Oelknitz outdoor settlement
The late Ice Age open-air settlement Oelknitz is an archaeological site in Rothenstein in the Saale-Holzland district in Thuringia . The settlement was on a 25 m high terrace of the Sandberg (also called Helenenberg). The mountain lies at the exit of a side valley that creates the connection between the deeply cut Saale valley and the neighboring plateau. Most of the objects found are exhibited in the prehistory and early history collection of the University of Jena , while the Magdalenian Venus figurines by Oelknitz are in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia in Weimar.
Research history
After the discovery in 1932 Gotthard Neumann created two search cuts. Area excavations took place between 1957 and 1967 by the Museum Weimar. 850 m² were uncovered, which corresponds to almost the entire living space horizon.
description
Red sandy clay formed the Upper Paleolithic cultural layer. In the overlying, up to two meters thick sand, there were urns sunk flat from an urnfield burial site of the Lausitz culture .
At the time of the Magdalenian settlement there was a cool, temperate climate in the climate-friendly Saale valley. Birch and pine forests thrived on sunny slopes, and light, cold-steppe-like vegetation spread out on the heights. The remains of the prey consisted of bison, brown bear, hare, arctic fox, reindeer, wild horse, wild boar, wolf (dog) and birds, including the hazel grouse.
Findings such as C-14 data only allow an approximate temporal classification. The older tundra season or the early Allerød come into question (10,350–8,940 years before today). The dwellings consisted of differently designed tents . Some tents, probably made of horse skins sewn together over the poles, contained fire pits . For others, these were in front of the tent. The tents were lit with fat lamps . The tent poles, about 10 cm thick, stood in numerous small pits, or they served as waste, storage, and perhaps sacrificial pits.
Finds
The remnants of material culture are characteristic of the late Magdalenian period (level VI), especially of the Oelknitzer group, which is widespread in the Saale-Elster region. Blade scrapers, various back knife and graver types, short and long drills are represented. The bullet tips with a beveled base are made of bone, reindeer antlers or ivory . In addition, there were harpoon heads , sewing needles , awls and fragments of hole bars and consisting of rocks fat lamps and in the flint device manufacturing required anvils , impact and crushing stones.
The artistic objects consist of extremely stylized female figurines made of ivory or flat hall boulders. Some pebbles are marked as phallus . Partial representations of horses can also be found on the scree. Columnar in two, in the middle of the settlement standing sandstone blocks a are vulva or a wild horse scratched.
literature
- Hansjürgen Hermann (Hrsg.): Archeology in the German Democratic Republic. Monuments and finds . Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0531-0 , pp. 379-380.
Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 18 ″ N , 11 ° 37 ′ 27 ″ E