Hochdorf Prince Kline

In 1977, an amateur archaeologist wandering the fields near Hochdorf, Germany stumbled across an ancient burial mound that had been plowed away to the point that the burial chamber itself was exposed. He reported his find to the authorities, and a major archaeological excavation followed.   The burial turned out to be that of an Iron Age magnate who died around 530 BC. He was laid to rest on a bronze couch 9 feet long, which rests on wheels shaped as female unicyclists.

The "chieftain" was laid out on the couch(Kline), with his head toward the south, on thick layers of plant material and animal furs.

Front View

Back View

There is a theory that the Hallstatt Celts adopted the Greek symposion in a conscious and strenuous attempt to become Hellenized. They did not, the theory goes, observe and imitate the Near Eastern practice of reclining and the Scythian-Eurasian use of the drinking horn directly; instead, they imitated the Etruscan and Greek symposion. The path of the kline is from Asia Minor via Greece and Italy into the centers of West Hallstatt culture. In the context of the large amount of Etruscan and Greek bronze dinnerware the was placed in the tomb with the Hochdorf "Celtic prince," it is not surprising that not only portions of the sets of drinking dishes, but also Mediterranean drinking practices, such as the reclining on klinai, were also adopted.