Das römerzeitliche Gräberfeld von Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge, Niederösterreich

Only a few kilometres south of the former Roman provincial capital of Carnuntum, a Roman cemetery with 208 cremations and 49 inhumations was archaeologically excavated in Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge. It was in continuous use from the end of the 1st century AD until the beginning of the 5th century AD, and thus provides an insight into burial customs and grave goods in a rural cemetery over more than 300 years. The graves can be grouped into different zones, which are spatially separated, but were in some cases used at the same time. The centre of the necropolis was made up of a system of honeycombed burial gardens. While the cemetery served in part as a burial ground for the inhabitants of a nearby villa rustica, it seems to have also served as the graveyard of a larger settlement in the Middle Imperial Period. The rural population living in the vicinity of the cemetery is reflected in rather simple grave goods, although a certain prosperity can be assumed, at least for Late Antiquity. It can also be presumed that this was a Roman-influenced provincial population comprised of different ethnic groups. Evidence indicates that some of the deceased were veterans who had settled here in the hinterland of the provincial capital of Carnuntum. The abandonment of the cemetery in the early 5th century AD was probably connected with the end of the late Roman villa rustica, which was destroyed by fire. In addition to an archaeological, cultural and historical evaluation, the work also includes scientific analyses of textile remains, colour pigments, and human and animal bones.