Neolithic village near Ehrenstein
The Neolithic village near Ehrenstein in the Alb-Danube district in Baden-Württemberg is an important archaeological site in southwest Germany , a few kilometers west of Ulm . In 2011, the discovery site was included in the inventory of the UNESCO World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with 110 other sites in 6 Alpine countries . A park with various stations has been built since 2019 to make the archaeological finds visible and tangible.
The Stone Age village of Ehrenstein enjoys a special position among the settlements of the UNESCO World Heritage, as it is the northernmost site on the one hand, and on the other it is located in a river valley, while all other settlements were built on the banks of lakes and moors. The site is about one meter underground in the groundwater. For conservation reasons, it must be permanently covered by earth. Therefore, the original settlement remains invisible.
discovery
During the construction work for a sludge settling basin, a Neolithic settlement was discovered in the valley of the Blau in March 1952 and partially examined in two excavations by Oscar Paret in 1952 and Hartwig Zürn in 1960. The settlement consisted of several wooden buildings arranged in rows. Culturally, the settlement belongs to the early Neolithic Schussenried culture , but shows influences from the Michelsberg culture . The village is currently one of the best-preserved wet soil discovery sites in southwest Germany. It also represents the Schussenried culture as the only settlement on the entire list of World Heritage pile dwellings.
Archaeological evidence
Before the Stone Age settlement, the area of what would later become the village was overgrown by a dense floodplain forest. Alder and willow root stocks were found on the site . There is no evidence of slash and burn that preceded the settlement. The village was completely destroyed by four fires repeatedly. These fires left layers of debris of different sizes, which can be clearly seen in the profiles. The fires seem to have destroyed the entire village. There are four periods for Ehrenstein, as there are no signs of a repopulation of the place after the fourth fire. Periods I - III are well defined in the layer deposits, and the fourth period can only be identified with certainty from the wall profiles. The houses were not only renovated because of fires, but also during a period they were occasionally demolished and replaced by new buildings.
- Period I.
After the alluvial forest was cleared, pitches 1 and 6 were built on at the same time. There is no evidence that, like the other structures, they were built later. Their floors lay on fresh mud and not, as was otherwise likely, on a trampled floor with a leafy structure with loam and cultural residues. On both sides of a street running in west-east direction, the houses extended north-south. House places 3 and 6 will be replaced by a new building during the first period.
- Period II
The village complex does not change after the fire. The village street remains, and the huts will also be rebuilt in only slightly changed places. During the second period, the building was rebuilt on house square 2 and again 6. Two small farm buildings between house square 5 and 6 are new.
- Period III
During this period, the village street was covered with wood. The huts are in the same places as in the two previous periods. This time, the building at number five is particularly long because it is multi-roomed. During the third period new huts will be built on house places 1 and 2. At house square 1 there is a layer of mud between the two buildings ; from this one can undoubtedly conclude that the new building did not take place immediately after the demolition. Since very thick layers of screed and many small finds come from this period, it can be assumed that this period lasted a long time and was probably the longest. In contrast to the sparse remains in the fourth period, extensive wood remains are present here for the last time.
- Period IV
This period can only be recognized by means of wall profiles, where there are still more screed remnants over the fire rubble from the third period, which in some places close against the humus with fire rubble.
The "lifetime" of the village was probably all in all no longer than 80 to 90 years. Among the individual finds, large, double-pierced limestone discs are particularly striking.
Stone Age Park and hands-on village
Since 2019, a pedagogically designed walk-in park has been built on the banks of the Blau. The Blaustein Stone Age Park is being built around the prehistoric settlement and will make the time 6000 years ago visible and tangible. The focus is on the replica of a Neolithic house made of alder and larch wood.
A hands-on village with various simple wooden buildings should provide the infrastructure for the offers to the visitors: roofed seating, storage, a fireplace and a herb garden.
Presentation of the finds
No original exhibits from the Stone Age can be seen at the site. That is why a small permanent exhibition with found objects and reconstruction models is being presented in the Blaustein town hall . This exhibition is scientifically supervised by the Ulmer Museum .
literature
- Karl Dietrich Adam : The Neolithic village Ehrenstein (Ulm district). Excavation 1960. Part IV: Die Tierknochen , Stuttgart 1966 (Publications of the State Office for Monument Preservation Stuttgart, Series A, Pre- and Early History, Issue 10 / IV)
- Maria Hopf, the Neolithic village of Ehrenstein (Ulm district). Excavation 1960. Part III: The seeds , Stuttgart 1966 (Publications of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Stuttgart, Series A, Prehistory and Early History, Issue 10 / III)
- Oscar Paret : The Stone Age Village Ehrenstein near Ulm (Danube) , (Stuttgart 1955).
- Jens Lüning / U. Summer / KA Achilles / H. Krumm / J. Waiblinger / Joachim Hahn / E. Wagner: The Neolithic Village Ehrenstein, Part III: The Finds . Research u. Ber. Before u. Mornings Bad-Württ. 58, Stuttgart 1997.
- Hartwig Zürn : New excavations in the Neolithic village near Ehrenstein, district Ulm / Donau , in: Germania 40, 1962
- Hartwig Zürn, the Neolithic village of Ehrenstein (Ulm district). Excavation 1960. Part I: The history of building , Stuttgart 1965 (Publications of the State Office for Monument Preservation Stuttgart, Series A, Prehistory and Early History, Issue 10 / I)
- Hartwig Zürn, the Neolithic village of Ehrenstein (Ulm district). Excavation 1960. Part II: The finds , Stuttgart 1965 (Publications of the State Office for Monument Preservation Stuttgart, Series A, Prehistory and Early History, Issue 10 / II)
Web links
supporting documents
- ^ Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps (accessed March 23, 2014).
- ↑ Homepage: www.steinzeitdorf-ehrenstein.de (accessed on March 26, 2020).
Coordinates: 48 ° 24 '39.2 " N , 9 ° 55' 20.9" E