Copper hatchet from Steinbergen

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The copper ax of stone mountains is a Neolithic ax from copper , in 2011, on a prominent mountain spur of the Weser Mountains in stone mountains in the district of Schaumburg in Lower Saxony found. The almost 10 cm long flat ax is due to its shape in the 4th millennium BC. Chr. Dated. With an age of around 5500 years, it is the oldest metal artifact found in Lower Saxony .

Copper hatchet from Steinbergen

discovery

In March 2011, three adolescent probes found the copper ax on the ridge of the Hirschkuppe in the Weser Mountains. They were looking for militaria with a metal detector , as fighting between German and American military units had broken out in this area towards the end of World War II in April 1945. Their search was illegal because they did not have an official permit required by the Lower Saxony Monument Protection Act . The group was surprised in the forest by the director of the Rinteln Museum Eulenburg . They gave him the find for further scientific investigation. The site was immediately examined by Jens Berthold as a local archaeologist of the Schaumburg landscape , but this did not lead to any further findings .

Reference

On the left the elevation of the deer top as a place of discovery, in the middle the incision of the Steinberger Pass

The site of discovery is the Hirschkuppe elevation belonging to the Weser Mountains, which is 250  m above sea level. Has NN and is adjacent to Steinbergen to the northwest. It is a terrain spur that slopes steeply to the east. There leads to about 150  m above sea level. NN with the Steinberger Pass in north-south direction an old pass path through the Weser Mountains running in west-east direction. The actual site of discovery is on the edge of the deer top, directly on an edge of the terrain that slopes almost vertically to the southeast in the direction of the pass. The place of discovery is an exposed location on an impressive spur at the transition from the mountainous Weser Uplands to the north German lowlands .

description

The copper hatchet from Steinbergen is a trapezoidal flat hatchet weighing 403 grams with a length of 9.5 cm, a blade width of 5.5 cm and a thickness of 1.7 cm. Based on its shape, it is dated from the first half to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. Dated. It is one of the first metal artifacts in Europe and it is about as old as the copper hatchet found in 1991 from the glacier mummy " Ötzi " in the Alps. The hatchet found near Steinbergen does not show any signs of use, which indicate, for example, that it was used as a tool for cutting down trees or hunting.

Metallurgical and archaeometric studies

According to the chemical analysis, the ax was made of almost pure copper as a cast . This manufacturing process speaks for a great metallurgical skill of the manufacturer, since the metal has a high melting point of almost 1100 degrees . The chemical analysis of the metal was carried out using the almost non-destructive method of laser ablation in conjunction with mass spectrometry . The trace element fingerprint could be determined based on the arsenic content and the lead isotopy, which points to a copper deposit in the Eastern Alps .

The copper hatchet during the presentation

In archaeometric studies were on the surface of the ax phosphate enrichment found indicate the animal on a long adhesion material. This suggests a scarf joint of the ax, the use of wood and a leather wrapping in order to stabilize is likely. In addition, traces of another, no longer existing copper object were found on the ax. This object, which had been associated with the copper ax for thousands of years, was removed at an unknown time. The archaeometric analysis of the traces showed that the area of ​​origin of the further copper object lies east of the Eastern Alps.

The metallurgical and archaeometric investigations of the copper ax were carried out by the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Hanover , namely by the Archaeometry Working Group under the direction of the chemist Robert Lehmann , who is the main analyst for metal investigations in Lower Saxony's archeology projects. The research is based on a cooperation agreement on interdisciplinary research that was concluded in 2011 between the University of Hanover and the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation under the patronage of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture . Since then there have been a number of archaeometric projects, such as investigations into the Iron Age bog corpse “ Moora ”, the Bronze Age gold hoard of Gessel and the mining archeology of the Harz Mountains .

Cultural-historical classification

The ax is seen as a testimony to early farming cultures in what is now Lower Saxony. Copper axes from the Neolithic Age , such as the one from Steinbergen, are mainly found in south-eastern Central Europe and southern Scandinavia . At that time, two different cultures coexisted in what is now Lower Saxony. In southern Lower Saxony as well as in central and southern Germany, Neolithization had already occurred in the 6th millennium BC. BC, while this process in the north German lowlands only started about 1000 years later. The Lower Saxony state archaeologist Henning Haßmann suspects that the Neolithic elites of the north acquired the ax as a valuable prestige object from the Eastern Alps as part of this upheaval process. That would also explain the lack of signs of use on the ax. The find also suggests that today's Lower Saxony plays an intermediary role in the transport of copper from the deposits in the south to northern Europe, although the Weser may have played a role as a trade route.

First presentation by then Minister of Science Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić , 2014

Traces on the surface of the ax indicate that it was long in association with another copper object that no longer exists today. This suggests an intentional dumping as a hoard in an exposed location on an impressive spur. The site is located at the transition from the mountainous Weser Uplands to the North German lowlands and thus on the threshold between the two Stone Age areas of that time. According to the archaeologists, a deposit at this location could have represented a territorial marker.

presentation

The copper ax found in 2011 was first presented to the public on July 29, 2014 after restoration, documentation and archaeometric investigations. This took place at the University of Hanover in the presence of the President Erich Barke , the Lower Saxony Minister for Science and Culture Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić and the head of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation Stefan Winghart . On this occasion, scientists explained the interdisciplinary research into the find. The original copper ax was shown for several months in Rinteln in the Eulenburg Museum in 2015 . Since then it has been seen there as a deceptively real copy that was made using stereolithography . From October 2015 the copper ax will be shown in the permanent exhibition of the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover.

From September 21, 2018 to January 6, 2019, the copper ax was displayed in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin in the exhibition Moving Times. Archeology shown in Germany , which took place on the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Kupferbeil von Steinbergen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Press release Archeology and Chemistry together solve puzzles from the past of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture from July 29, 2014 and press release The oldest metal find from Lower Saxony's Stone Age and a legendary sword from the early Middle Ages ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the Leibniz University Hannover on July 31, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-hannover.de
  2. ↑ Spectacular finds in Steinbergen and Großenwieden in: Rinteln-Aktuell from July 30, 2014
  3. ^ Robbery graves removed from copper ax in: Schaumburger Nachrichten of February 18, 2014
  4. ↑ a b Angelika Franz: Chance find from the Stone Age: copper ax marked border between north and south in: Spiegel Online from July 30, 2014
  5. ↑ When researchers cross borders in Schaumburger Nachrichten of August 1, 2014
  6. ↑ Lower Saxony's oldest copper ax comes to Rinteln at: rintelnaktuell from October 16, 2014
  7. ↑ Scientists present sensational finds in Lower Saxony in: Hamburger Abendblatt from July 29, 2014
  8. ↑ a b c Kristian Teetz: High-tech weapon from the Middle Ages in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from July 30, 2014
  9. ↑ Copper ax presentation without a copper ax in the Schaumburger Zeitung of October 20, 2014
  10. ↑ Presentation with obstacles: The historical copper ax did not (yet) come to Rinteln. at: rintelnaktuell on October 21, 2014
  11. ↑ Secrets of a Sword. Work on the 1000 year old find finished / From autumn it will be exhibited in Hanover in: Deister and Weser newspaper from August 7, 2015