Lichtenstein cave
| Lichtenstein cave
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 Cave entrance |
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| Location: | Lichtenstein mountain near Osterode , Göttingen district , Lower Saxony ( Germany ) | |
| Height : | 160 m above sea level NHN | |
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Geographic location: |
51 ° 43 '28 " N , 10 ° 10' 27" E | |
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| Type: | Gypsum karst cave | |
| Discovery: | 1972 | |
| Overall length: | 115 m | |
The Lichtenstein Cave , formerly called Rotkamp Cave , is a 115 m long and narrow cave discovered in 1972 in the Lichtenstein mountain near Osterode in Lower Saxony .
Speleologists came across a previously unknown part in 1980 and found the remains of people from the late Bronze Age in it . In the examinations, which were only completed in 2011, the well-preserved bones of around 65 to 70 individuals were found. Therefore, around the 1st millennium BC The cave used today is one of the most important archaeological sites in Lower Saxony and is one of the most outstanding Bronze Age sites in Germany. The human bones represent the world's largest DNA pool from the Bronze Age and are used as a genetic archive for further anthropological research.
Using DNA analysis , a 3000 year old kinship system could be reconstructed for the first time in the human remains. The initial classification as a human sacrificial site was later revised in favor of a cult and burial site from the urn field culture .
Geographical location
The Lichtenstein cave is located in the southwestern Harz foreland in the Lichtenstein mountain ( 260.9 m above sea level ), on which the Lichtenstein castle ruins are located. In the mountain area, there are Förste in the north, Osterode in the east-northeast, Ührde in the southeast and Dorste in the south-southwest. A little west of the cave, the Söse and its left tributary Salza (approx. 145 m altitude) flow in the valley low . The small cave entrance is in the forest in the lower part of the steep north-northwest slope of the elevation at a height of about 156 m .
Geology, history and size
The cave lies in a formation of gypsum karst from the Zechstein Age . It was created around 50,000 to 100,000 years ago as a spring cave through an underground stream in the karst rock. With a length of around 115 m, angled corridors with only 30 cm passage and a room volume of around 150 m³, it can be described as small. In addition to today's access, the previously unknown Jenschluf was found in 2009 as a crawl space that led to the outside via a shaft and represented the Bronze Age access. In the course of time it had become clogged with sediments and earth.
Walkability
The cave is closed to the public. There is a replica of the cave in the cave experience center of the Iberg stalactite cave , which is about 11 km (as the crow flies ) north-northeast near Bad Grund in the Harz Mountains. It shows a 13 meter long section and can be walked on and partially crawled.
discovery
The cave was discovered in the spring of 1972 when the three local researchers Dieter Friebe , Harry Peinemann and Udo Wagner from Osterode were looking for a possible secret passage or escape tunnel below the former Lichtenstein Castle . A few hundred meters down the valley, they found a narrow, around 60-meter-long underground passage, which, however, was a previously undiscovered natural cave. It was initially named Rotkamphöhle , but was later renamed Lichtensteinhöhle. On March 21, 1973, the explorers closed the cave with a door, which young people broke into on October 10, 1974. The door was then replaced. In the same year the cave was declared a natural monument at the instigation of speleologists . The supervising cave research association at the time was the Wieda group of the working group for Lower Saxony caves.
More discoveries
In February and March 1980, Firouz found Vladi , Katrin von Ehren, Ernst-Heinrich, Bernhard Schuhose and Uwe Fricke as cave researchers of the later Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Karstkunde Harz e. V. at the end of the previously known cave there was an added rock crevice, which was considered an impassable narrow point ( silt ).
They widened the opening and went further into the cave. They discovered five adjoining cave chambers (Horstspalte, Fiddi-Kluft, Reinhard's grotto, burial chamber, Bernd-Saal), which are connected by narrow and hardly passable corridors. This cave area covers around 40 m², with the Bernd-Saal being the largest room with 10 m². In them they made sensational cave finds in the form of thousands of human and animal bones as well as bronze objects and ceramics. With the exception of one skeleton , the rest of the bones were completely disorganized and disorganized.
All superficial finds were covered by a thick layer of gypsum sinter as a result of the cave climate , which represented excellent conservation. The discovery was sensational for archaeological research because the site had been completely undisturbed for thousands of years and, according to the first impression, it had been a human sacrifice and cult site. In addition, it was one of the few sites from the time of the urn field culture with unburned human remains . Usually the rite of cremation prevailed at this time .
The cave explorers immediately reported their discovery to the Institute for Monument Preservation in Hanover. Due to the expected technical difficulties in the narrow cave and the access security by means of a steel door, the authorities did not initially carry out an excavation. In 1980 and 1983, they limited themselves to a sketchy record of the recognizable finds and found individual bones and bronze objects that would have been endangered by later visits to the cave.
Excavations
During a robbery excavation in 1992, the steel door to the cave was broken open with the help of a welding device . In the rear, archaeologically relevant part of the cave, bronze objects visible on the surface and three skulls were stolen. The damage to further archaeological research was limited, since sediments formed in the post-Bronze Age had largely protected the layers of the find. Due to a press action, the unknown thieves returned the pieces anonymously a few years later. The robbery excavation forced an extensive scientific investigation of the entire cave, which began in 1993. Further excavations followed in annual campaigns from 1995 to 2005 in cooperation between the Osterode am Harz district archeology and the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation . During surveying work inside the cave in 2008, discoloration was found on the walls, which indicated a crevice clogged with sediments. Then the excavations were resumed in 2009. They led to the discovery of a creeper, which was named as Jensschluf. Inside was a bronze depot with ornamental discs, buttons and spiral hooks that were common in northern Thuringia. The floor of the corridor, like the floor of the rest of the cave, had been leveled by the users and showed numerous animal bones. Since there were destroyed pottery inside, the parts of which matched the vessels in the Berndsaal, it was to be concluded that the cave users brought objects into the cave after ceremonies outside. The Jenschluf was narrowed in earlier times by the fall of a boulder. In 2010, a tunnel several meters long was dug from the outside, which made it easier for archaeologists to access the cave. The Bronze Age access shaft that led over the Jenschluf was found. After giving up using the cave, he had dealt with earth and stones. The investigations were completed in 2011 after all cave rooms had been excavated.
Finds
About 5,500 human bone parts were found, which can be assigned to about 65 to 70 individuals. They were of both sexes and of all ages except toddlers. In addition, around 100 bronze objects (ear, arm and finger rings, bangles) and ceramic parts were secured. The bronze and ceramic finds can be traced back to Hallstatt -Stage HaB from the 10th to the 8th century BC. BC so that this section can be assumed as the period of use of the cave. Many of the finds are exhibited in the Museum am Berg within the Iberg stalactite cave .
Investigations
The findings were investigated as an interdisciplinary research project by anthropologists , archaeozoologists , botanists and metallurgists .
Genetic fingerprint and kinship relationships
With the exception of the finds from the first ascent, the bones found were stored in a cooling chamber at −20 ° C. For 40 people so far (2012), the genetic fingerprint of the Bronze Age people was determined by means of DNA analysis . The preservation of the DNA is due to the storage conditions in the cave with an evenly cool temperature of nine degrees and also to the surrounding gypsum chemistry.
A first genetic investigation of the finds was completed by Tobias Schultes in 2000.
The kinship of the buried people to each other was further investigated by Felix Schilz , the results of which he described in his doctoral thesis, also at the University of Göttingen . So far, DNA typing of 22 people has been successful, from which an extended family could be traced back over three generations. For the first time in the world, the family relationships of a group of people could be reconstructed without a hypothesis based on an archaeological finding.
In three cases the people are parents and children, in two other cases it is a parent with children. Relatives exist in 15 of the 22 DNA-typed persons. As a result, it was several generations of a family clan .
Descendant search
A call in 2007 to submit a saliva sample among the long-established population from the surrounding towns was followed by 270 people. Their DNA was examined for a possible relationship to the people buried in the cave. The anthropologist Susanne Hummel from the University of Göttingen was in charge. Eleven people have been identified who have the same genetic pattern as most of the dead. Two men living within sight of the cave had an extremely rare lineage. It is identical to that of a man from the cave, so that this is an indication of a family continuity that has lasted over 100 generations.
Further investigations
The aim of further investigations by Ingrid Jeske was the archaeological processing of the finds (typology, chronology and cultural-spatial classification) and the overall interpretation of the finds. Skeletal examinations of the previous height of the individuals showed that the adults corresponded to the average height during the Bronze Age. This was 1.7 m for men and 1.6 m for women.
The human remains from the Lichtenstein Cave represent a biological-genetic archive. Due to their exceptionally good state of DNA preservation, they serve as material for scientific projects on anthropological issues such as blood grouping , immune defense , lactose intolerance and HIV resistance.
Previous function of the cave
As far as we know today, the Lichtenstein Cave was the burial site of a family clan around 3000 years ago , where ritual ceremonies took place. Remnants of vessels with leftover food also speak for a cultic-ritual use. This is also indicated by the fireplaces found in the cave rooms. In addition, the rooms were softly padded with moss, grass and cereal straw. The cave was built between 1000 and 700 BC. Used over a period of about 100 to 200 years. When it was discovered, there was an initial tendency to interpret the cave as a pure human sacrifice.
It has recently been suggested that the initial use of the cave may have been a place of worship and human sacrifice. However, there are no signs of killing on the individuals found. In the final phase of use, it was likely to have been a special burial place where people of outstanding importance were deposited. The people found, including the children, had a robust build, which suggests good nutrition due to privileged positions. A hillside settlement from the Urnfield Age three kilometers away on the site of the Pipinsburg near Osterode, which was found in earlier excavations, would be considered as a place of residence . The people who settle here are assigned to the Unstrut group, which was settled in the Thuringian Basin during the Bronze Age .
fairy tale
It is possible that a local fairy tale makes direct reference to the Lichtenstein Cave. The fairy tale speaks of people who live in the cave and will one day move into the valley to celebrate a festival with the people there.
literature
- R. Maier, FA Linke: The Lichtenstein cave near Dorste, city of Osterode am Harz. In: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , supplement 1: 150-154, 9 illustrations; Theiss, Stuttgart 1985.
- Stephan FJ Kempe & Firouz Vladi : The Lichtenstein Cave, a preholocene channel cave in gypsum and site of prehistoric human sacrifices on the south-western edge of the Harz (Dorste district, Osterode am Harz) . - Heimatbl. for the south-west. Harzrand 44: 1-12, 1988.
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : The cave in Lichtenstein , pp. 26–28, in: If stones could talk. Volume I, Landbuch-Verlag, Hannover 1989, ISBN 3-7842-0397-3 .
- Stefan Flindt, Christian Leiber: Cult caves and human sacrifices in the Harz, Ith and Kyffhäuser. Ed .: District of Osterode am Harz. Mitzkat, Holzminden 1998.
- Stefan Flindt: Tribute to the gods. Human sacrifice in the Lichtenstein cave in the Harz in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , Volume 2, Oldenburg, Isensee Verlag, 1999, pp. 34-37
- Stefan Flindt: The Lichtenstein Cave. 10 years of underground research in: Archeology Land Lower Saxony, 400,000 years of history , Oldenburg 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1926-5 .
- Felix Schilz: Molecular genetic relationship analyzes on the prehistoric skeleton collective of the Lichtenstein cave . Dissertation. Goettingen. 2006 ( Online , PDF; 9.09 MB).
- Roland Lange: The descendant - a life in the shadow of the Lichtenstein. Mitzkat, Holzminden 2008, ISBN 978-3-940751-10-2 , reading sample online
- Jürgen Udolph : Lichtenstein cave, settlement continuity and the testimony of the family, place and water names in: Historia archaeologica. Festschrift f. Heiko Steuer, Berlin - New York 2009, pp. 85–105.
- Stefan Findt, Henning Haßmann , Katharina Malek : Excavations in the Lichtenstein cave near Osterode am Harz completed in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony, 2/2012
- Stefan Flindt: The Lichtenstein Cave near Osterode am Harz - a robbery excavation forces action in: Robbery grave robber. Accompanying booklet to the special exhibition of the State Museum of Nature and People Oldenburg from May 11th to September 8th 2013 , Oldenburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-943904-19-2
- Stefan Flindt, Susanne Hummel, Verena Seidenberg, Reinhold Schoon, Gisela Wolf, Henning Haßmann, Thomas Saile: The Lichtenstein Cave. An “irregular” place with human skeletal remains from the Urnfield period - preliminary report on the excavations from 1993–2011. in: N. Müller-Scheeßel (Ed.): “Irregular” burials in prehistory: norm, ritual, punishment ...? , Bonn, 2013, pp. 347–364 ( online )
Web links
- Lichtenstein cave (short description of the cave), on karstwanderweg.de
- To discover the Bronze Age finds in the Lichtenstein cave near Osterode am Harz in 1980 (1999; detailed description of the recovery of finds), on karstwanderweg.de
- On the history of research in the Rotkamp cave (Lichtenstein cave) (correction of details of the history of discovery and protection), on karstwanderweg.de
- Bone examinations and brief description of the cave finds by the Historical Anthropology and Human Ecology of the University of Göttingen
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ur-clan of the oldest extended family in the world is growing , August 30, 2011, accessed on August 30, 2011, on morgenpost.de
- ↑ Stephan Kempe & Firouz Vladi : The Lichtenstein Cave . In: Heimatblätter for the southwestern edge of the Harz, issue 44, ??? 1-11. 1988
- ↑ Uwe Fricke: On the discovery of the Bronze Age finds in the Lichtenstein cave near Osterode am Harz in 1980 (1999; detailed description of the recovery of finds), on karstwanderweg.de
- ↑ Tobias Schultes: Typing old DNA to reconstruct relationships in a Bronze Age skeleton collective. Publisher: Cuvillier. Goettingen. 2000. ISBN 3-89712-916-7
- ↑ Felix Schilz: Molecular genetic relationship analyzes on the prehistoric skeletal collective of the Lichtenstein cave . Dissertation. Goettingen. 2006 (PDF; 9.09 MB)
- ↑ Tina Baier: The ancient residents. Archaeologists have discovered 3,000-year-old bones in a cave in the southern Harz - now they are looking for living relatives. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 2, 2007