Schkopau depot
The Schkopau depot (also known as the Schkopau hoard ) is a depot find of the early Bronze Age Aunjetitz culture from Schkopau in the Saale district ( Saxony-Anhalt ). The majority of the depot is lost today, the preserved pieces are in the possession of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle (Saale) and the State Office for Archeology of Saxony .
Find history
The depot was discovered on August 24, 1821 “at the first land bridge on the Chaussee from Merseburg to Halle , near Schkopau” when the river bed deepened.
The surrounding area is extremely rich in finds from the Aunjetitz culture. Further important hoard finds were found in the northeastern locations of Halle- Kanena ( Depot I , Depot II , Depot III ), Dieskau ( Depot I , Depot II and Depot III ) and Bennewitz ( Depot von Bennewitz ).
composition
The depot consisted of over 120 marginal ridge axes arranged in a circle between 16 and 18 inches (approximately 42-47 cm) in diameter . The axes stood erect on the narrow sides and their edges pointed towards the center of the circle. They were probably originally attached to wooden shafts that had been stuck into the ground. The total weight of the nursery should have been over 50 kg.
Most of the axes are lost today. The Thuringian-Saxon Association acquired 24 axes. Six of these are still in the possession of the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. Seven axes came to the Fürst Otto Museum in Wernigerode and are now also owned by the State Museum in Halle. The State Museum for Prehistory Dresden acquired two axes .
literature
- Wilhelm Albert von Brunn : The hoard finds of the early Bronze Age from Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia (= writings of the Section for Prehistory and Early History / German Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Volume 7/1). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1959.
- Martin Jahn : A cultural center near Halle / Saale during the early Bronze Age. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 34, 1950, pp. 81-89.
- Harald Meller : The Nebra hoard found in the mirror of early Bronze Age landfill customs. In: Harald Meller et al. (Ed.): 1600 - Cultural upheaval in the shadow of the Thera outbreak? 4th Central German Archaeological Day from October 14 to 16, 2011 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 9). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt / State Museum for Prehistory, (Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-944507-00-2 , pp. 493-526 ( online ).
- Helmut Otto: The chemical composition of some hoard finds from the Halle area. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 34, 1950, pp. 90-100.
- Second annual report on the negotiations of the Thuringian-Saxon Association for Research into Patriotic Antiquity. Wild, Naumburg 1822, pp. 14-15 ( online ).