Wrapped up for safe keeping: ‘wrapping’ customs in Early Iron Age Europe

During the Early Iron Age (first half of the first millennium BC) central and southern Europe sees the development of stratified societies, manifested among other things in sumptuous burials of the elite members of society. These so-called princely burials provide important information regarding ancient funerary rituals and beliefs in afterlife. One of the curious phenomena documented in these assemblages is the practice of wrapping in textiles and skins not only the body of the deceased, whether inhumed or cremated, but also various burial goods. The practice is well exemplified by the evidence from the princely burial at Hochdorf, in Germany, where all objects were carefully wrapped in cloth. It is unclear whether this phenomenon had a ritual significance in funerary context or represents a regular practice of safekeeping of precious, particularly metal objects. The finds indicate that such wrapping was common throughout Italy, Greece and the Alpine area, suggesting that the practice had a wide, pan-European significance. The paper examines the different ways of wrapping and their possible meaning.