Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave

The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave is a richly-furnished Celtic burial chamber near Hochdorf an der Enz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, dating from 530 BC in the Hallstatt culture period. It was discovered in 1968 by an amateur archaeologist and excavated from 1978 to 1979. By then, the burial mound covering the grave, originally 6 m in height and about 60 m in diameter, had shrunk to about 1 m in height and was hardly discernible due to centuries of erosion and agricultural use.

A man, roughly 40 years of age and 6 ft 2 in tall, was laid out on an exceptionally richly decorated 9 ft bronze recliner with eight wheels inside the burial chamber. Judging by other objects found there, this man probably had been a Celtic chieftain: He had been buried with a gold-plated torc on his neck, a bracelet on his right arm, a hat made of birch bark, a gold-plated dagger made of bronze and iron, rich clothing, amber jewelry, a razor knife, a nail clipper, a comb, fishing hooks, arrows, and most notably,…