Earthwork from Müsleringen

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The Müsleringen earthworks is a Neolithic earthwork near the Stolzenau district of Müsleringen in Lower Saxony . The approximately four hectare earthworks consists of a semicircular, double trench system with several passages (earth bridges) and is based on finds from the 4th millennium BC. Dated. The facility was discovered in 2008 during an archaeological aerial photo flight and has since been examined in more detail with geomagnetic prospecting measures and excavations .

Aerial photo with the filled double trench of the earthworks , recognizable as dark green vegetation features in the grain field, 2008

location

The earthwork lies on a terrain spur that is about five meters higher than the surrounding area in the area of ​​an elongated and flood-proof low terrace island at 36 meters above sea level. It is located between two former rivers of the Weser , which today runs about 1.5 km to the east, where it forms a large meander . The remains of the earthwork are located on an agricultural area east of the federal highway B 215 near a farm . Immediately to the east of the discovery area, the Bruchgraben flows roughly in a north-south direction , which represents the state border between Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia .

Earlier finds

The immediate vicinity of the earthworks has been known as an archaeological find area since the 1970s. In 1974, a farmer found noticeable differences in vegetation in the grain in an adjacent field, which he reported to the preservation authorities. The Institute for Monument Preservation in the Lower Saxony State Administration Office mapped 23 higher points there in 1975, of which it examined five archaeologically. Five pit houses measuring approximately 4 × 4 meters were excavated. Two were from the Roman Empire and three from the Early Middle Ages . Other finds were hand mills and traces of smelting processes , a bronze mandrel and ceramics from the migration period . The findings suggested a rural settlement during the early Middle Ages .

Further archaeological finds were made in the late 1970s during field visits between Müsleringen and Stolzenau. There was a veil of prehistoric fragments on the fields, which could not be classified in more detail.

discovery

Aerial photograph archaeologist Heinz-Dieter Freese

On June 8, 2008, two members of the archeological association Freundeskreis für Archäologie in Niedersachsen (F. A. N.) , including the honorary aerial archaeologist Heinz-Dieter Freese , discovered the earthwork during an aerial flight when they noticed conspicuous vegetation features in a grain field. They viewed and photographed other conspicuous places within the facility, which they viewed as floor plans of pit houses and spilled waste pits . They initially assessed their discoveries as a fortified mansion from the Middle Ages , but soon corrected their initial assessment in favor of a Neolithic earthwork.

Archaeological research

The first short excavation at the earthworks was carried out in August 2009. In 2010, a geomagnetic prospecting of the find area followed, which was followed by further excavations in 2011, 2012 and 2013. They were carried out as teaching excavations by the Department of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archeology at the University of Hamburg and were carried out in cooperation with the municipal archeology of the Schaumburg landscape and the archaeological association of the Friends of Archeology in Lower Saxony (F. A. N.) . An average of 20 people took part, made up of students, schoolchildren and volunteers from the region.

Probe 2009

The first archaeological investigation was carried out by members of the archaeological association F. A. N. on two days in August 2009 under the scientific direction of the archaeologist Wilhelm Gebers from the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation . The outer trench of the earthwork was examined with a small exploratory incision. With a width of around five meters and a depth of around 2.2 meters, it was laid out in a V-shape with a round trench bottom. In the clayey layers of the trench filling, Neolithic ceramic shards and a fragment of a baking plate from this period were found at a depth of around 1.8 meters .

Geomagnetic prospecting 2010

Excavation area in 2013, view from the northwest from the B 215

In August 2010, the Department of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archeology at the University of Hamburg carried out a prospecting in the find area using the non-destructive method of geomagnetics . Changes in the earth's natural magnetic field that are caused by human intervention in the ground, for example when setting posts or digging pits and trenches, are measured . Due to the weather, only around 2.5 hectares of the find area could be examined. The aim of the geomagnetic investigations was to compare and complete the structures recognized in the aerial photographs and to identify other possible sites. The measurement results confirmed the aerial photographs and provided further findings, including numerous, probably anthropogenic soil anomalies.

Teaching excavation 2011

In September 2011, a two-week teaching excavation took place at the University of Hamburg, during which the soil was opened in two places. In addition to students, volunteers, members of the archaeological association F. A. N. and students from a high school in Hanover took part.

The larger excavation area of ​​10 × 17 meters covered the approximately two-meter-deep double trench of the earthwork in the area of ​​an earth bridge, so that four trench heads could be examined. There, in a rather poor area at the bottom of a ditch, a depot was discovered that consisted of a millstone underlay , the fragment of a grating stone , the remains of a clay plate, a ceramic shard and charred grain. Subject to further investigations, the objects are dated to the 4th millennium BC. Dated. As is also known from other investigations on Neolithic earthworks, various objects such as clay pots, bulls' heads or human bones were often deposited in the area of ​​the trench heads.

With the smaller excavation area of ​​10 × 8 meters inside the facility, a suspected building was examined. It turned out to be a pit six meters in diameter, in which pottery from the 8th to 10th centuries, as well as burnt clay and animal bone waste were found.

Teaching excavation 2012

The four-week excavation by the University of Hamburg in September 2012 again focused on the double trench of the earthwork in the area of ​​an earth bridge. The excavation covered an area of ​​about 33 × 13 meters. Scattered fragments were found in the investigated trench heads of the earthworks, which suggests fragmentation and intended laying down. In addition, a previously unknown cemetery from the Younger Bronze Age was discovered during the excavation campaign . This was established by means of two cremation graves with vessel additions above the Stone Age findings.

Teaching excavation 2013

View of the excavation site from the B 215, 2013

In September 2013, another, almost four-week teaching excavation took place with the participation of students from several universities and volunteers. The excavation covered an area of ​​around 1000 m², 40 meters long and 32 and 22 meters wide, respectively. They affected the outer and inner trenches of the earthwork up to a depth of three meters through excavation cuts at various points. In the process, Neolithic pottery fragments were found in the backfilling of the inner trench, which had been deliberately deposited there. Eight graves were uncovered and well-preserved urns were found, which probably date from the Bronze Age and the Pre-Roman Iron Age and are not related to the earthwork.

The excavation was part of four archaeological projects under the direction of various universities in 2013 in Nienburg , including excavations on the castle Wölpe and in the iron and Roman Iron Age settlement at Lemke and the measurement of Wallburg Alte Schanze in Oyle .

Results

According to the geomagnetic investigations, the earthwork appears as a system with a double trench structure that runs in a semicircle and can be observed over a length of around 200 meters. So far, six culverts have been identified (the final number is still unknown) dividing the trenchwork into 25 to 30 meter long trench sections. The passages in the parallel outer and inner trenches are five to seven meters wide earth bridges. The outer trenches are deeper and wider than the inner trenches. The outer ditch was five meters wide and the inner ditch three meters wide. Whether they were created at the same time and how long they were open is not yet known. Different backfilling processes can be identified based on the sequence of layers in the trenches. The outer trenches seem to have filled in through natural sedimentation processes, while in the case of the inner trenches it was more human activities that contributed to their disappearance. To date the trench system, extensive soil samples were taken from the trenches in 2012. Dating the charcoal found in it using the C14 method showed that two different times from 5000 BC. And 4000 BC Chr. Exist, which are so far not explainable. By archaeobotanical studies of plant debris from the trenches, the vegetation conditions in the region of reference were reconstructed. Larger concentrations of emmer and einkorn indicate grain cultivation and an area free of forests at the time. Near the ditch, the geomagnetic measurement result indicated a row of posts that could be the remains of a palisade .

interpretation

The slightly elevated site near Müsleringen has been visited and settled by people in different epochs, which is evident from the archaeological finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Early Middle Ages. The dimensions and structure of the earthwork, as well as the objects found in it, suggest a system from the 4th millennium BC. It lies in the border area between the funnel cup and the Michelsberg culture and is attributed to one of the two cultures or a mixed form. In its Stone Age usage phase, the interior of the facility was probably uninhabited. The pit houses recognized there were built thousands of years later during the Roman Empire or in the early Middle Ages .

As with other systems of this type, there are only guesses as to the intended purpose of the earthwork. The deposit of the lower part of a millstone and other objects at one of the trench heads indicates acts of sacrifice . For defense, the building did not offer people greater protection, as it was only slightly elevated to the Weser lowlands and the population could have better hidden in the surrounding moorland. The large amount of pottery found in the ground during the excavations indicates the frequent presence of people in this place. The location close to the river suggests that it represented a trade route for the people who settled here . Old roads also ran on both sides of the water in a north-south direction. The elevated area of ​​the low terrace island, on which the earthwork was located, could be a possible former exchange and trading station.

See also

literature

  • Heinz-Dieter Freese : A Neolithic earthwork on the Weser near Stolzenau in the Nienburg (Weser) district in: News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory , Vol. 79, 2010
  • Jens Berthold , Britta Ramminger: Lower Saxony Fund Chronicle 2011 . News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory, Supplement 16, 2013, pp. 167–168
  • Britta Ramminger: Millstone on the bottom of the grave in: Archeology in Germany , 2/2012 ( Online )
  • Markus Helfert, Yvonne Krause, Britta Ramminger: Geomagnetic prospecting on the Neolithic earthworks near Müsleringen, Ldkr. Nienburg / Weser in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 1/2013
  • Britta Ramminger, Hubertus Sedlaczek, Markus Helfert, Nicole Kegler-Graiewski: Scattering of broken fragments and cremation graves - new investigations on the Neolithic earthworks of Müsleringen. In: Archeology in Lower Saxony , 2013
  • Britta Ramminger, Hubertus Sedlaczek, Nicole Kegler-Graiewski: Preliminary results on the Neolithic earthwork from Müsleringen, Ldkr. Nienburg / Weser in: Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte , Volume 82, 2013, pp. 3–26 ( Online, pdf )
  • Ronald Reimann: 2012 excavation in the Stolzenau – Müsleringen earthworks. In: F. A. N.-Post 2013, pp. 5–6 ( Online , pdf, 1.3 MB)
  • Britta Ramminger, Hubertus Sedlaczek, Markus Helfert, Nicole Kegler-Graiewski: Scattering of broken fragments and cremation graves: New investigations on the Neolithic earthwork of Müsleringen. In: Archeology in Lower Saxony , pp. 45–48, 2013
  • Gerd Lübbers: 2013 University of Hamburg excavation in the Neolithic earthworks of Stolzenau – Müsleringen. In: F. A. N.-Post 2014, pp. 9–10 ( Online , pdf, 1.3 MB)

Web links

Commons : Erdwerk von Müsleringen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz-Dieter Freese: Imagination inspires ( memento from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) pdf, 1.75 MB in: F. A. N.-Post 2010, p. 2
  2. ↑ Wilhelms Gebers: excavation report ( memento of October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) in: F. A. N.-Post 2010, p. 5 (pdf, 1.75 MB).
  3. ↑ 5000 years down in: Mindener Tageblatt of September 12, 2012
  4. ^ Excavation helper wanted for educational excavation 2013 in Stolzenau-Müsleringen ( Memento from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Students dig in the earth - universities carry out teaching excavations in: Mindener Tageblatt from June 12, 2013
  6. ↑ Müsleringen: Trenches are puzzling : Samtgemeinde Mittelweser from September 28, 2013
  7. ↑ Open day at the archaeological excavations on September 24, 2013 at: D Körperverein Müsleringen
  8. ↑ Archaeological research projects on the Mittelweser
  9. ↑ Looking for traces in the ground in: Kreiszeitung.de of June 7, 2013
  10. ↑ Lecture by Britta Ramminger (University of Hamburg) as head of the excavation project on September 12, 2013 in the Quaet-Faslem -Haus in Nienburg / Weser ( advance notice ( Memento from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))

Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 45.5 ″  N , 9 ° 2 ′ 38.6 ″  E