A rescue archaeology excavation in the town of Endingen in southwest Germany on the border with France has uncovered an early Celtic burial ground that is unique for the region. It is a type of an Iron Age cemetery known as a grave garden, a planned burial site delimited by a perimeter trench 50 by 50 feet square. The grave goods date the burial ground to the Early La Tène period, ca. 450-250 B.C. The State Office for Monument Preservation (LAD) employed archaeologists to explore the site of an industrial estate that is slated for expansion. Between April and July of this year, a total of 18 individuals were found buried in 17 elliptical or rectangular grave pits. They were grouped around a central grave that contained the remains of two people. One of the burials was just outside the grave garden perimeter; one was dug into the perimeter trench. Osteological examination of the skeletal remains found that at least eight of the deceased were adults and about half of the rest were young adults and the other half children. The younger individuals were intentionally grouped by age in the grave garden, with sections dedicated to the young adults and to the children. Most of the graves had been looted in antiquity, so over 60% of the burials were disturbed with no grave goods left behind. Notable artifacts found in the unlooted graves include a bronze brooch with coral inlay, bronze bracelets, a bracelet made of caustobiolite (a combustible rock of organic origin), a silver finger ring and two hollow bronze anklets. Grave gardens with clear enclosure systems are not unusual in late Iron Age and early Roman contexts. “The early Celtic grave garden from Endingen is, however, unique for Baden-Württemberg; not least because of the good preservation of the body burials,” said [LAD archaeologist Marcel] El-Kassem. From neighboring Alsace, only one contemporary, much smaller grave garden with just two burials is currently known. The evaluation of the Endingen grave complex, in particular anthropological and additional bioarchaeological investigations, will enable statements to be made about the age at death, gender, origin, family relationships, health, illness and eating habits of the buried individuals. In addition, this will provide important information about the early Celtic population on the southern Upper Rhine.