Cemetery of Apfelstädt

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The cemetery of Apfelstädt is an end-Neolithic cemetery near Apfelstädt , a district of Nesse-Apfelstädt in the district of Gotha ( Thuringia ). It was partially excavated in 2005, including seven graves of the Cord Ceramic Culture (2800–2200 BC) and five graves of the Bell Beaker Culture ( 2600–2200 BC), including a richly decorated warrior grave, were discovered.

location

The area around Apfelstädt is very rich in archaeological finds, which show continuous settlement since the early Neolithic . In 2005, during the construction of a natural gas pipeline, numerous sites were uncovered, ranging in time from the early Neolithic linear ceramics to the Merovingian period in the early Middle Ages . The end-Neolithic burial ground was discovered in the southern area of ​​the natural gas pipeline between the A4 and Landesstraße 2147. In 2009, about 500 m to the north, in the run-up to the construction of a supermarket, a linear ceramic settlement and a burial hut of the late Neolithic Bernburg culture (see Totenhütte von Apfelstädt ) as well as two end-Neolithic and several indeterminable graves to the south and south-east of it, and several early medieval graves to the west .

description

The extension of the burial ground is at least 270 m in an east-west direction. The north-south extent cannot be determined with certainty, as the width of the excavation area was only 15 m; However, based on the terrain, a maximum extension of around 200 m can be assumed.

The ceramic graves

Of the seven graves of Cord Pottery, only three contained grave goods. The remaining four could only be assigned to this culture because of the location and orientation of the dead.

The westernmost grave was very elaborately designed and equipped. The dead man was buried in a deep pit that reached 2 m below today's ground level. Several layers of fire were found in the backfill. A post-built funeral hut had been built over the grave. The dead lay on the right in a west-east direction. His Beigraben included a cup with herringbone -Ornament, an amphora , two axes of rock, a flint - blade , a bone - awl and residues of other bone devices. Using the radiocarbon method , the bones of the deceased could be determined to be 4030 ± 30 BP .

To the east of this grave was a circular ditch with an inner diameter of 11 m. In its eastern area a north-south oriented skeleton was found in a stretched supine position. The grave was covered with a layer of stone. As there were no additions, dating is difficult, but the burial probably dates from the Bronze Age or the Early Iron Age .

An east-west oriented women's burial was discovered 6 m east of the circular grave. Her accessories included a foot bowl, a mug, two bowls, an amphora, a flint blade, a bone sliver, several disc pearls , two shells of a freshwater pearl mussel and three pierced animal teeth.

The group of tombs of the Bell Beaker Culture

Four of the five uncovered tombs of the Bell Beaker Culture form a group. The northernmost grave was a north-south oriented burial of a man. His grave goods consisted of an undecorated bell beaker , an arm protection plate , three arrowheads made of flint, a flint chop , a blade made of porphyry and a bony seal head pin, which is so far unique for the bell beaker culture in Central Germany .

South of this grave was the burial of a woman, also oriented north-south. Two children were buried to the west of her; these were also oriented north-south. There was a small vessel in the grave of the western child, which can be seen as a transition form between cup bowls and real bell beakers. The eastern children's burial did not contain any items, but was covered with a stone slab that covered the entire body with the exception of the head. In the corner between the individual graves, a pit was found in which an above-ground grave marker was originally set.

The warrior grave of the bell-cup culture

The warrior grave was the most easterly burial and was 75 m away from the group of graves. The dead lay in a 0.8 m deep pit that was originally lined with wood. Originally, an above-ground grave marker was probably set in a smaller pit to the northeast. The dead man was orientated north-south and was well equipped. These included two bell beakers (one behind the back and one on the knees), an arm guard and scraper east of the pelvis, a flint blade under the pelvis, and several arrowheads west of the right heel. Since all arrowheads pointed in the same direction, they must have been attached to arrows that were in a quiver . This certainly included a no longer preserved bow that the dead man might have held because of the position of his arms. The most valuable offerings provide two hair rings from electron represents that were found in the breast area.

Using the radiocarbon method, the bones of the deceased could be determined to be 3825 ± 30 BP.

literature

  • Sabine Birkenbeil : STEGAL Loop Natural Gas Pipeline - Accompanying Project Anthropology I. In: New excavations and finds in Thuringia. Volume 2, 2006, pp. 63-68.
  • Mario Küßner : A richly decorated grave of the bell beaker culture of Apfelstädt, district of Gotha - preliminary report. In: New excavations and finds in Thuringia. Volume 2, 2006, pp. 55-62 ( online ).
  • Mario Küßner: Apfelstädt, Lkr.Gotha: houses of the band ceramics, a young Neolithic collective grave and extraordinary graves of the bell-cup culture. In: I.walk / T. Grasselt (ed.): Erfurt and surroundings (= archaeological monuments in Thuringia. Volume 3). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2015, ISBN 978-3957410344 , pp. 189-194 ( online ).
  • Mario Küßner: A high-ranking warrior - the special grave of the Bell Beaker Culture in Apfelstädt. In: Harald Meller, Michael Schefzik (Ed.): War. An archaeological search for traces. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) from November 6, 2015 to May 22, 2016. Theiss, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8062-3172-4 , pp. 201–202. ( Online ).
  • Mario Küßner, Sabine Birkenbeil, Sandra Bock: A remarkable burial of the bell beaker culture of Apfelstädt, district of Gotha. In: N. Benecke (Ed.): Contributions to Archaeozoology and Prehistoric Anthropology VI. Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2007, ISBN 978-3937517810 , pp. 9-15 ( online ).
  • Harald Meller : The Neolithic and Bronze Age gold finds in Central Germany - An overview. In: Harald Meller, Roberto Risch and Ernst Pernicka (eds.): Metals of Power - Early Gold and Silver. Metals of Power - Early Gold and Silver. 6th Central German Archaeological Day from October 17 to 19, 2013 in Halle (Saale). 6th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany October 17–19, 2013 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle. Volume 11). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt / State Museum for Prehistory, Halle (Saale) 2014, ISBN 978-3-944507-13-2 , pp. 611–716 ( online ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mario Küßner: The collective grave of Apfelstädt (district Gotha) and the emergence of huts for the dead in Thuringia. In: Jonas Beran, Ralph Einicke et al. (Ed.): Teaching - Collecting - Publishing. Dedicated to Hans-Jürgen Beier. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2016, ISBN 978-3-86583-980-0 , pp. 159–180 ( online ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 53 '36.3 "  N , 10 ° 53' 7.8"  E