Abstrakt
After development over two millennia of Neolithic monumental architecture(enclosures & long barrows) in Central Europe, the 3rd Millennium BC seemsto bring a hiatus in the creation of such monuments. The cult and worshipmoved to natural shrines (Corded Ware) and became invisible in thearchaeological record.
However, in the last decade, some new forms of BellBeaker ritual constructions were discovered in Bohemia and Moravia. Twosuch features were discovered during large scale excavations at Hostivice,west of Prague in 2011 and 2013.
The first consisted of a rectangularsetting of large postholes with a large internal pit containing scatters of cremated (animal?) bones and fragments of decorated beakers. The secondstructure consisted of large circular postholes surrounding a pit whichcontained a votive offering of four stone wristguards carefully set in asquare arrangement.
In 2015, unprecedented evidence of a Bell Beaker ritualsite was discovered at Brodek in Central Moravia. An unusual longrectangular passage structure defined by alignments of postholes and a'shrine' consisting of four grave-like pits containing a variety of votiveofferings, but no visible indications of human burial, were discovered.
Thesacrificial deposits were probably inserted into the features during a seriesof successive offering events.These previously unknown types of monument suggest a greater complexity of funerary and ritual constructionin the region of non-megalithic territory.