Žárové pohřebiště u Škvořetic Mowel burial ground

Welcome, distinguished visitors. You have just arrived at a place that may at first glance look like an ordinary piece of landscape, but beneath your feet is a fascinating story from ancient times. You're standing in front of a fire burial site near the Skoda River, in the Sedlic area. Look around you. You are located on the southern slope of the Hradiště hill, at an altitude of approximately four to five hundred metres. Feel the peace and quiet of this place, because it is this atmosphere that brings us back thousands of years, to a time when there were people whose names were no longer remembered, but their tracks remained deep in the ground.

Let us now move together into a deep past. Imagine it's about five hundred years earlier. It was at this time, at the turn of two great primordial periods, which experts call the period of Hallatian and Latinese, that this burial ground was created. For the people of that time, it was not just a place to put the dead, but a sacred place where the world of the living joined the realm of the dead. This place was chosen deliberately, probably due to its position on the hill slope, which provided an overview and perhaps even spiritual importance. It is important to remember that you are located in one of the largest prehistoric sites of your type in all Bohemia. This means that this place was very important throughout the region and was used by a large number of people around it.

Now, if you look at the terrain around you, you might not see any monumental structures, but let's think about what the graves looked like at the time of their creation. Notice the structure of the earth. The graves here consisted of pits that reached the depth of about one meter. These pits were not left open, but were carefully covered with flat stones. So imagine the entire area of this slope covered with these stone covers. It is this way of burying when the body was devoured, thus burning in the fire, giving this place its name. The fiery burial ground is such a silent witness to the rituals that took place here over 2,000 years ago.

Now let's move many centuries forward, until the ninth century, when this place came to its senses again. Every great discovery begins by chance and here it was the same. In the year one thousand eight hundred eighty-three, the owner of the land here, Mr. František Prošek, came to the fact that there are unusual findings in the country. He was the first man from the modern age to reopen the gates to this prehistoric world. A few years later, in the year one thousand eight hundred eighty-seven, Baron Alois Koller joined the research. These two men are the main figures associated with this site.

But here comes a moment that is somewhat sad for us today, but also very enlightening. When we think about the way the research was done, we have to acknowledge that at that time there were no rules and methods as strict as we know today. The survey conducted at that time was, unfortunately, very unprofessional. Imagine a situation where people dig up the earth and find shards of old ceramics in it, which at that point they consider worthless waste and just throw it away. That's what happened here. Many cremation items that may have been an inconclusive source of information for today's science have been lost or have been exported without a record. Among the findings were, for example, bronze objects which today tell us about the craftsmanship of the then inhabitants. It is a reminder of how important it is to take care of monuments properly and with respect, so that valuable information is not lost forever.

But this imperfection of the first research does not take away its secrets. On the contrary, it creates a certain mystery. How many other things remain hidden in the land? What stories did the shards of ceramics that were thrown away want to tell us? The fact that this place is one of the largest monuments of its type in Bohemia makes it unique. Even though we do not see tombs hanging out above the surface today, we know that the history of an entire region lies below us. Today, this site is protected as a cultural monument, which means the state recognises its great value to all of us.

Stop for a moment and let's try to realize the contrast between what we see now and what happened here a thousand years ago. Here, on this slope, people met, there was smoke from fire fires, and later, the first researchers of the ninth century worked with tension. It's a place where three worlds intersect: the world of prehistoric people, the world of first amateur archaeologists and our world today.

Now we invite you to look around in peace and feel the space around you. Walk slowly around, observe the slope of the Hradiště hill and think about how much the landscape has changed, but how much it has remained the same. This place teaches us humility before time and reminds us that even under an ordinary layer of grass can be hidden treasure of history.

Thank you for spending some time with us at the fire burial site at the Khrvoretic. We hope that you are interested in this short trip to the past and that you are leaving with a new look at this quiet but talking landscape. We wish you a pleasant further journey and many other discoveries while exploring our beautiful sights. Goodbye.