Mesolithic grave near Unseburg

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The Mesolithic grave near Unseburg was found during excavations that were carried out between 1984 and 1999 on the vineyard, a flat spur near Unseburg , a district of the municipality of Bördeaue in the north of the Salzlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt . A C14 dating carried out showed a radiocarbon year between 6550 and 6390 BC for the Unseburg grave . BC, which would give a chronological classification in the Mesolithic (approx. 9000–5500 BC). It is the oldest known burial in Saxony-Anhalt.

Scientific knowledge

During excavations in the course of the relocation of the Bode in connection with the brown coal opencast mining , rich finds from different epochs came to light. In addition to the Mesolithic grave, the Neolithic Age is documented by a settlement and graves. In addition, settlement pits dating from the Early Bronze Age were found, as well as grave finds and fortification trenches from the period between the Younger Bronze Age and the Roman Empire.

The Mesolithic grave was initially noticed as a north-south facing, but filled pit without humus , in the planum of which a human skull could be seen. The grave pit seemed to cut a settlement pit that dates back to the 4th millennium BC. And belonged to the Neolithic Walternienburg-Bernburg culture . Most of the time, such an overlap points to a younger and not an older complex. Therefore, it was initially assumed that the bell-cup culture was buried at the end of the 3rd millennium. When the skeleton was exposed, however, it became apparent that the elongated settlement pit filled with topsoil was only a few centimeters deep. The bearers of the Bernburg culture had piously finished their excavation when they came across the skull, which therefore belonged to an older finding .

Such a finding, which is rare for Central Europe, had to be recovered in the block. The uncovering in the State Museum confirmed the careful approach in an unexpected way. During the "excavation from below", because the block was turned, two " microlithic triangles" typical, pointed flint tools from the Middle Stone Age were discovered. This made the grave the third such finding in Saxony-Anhalt. The anthropological investigation showed that the burial was a young woman. The cause of the lack of humus in the pit filling remains unclear.

literature

  • Adelheid Bach, Horst Bruchhaus: The Mesolithic skeleton of Unseburg, Kr. Staßfurt. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 71, 1988, pp. 21-36 ( online ).
  • Judith M. Grünberg: The Mesolithic burials of the Middle Elbe-Saale region. In: Judith M. Grünberg et al. (Ed.): Mesolithic burials - Rites, symbols and social organization of early postglacial communities. International Conference Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th-21st September 2013 (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle. Volume 13 / I). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2016, ISBN 978-3-944507-43-9 , pp. 257–290 ( online ).
  • Thomas Weber : A Mesolithic grave from Unseburg, Kr. Staßfurt. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 71, 1988, pp. 7-19 ( online ).
  • Thomas Weber: A collector from the Mesolithic in the Bodetal . In: State Office for Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, State Museum for Prehistory (Hrsg.): Beauty, power and death. 120 finds from 120 years of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition from December 11, 2001 to April 28, 2002 in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle / Saale.

Coordinates: 51 ° 55 ′ 0.3 "  N , 11 ° 31 ′ 11.3"  E