as bone receptacles and as subsidiary vessels. The pottery is of typical Iron Age type.

The graves were dated to the Early Iron age, p

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In October 1987, a small cemetery at Gerstaberg, Ytterjärna parish, Södermanland, was investigated & removed (Ancient monument 185). The excavation was preceeded by a trial excavation in order to establish whether the monuments were indeed ancient. Existing records showed a mound-like and a stone-setting-like structure.

The trial excavations revealed that the mound-like structure was modern, while the stone-setting like structure was in fact a group of burials, consisting of a square stone-setting and two or three smaller stone-settings. The subsequent investigation brought to light further burials, bringing the total to 17.

All graves has cremation burials, although the mode of burial was varied. Osteological analyses brought forth that all burials were adult, though none could be sexed. Four features lacked burials, and may have been children's graves. One feature (A18) may not have been a grave at all.

Burial assemblages consisted mainly of pottery, both as bone receptacles and as subsidiary vessels. The pottery is of typical Iron Age type.

The graves were dated to the Early Iron age, possibly used by one family, although this could not be confirmed. The cemetery is part of a small Iron Age complex.

Purpose:

The aim of the investigation was to explore a fairly small cemetery at Gerstaberg, Ytterjärna parish, Södermanland. The excavation was occasioned by the planned construction of a new service road over the railway line to the country mansion. The excavation was preceeded by a trial excavation to establish whether the recorded features were indeed ancient monuments.

The ZIP-file contains two Shape files with information on trenches, ancient monuments, archaeological finds and other data from the archaeological survey, as well as a geo-referenced map (© Lantmäteriet i2014/00696) of the survey in GeoTIFF-format. Show less..

Data contains personal data

No

Language

Method and outcome

Time period(s) investigated

Type of archaeological investigation

Archaeological excavation

Type of archaeological remains

Burial ground

Data collection

Data collection 1

  • Mode of collection: Field observation
  • Description of the mode of collection: Analoga ritningar och planer har digitaliserats och georefererats i ArcMap 10.
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 1987-10
  • Data collector: Swedish National Heritage Board

Data collection 2

  • Mode of collection: Compilation/Synthesis
  • Description of the mode of collection: Analoga ritningar och planer har digitaliserats och georefererats i ArcMap 10.
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 2014
  • Data collector: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi, avdelningen för etnologi
Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic location: Södertälje Municipality, Ytterjärna Parish

Geographic description: Gerstaberg

Lowest geographic unit

Parish

Highest geographic unit

Parish

Administrative information

Identifiers

Organisationens dnr för undersökningen: 1261/87

ProjektID: p187001

ProjektID: 187001

RAÄ-nr: Ytterjärna 185:1, Ytterjärna 185:2

Topic and keywords

Research area

History (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Archaeology (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Keywords

Early iron age

Publications
Published: 2016-08-17
Last updated: 2020-01-23