Pagan forge
| Pagan forge
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 View from Johann-Matthäus-Voith-Platz to Heidenschmiede (center) |
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| Location: | Baden-Wuerttemberg , Germany | |
| Height : | 540 m above sea level NN | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 40 '30.1 " N , 10 ° 9' 1.7" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 7326/1 | |
| Geology: | White Jurassic epsilon | |
| Type: | Abri | |
| Discovery: | 1928 | |
The Heidenschmiede is an Abri in the urban area of Heidenheim an der Brenz on the eastern Swabian Alb in Baden-Württemberg . It is an important Middle Paleolithic site of prehistory in Baden-Württemberg .
Geographical location
The Heidenschmiede is located on the western flank of the Brenz Valley in the Weißjura - rock massif south-east under Hellenstein Castle at around 540 m. ü. NHN . It can only be reached on foot via Hermann-Mohn-Weg.
history
The Heidenschmiede was visited by Neanderthals around 70,000 to 50,000 years ago in the Jung-Acheuléen , who probably only stayed there briefly to manufacture tools . This is supported by the large number of pleats found and the fact that only small amounts of animal bones could be detected. The fact that the rock overhang at that time only protected an area of around 8 m² from rain and the forecourt with a little more than 20 m² offered very little flat usable area are further indications for this assumption.
Research history
In the summer of 1928, the local history researcher Hermann Mohn from Heidenheim went in search of the Uhuloch , a small crevice that was only accessible with ladders and which, according to a description of the town of Heidenheim from 1618, should be "quite high on the Schloßberg unden". In the course of this search, Mohn discovered the Heidenschmiede, of which until then it was only known that "... according to ancient sources it was at the foot of the Hellenstein rock."
After Mohn had already probed several rocks between Heidenheim and the suburb of Mergelstetten for prehistoric finds, he began the systematic excavation of the Heidenschmiede in March 1930, supported by several volunteer excavators . He obtained permission for this from Richard Oberdorfer, on whose garden property the Heidenschmiede was then.
In the following weeks, poppy was able to recover approx. 5000 pieces of rock (tools, core pieces and splits) as well as 5 kg of animal bones in the 90–130 cm thick layers of the find, and although he was not trained in excavation , he documented the work relatively extensively, made stratigraphic drawings and Photographs.
Shortly before the end of the excavation, poppy seeds came across a hitherto unknown wall, which arched the Heidenschmiede in an east-west direction. It was clear to him that their construction must have been accompanied by a massive disruption of the layers of the find. Thereupon the prehistoric Eduard Peters was commissioned by the Württemberg State Office for the Preservation of Monuments to complete the campaign at the Heidenschmiede and to examine the finds for a publication of the excavation results. Peters arrived on June 17, 1930 for his first inspection of the site in Heidenheim and concluded the excavation campaign in August of the same year without having made any other noteworthy finds.
In the subsequent evaluation and chronological classification of the lithic finds, the collaboration of Hugo Obermaier (Madrid) proved to be an indispensable aid, as did the comparison of the tools with the numerous, stratigraphically reliable artefacts from the Schulerloch and the Klausennische . Peters received further support from Fritz Berckhemer (Stuttgart), Florian Heller (Gießen) and Kálmán Lambrecht (Budapest), who took over the investigation and evaluation of the faunistic inventory. In the following year, 1931, Peters published the excavation report as well as the results of the typological investigations and placed them in his publication in context with similar sites in southern Germany.
Stratigraphy and Finds
stratigraphy
Already in the Middle Ages , the building of a several meter high wall in front of the Heidenschmiede led to a massive shift and mixing of the layers of the find. Large parts of the inventory were probably also lost with the excavation. Through the subsequent filling of the post holes in the scaffolding , Mesolithic artifacts from the layers above got down to the rock. Finds could only be recovered in situ in the rear area under the rock shelter . As no reliable, stratigraphic documents were available, the subsequent age determinations could only be based on typological criteria.
Finds
Lithic finds
Over 90% of the 5000 found artifacts consist of tertiary quartzite (silica limestone), the rest of jasper , and a few pieces of quartz . The raw materials used come from the Steinheim basin , which is only a few kilometers away , the Stubental and the gravel of the Brenz.
Acheulées , approx. 50 artefacts: hand axes , hammers and tips made of silica lime, drills made of brown and gray jasper, numerous scrapers , scrapers , saws and multi-purpose tools mainly made of gray, brown and white jasper. A scraper made for left-handers with a right-sided blade is striking .
Moustérien , approx. 4000 artefacts: 700 with clearly recognizable retouching , 3300 with not clearly executed retouching or pleats. Hand tips, points, scrapers in many different forms, scratches and awls , all mostly made of silica lime, a few made of jasper.
Beuronia , approx. 950 artifacts: microlithic points, burins , blades, scrapers and scratches made of silica lime, jasper, chert and quartzite .
Faunistic finds
Of the 5 kg bone finds, 0.7 kg show severe burn marks and are no larger than chicken egg size. Two pieces show traces of the cut as they occur when used as an anvil in tool manufacture. Bones of mammoth , rhinoceros , horse , reindeer , wolf , fox , rabbit , marmot , lemming , vole , bean goose , eagle owl , mallard , jackdaw , red grouse and ruff were found . Bones of cave-dwelling predators such as the cave bear or lion were not found.
The finds are now in the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart and in a magazine owned by the city of Heidenheim.
The Heidenschmiede today (2012)
Hand tip, Jura chimney
Hand tip, brown jasper
Residual core, Jura chimney
Large hand ax, tertiary quartzite
See also
literature
- Nicholas J. Conard , Michael Bolus, Ewa Dutkiewicz, Sibylle Wolf: Ice Age Archeology on the Swabian Alb Kerns Verlag, Tübingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-935751-24-7 , pp. 235–238.
- Hans Binder, Herbert Jantschke: Höhlenführer Schwäbische Alb DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2003, ISBN 3-87181-485-7 , p. 75.
- Jahreshefte für Karst- und Höhlenkunde , Issue 1, 1960: Karst and caves in the area of the Brenz and the Lone (Schwäb. Alb) , Stuttgart 1960, pp. 87-90.
- Eduard Peters: The Heidenschmiede in Heidenheim E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Erwin Nägele) GmbH, Stuttgart 1931, pp. 1–36.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Eduard Peters: The Heidenschmiede in Heidenheim . E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Erwin Nägele) GmbH, Stuttgart 1931.
- ↑ Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-Zeitung, edition 149 of December 13, 1833, page 594, last paragraph , accessed on December 16, 2013.
- ↑ Berrin Cep, Susanne C. Münzel: Heidenschmiede, a Middle Palaeolithic Rock Shelter in Heidenheim. Fauna and Lithics revisited . Poster session , Hugo Obermaier Conference 2015 .