THE DATE OF THE STONE-CIST CEMETERY AT JÕELÄHTME RECONSIDERED
THE DATE OF THE STONE-CIST CEMETERY AT JÕELÄHTME RECONSIDERED

Summary/Abstract: Fifteen radiocarbon dates of inhumed burials were obtained for the 36 stone-cist graves at Jõelähtme, the largest completely excavated stone-cist cemetery in Estonia, to confirm and complement the typo-chronological date based on the Nordic Bronze Age chronology. The bronze artefacts of Nordic origin, such as razors, tweezers, double buttons, and looped toggles, in which the cemetery is, in the local context, exceptionally rich, date from Montelian Periods IV and V, more specifically perhaps around the turn of the periods. This is in good accordance with the radiocarbon dates, which show that burial began around 1000 BC at the latest and ended around 900 BC at the earliest. It is likely that the lifespan of the cemetery was longer between 1100 (less likely, 1200) and 800 BC. Besides the human remains, a dog bone and a cat bone were radiocarbon dated to ca AD 260–540 and 990–1160, respectively. Particularly surprising was the late date for the dog, because the separate cist apparently built for dogs suggested a date contemporary with the Bronze Age burials.

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