Bornhöck

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Coordinates: 51 ° 24 '47.9 "  N , 12 ° 5' 5.3"  E

Bornhöck
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Bornhöck (Saxony-Anhalt)
Bornhöck
When 1800 BC BC, Early Bronze Age
Where Schkopau , OT Raßnitz in Saxony-Anhalt , Germany

The Bornhöck was a 1800 BC. A burial mound of the early Bronze Age Aunjetitz culture (2300–1550 BC) near Raßnitz , a district of Schkopau in the Saale district ( Saxony-Anhalt ). With a diameter of 65 meters and a height of probably 15 meters, it was one of the largest Bronze Age burial mounds in Central Europe . In the Middle Ages , it was expanded to a width of over 80 meters and a height of around 20 meters. Until the 19th century it shaped the surrounding landscape extensively and marked the border between Saxony and Prussia since the 18th century . In the course of the lignite mining east of Schkopau, the permit for the demolition of the hill was granted in 1844, which lasted until around 1900. Since then, the Bornhöck has been considered completely destroyed. In 2010, however, an aerial photo found underground structures at its location that were excavated between 2014 and 2017 . The processing of the excavation and the systematic investigation of the area around the site are still ongoing. According to the first results it seems to be the most important burial place of the late phase of the Aunjetitz culture in central Germany ; the buried person could have been one of the owners or even the maker of the Nebra Sky Disc .

location

The Bornhöck is north of Raßnitz on a curve of the road leading to Gröbers . The site is currently used as a wild car park . The remains of several other burial mounds were found in the area. These include the Dieskau burial mound , which was researched in an emergency excavation in 1979 , and the Hallberg between Benndorf and Osmünde .

Research history

In the 1820s, the Thuringian-Saxon Association for Research into Patriotic Antiquity and the Preservation of Its Monuments sought to investigate the hill, but abandoned the project because of the immense amount of work involved. According to a report by Rudolf Virchow , King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia allegedly had an excavation carried out that did not yield any findings. This statement has not been confirmed by contemporary sources or archaeological studies. In 1843 Halle's city ​​architect August Stapel made a drawing of the hill. After the beginning of the destruction, little was done to research the Bornhöck. In 1853 the Germanist Julius Zacher recovered some finds. In 1874 the Berlin physician and antiquarian Rudolf Virchow visited the burial mound. In 1884 the Thuringian-Saxon Association planned another investigation, which was not carried out. In 1905 the private collector P. Berger from Merseburg asked a worker who was involved in the removal of the hill. According to him, the main work took place from 1870 to 1900. It was not until 2010 that structures on the hill that had been preserved underground were discovered in an aerial photo taken in 2005 by the State Office for Environmental Protection . This was followed by geomagnetic prospecting by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology and, from 2014 to 2017, an excavation under the direction of Torsten Schunke .

description

The Bronze Age hill

The hill

The hill was built on a ground moraine from the Saale glaciation . On top of it lies a 0.4–0.6 m thick layer of black earth , which is interspersed with stones at the bottom. The ceramic, animal bones and stone tools found during excavations from 2014 onwards suggest that there was a settlement or a larger economic area at this point before the hill was built.

According to Stapel, the enlarged hill had a circumference of 72 rods (271.4 m) in 1843 , which corresponds to a diameter of 86.4 m. Representations on detailed maps confirm this. During the excavations from 2014 to 2017, net-like limestone precipitates were found, which marked the boundary between the original Bronze Age hill and an extension. The diameter of the first mound was determined to be 65–67 m. The Bronze Age hill was not overgrown with grass, but covered with a layer of lime that was probably renewed several times.

The mound was almost entirely made of black earth; the use of the shallow clay soil was apparently deliberately avoided. A spring basin 300 m north-northeast was identified as the extraction point of the earth. During the excavation several concentric lines were found in the planum , which prove that the Bronze Age hill was built in six phases. First a hill with a diameter of 35 m was heaped up, the radius of which was expanded five times by up to 3.5 m each time.

The original height of the hill can only be estimated. Christian Keferstein gives 60 feet (approx. 19 m), from Stapel's drawing it can be concluded that it is 23.5 m. For the princely graves in Leubingen and Helmsdorf, a width-height ratio of 5 to 1 has been documented. If the Bornhöck had had the same proportion, the height of the hill with a diameter of 65 m would have been 13 m.

The stone mantle

The burial chamber was surrounded by a round mantle made of boulders and fragments of rock, the boulders were clearly in the majority. Most of this was removed in the 19th century. There were enough stones left to determine the diameter of the mantle to be about 18 m. At the edge there were still relatively many stones in situ , but only a few further inside. The stones had edge lengths of a maximum of 0.9 m. The stone blocks made of porphyry and sandstone were transported over at least 8000 meters from the Saale , as the lanes of the ox carts show.

The burial chamber

Initially the Bornhöck had a diameter of 65 meters. It was about 13 meters high. This makes the Bornhöck the largest known "princely grave" of the early Bronze Age (before 1600 BC) in Central Europe.

The 5.3 by 2.7 meter grave chamber is around 2.5 meters high. It was brought to the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle in three blocks, each weighing 25 tons. In two parallel lines running south-south-east-north-north-east, traces of footprints of oak beams arranged in pairs were found , which stood at an angle of 55 ° to each other and tapered towards each other like a roof. Three posts carried the ridge beam of the roof-shaped building. The gable walls were made of oak planks. Halved oak trunks up to 65 centimeters thick formed the sloping longitudinal walls. Gaps between the beams were sealed with clay, and the chamber was covered with reeds. Compared to the princely grave of Leubingen, the Bornhöck chamber was significantly larger and planned as a giant hill - without any later expansion. The beams were wedged into the ground with sandstones and covered with porphyry and sandstone. The alignment and construction of the chamber are similar to those of the princely graves of Leubingen and Helmsdorf .

Sketch with hill cut.jpg
Schuchhardt prince grave of Helmsdorf 1.jpg


The structure of the grave chamber of Bornhöck is similar to that of the prince grave of Leubingen (left) and the prince grave of Helmsdorf (right), but it is significantly larger

The hill in the Middle Ages and modern times

Depiction of Bornhöck on the map of the Leipzig district in Saxony by Adam Friedrich Zürner (before 1742)

The Bornhöck is mentioned for the first time in 1353 in a document from the Benedictine monastery of St. Petri as its property ("the great Bordenhoick"). Due to its extraordinary size, in contrast to many smaller burial mounds, it has been repeatedly shown on maps (even on small-scale ones) since the 15th century. In 1732 a small wall around the plateau on the hill is mentioned for the first time. This probably resulted from its use as a military lookout point. It is still unclear when this use is to be dated. The Bornhöck was also used as a place of justice until the 18th century . This was marked by a tree and a boulder next to it. During the War of the Austrian Succession in 1745 it served as a lookout point for General Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau, who was in Prussian service . The hill marked the border between the Electorate of Saxony and the Kingdom of Prussia since the 18th century .

Finds

Old finds

In 1853, Julius Zacher recovered four Slavic sherds and four sherds made from medieval or early modern gray ware . According to P. Berger's report, human skeletons and ceramic vessels were found during the removal of the hill, some of which contained bones ( corpse burn?) And “green coppery stuff”. These finds have not been saved. Some better preserved items, probably knives or swords , were given to the employer. You are missing today.

The excavations 2014–2017

So far over 2000 ceramic shards and almost 6000 animal bones have been found. Most of the sherds are heavy ceramics, which in a few cases can be classified typologically. It is dated to the Bronze Age level A2 (2000–1600 BC) according to the chronology of Paul Reinecke . The finds are a little older or almost at the same time as the Bornhöck.

Tools were also found among the bones. A toothed universal tool that emerged from the shoulder blade of a cattle stands out . Other finds include some knocking and rubbing stones , an arrowhead from flint , a mushroom head Adel from bronze and a Brotlaibidol ceramic.

A piece of wood chips and a complete stoneware bottle were found from the time the hill was demolished.

Dating

The similar construction of the burial chamber of Bornhöck and the princely graves of Leubingen and Helmsdorf suggests that the three burial mounds were not built far apart. An age determination by means of dendrochronology as in the case of Leubingen (1942 ± 10 BC) and Helmsdorf (1840 ± 10 BC) was not possible at Bornhöck due to the only remnants of the wooden fixtures. The time of origin of the hill was dated with remains of wood, charcoal and bones using the radiocarbon method to 1850 to 1700 BC. BC, the ceramics seem to be a little younger in part.

The owner of the burial mound

Possible additions

Four of the five preserved items from the Dieskau gold hoard (the bracelet on the lower left is duplicated)

Apart from the bronze mushroom-head needle, there are no known objects that are considered grave goods, aside from the destroyed or lost bronze finds. Meller and Schunke believe it is possible that the Dieskau gold hoard once came from the Bornhöck and was stolen during demolition work. This hoard may originally consist of 13 gold objects, five of which have been preserved. It was acquired in the art trade by the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin at the end of the 19th century and has been looted art in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow since 1945 .

The "Lord of the Sky Disc"?

The prince who was buried in Bornhöck was possibly the client or manufacturer of the Nebra sky disk

The Nebra Sky Disc is an object in several ways that can only be associated with a prince. On the one hand, it shows exclusive astronomical knowledge that helped its owner to consolidate his social position through calendar regulations. Furthermore, the combination of bronze and gold was reserved for the upper strata of the Aunjetitz culture. The origin of the materials ( copper from the Alps , tin and gold from Cornwall ) speak for a very influential client or manufacturer with far-reaching trade relationships. In contrast to their dumping around 1600 BC The date of their production can only be determined with great uncertainty so far. According to Harald Meller, it should have been in use for around 100–200 years. So it was built around the same time as the Bornhöck was built. It therefore seems plausible to consider the prince who was buried in Bornhöck as a possible client or even manufacturer of the sky disc.

literature

Current literature

  • Juliane Filipp, Martin Freudenreich: The early Bronze Age wealth in the microregion around Halle-Dieskau - visit to the excavation of the »Bornhöck« as well as other early Bronze Age sites. In: Archeology in Saxony-Anhalt. NF Volume 9, 2018, pp. 377-380 ( online ).
  • Harald Meller : Princes, gold weapons and armies. Thoughts on the gold discovery in Dieskau and its possible origins from the Early Bronze Age large grave mound Bornhöck near Dieskau, Saalekreis. In: Harald Meller, François Bertemes (ed.): The departure to new horizons. New perspectives on the European Early Bronze Age. Final conference of the research group FOR550 from November 26th to 29th 2010 in Halle (Saale) (= conference of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle. Volume 19). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2020, ISBN 978-3-948618-03-2 , pp. 101–112.
  • Harald Meller, Kai Michel: The Nebra Sky Disc - The Key to a Lost World in the Heart of Europe , Propylaea, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-549-07646-0 .
  • Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke : The rediscovery of the Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age »prince grave hill« near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. In: Harald Meller et al. (Ed.): Poor and rich - on the distribution of resources in prehistoric societies. 8th Central German Archaeological Day from October 22nd to 24th, 2015 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 14 / I). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt Halle 2016, ISBN 978-3-944507-45-3 , pp. 427-465 ( online ).
  • Torsten Schunke: Block recovery and workshop excavation of the burial chamber of the early Bronze Age prince grave mound »Bornhöck«. In: Museum journal. Membership magazine of the Association for the Promotion of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle (Saale) e. V. Volume 14, 2018, pp. 31-32 ( online ).
  • Torsten Schunke: Driving or Carrying? Methods of transporting building material for Bronze Age burial mounds. In: Bianka Nessel, Daniel Neumann and Martin Bartelheim (eds.): Bronze Age Transport - Actors, Means and Ways (= Resource Cultures. Volume 8). Tübingen University Press, Tübingen 2018, ISBN 978-3-94725104-9 , pp. 85-115 ( online ).
  • Torsten Schunke, Harald Meller: The Bornhöck - the largest known burial mound of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe. In: Archeology in Germany. Issue 1/2017, pp. 8–13 ( online ).

18th and 19th centuries

  • Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt : Pagus Neletizi et Nudzici, or detailed diplomatic-historical description of the former primacy and Ertz-Stifft, but now secularized by the Duchy of Magdeburg, which belongs to the Duchy of Magdeburg, and of all the cities, palaces, offices, Manors, aristocratic families, churches, monasteries, parishes and villages, especially the cities of Halle, Neumarckt, Glaucha, Wettin, Löbegün, Cönnern and Alsleben. Volume 1, Schneider, Halle 1749, reprint 1755, p. 9 ( online ).
  • Christian Keferstein : Views on Celtic antiquities, the Celts in general and especially in Germany. Volume I, Halle 1846, pp 19-20 ( online ).
  • Rudolf Virchow : Bornhöck. In: Journal of Ethnology. Volume 6, 1874, pp. 152-153 ( online ).

Movies

Web links

Commons : Bornhöck  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 431.
  2. ↑ Rudolf Virchow: Bornhöck. 1874, p. 152.
  3. ↑ a b c d Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of the Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "princely grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 432.
  4. ↑ Rudolf Virchow: Bornhöck. 1874, pp. 152-153.
  5. ↑ a b c Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of the Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "princely grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 433.
  6. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 433-434.
  7. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 446–447.
  8. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 434.
  9. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 434, 439-441.
  10. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 439–441.
  11. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 441.
  12. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 453–455.
  13. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 447-448, 456-457.
  14. ↑ Dr. Alfred Reichenberger: Investigation of the block recovery from the Early Bronze Age large grave mound »Bornhöck‹ near Dieskau (Saalekreis) «
  15. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 448-449.
  16. ^ Paul Fridolin Kehr : Document book of the Hochstift Merseburg. First part: 962–1357 (= historical sources of the province of Saxony and adjacent areas. Volume 36). O. Hendel, Halle an der Saale 1899, p. 905 .
  17. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 429-431.
  18. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 441–443.
  19. ↑ Juliane Filipp: All-in-one: A universal hand-held device from the »Bornhöck«
  20. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 443.
  21. ↑ An encrypted message from the Bronze Age?
  22. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, pp. 447, 455.
  23. ↑ Bernd Becker et al .: Dendrochronological dating of oaks from the Early Bronze Age barrows near Helmsdorf and Leubingen (Aunjetitz culture) and from Bronze Age river oaks near Merseburg. In: Annual journal for Central German Prehistory. Volume 72, 1989, p. 307 ( online ).
  24. ↑ Bernd Becker et al .: Dendrochronological dating of oaks from the Early Bronze Age barrows near Helmsdorf and Leubingen (Aunjetitz culture) and from Bronze Age river oaks near Merseburg. In: Annual journal for Central German Prehistory. Volume 72, 1989, p. 304 ( online ).
  25. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 455.
  26. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 460.
  27. ↑ Juliane Filipp, Martin Freudenreich: Dieskau Revisited I. Research on the "life story" of the gold hoard of Dieskau and on another burial mound with gold additions near Osmünde in today's Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt. In: Harald Meller et al. (Ed.): Metals of Power - Early Gold and Silver. 6th Central German Archaeological Day from October 17 to 19, 2013 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 11 / II). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt Halle 2014, ISBN 978-3-944507-13-2 , pp. 743–752 ( online ).
  28. ↑ Harald Meller: Nebra: From logos to myth - biography of a sky image. In: Harald Meller, François Bertemes (eds.): Reaching for the Stars - How Europe's elites came to power and wealth (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle (Saale). Volume 5). State Museum for Prehistory, Halle 2010, ISBN 978-3-939414-28-5 , pp. 45, 61–62 ( online ).
  29. ↑ Harald Meller, Torsten Schunke: The rediscovery of Bornhöck - a new early Bronze Age "prince grave hill" near Raßnitz, Saalekreis. First preliminary report. 2016, p. 462.