Rullstorf settlement chamber
The settlement chamber Rullstorf is an archaeological find area on the elevation of the Kronsberg near Rullstorf in Lower Saxony . The approximately 24 hectares of land on Geestrand above the Elbe Valley presented as a settlement area a preferred human settlement site. The Kronsberg is one of the few known settlement sites in Lower Saxony, since the younger Paleolithic and Mesolithic to the early Middle Ages sought for around 5,000 years continuously from people were. Between 1979 and 2009, the Hanover Institute for Monument Preservation and later Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation carried out large-scale rescue excavations in order to secure the traces of settlement in the ground from being destroyed by gravel construction . Significant finds were a long house from the 4th millennium BC. As the oldest building in Lower Saxony, a 6000 m² late Saxon fire and body grave field with around 150 burials as well as the most important horse burial ground in Germany with 42 burials .
location
The Kronsberg is a flat, elongated hill 27 m above sea level. NN , which lies in the transition area between Marsch and Geest on the southern edge of the glacial valley of the Elbe . It has a length of about 800 meters and a width of about 200 meters. The elevation was created from moraine material such as alluvial sand , gravel and clay over the course of several ice ages . With its elevated position, the Kronsberg protrudes from the surroundings like an island. It used to form a peninsula on the edge of the flat Elbe marshes , as it was surrounded on two sides by swamp and water. In prehistoric times, the hilltop was a desirable settlement for people . Since the elevation was spatially limited, the area was used intensively. Therefore, people created burial fields right next to their settlements. This close proximity of settlement, commercial and burial areas is a unique situation for historical research. An overlying layer of drifting sand , which overflowed the area in the Middle Ages, is responsible for the sometimes extremely good preservation of the several millennia old finds . Archaeologists described the find situations under the up to 80 cm high protective sand as almost " Pompeian ".
Discovery and excavation
As early as 1978, a local researcher from Rullstorf discovered archaeologically suspicious findings on a demolished edge of the gravel structure and reported them to the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover, which in turn informed the locally responsible monument preservation office . In 1979, after official approval of half of the Kronsberg, large-scale extraction of sand by two extraction companies began. Deposited by the ice ages , there was a layer of sand and gravel up to ten meters high . In 1979 the Institute for the Preservation of Monuments from Hanover undertook a rescue excavation as the excavation threatened to destroy the finds. The first excavation was carried out with student assistants and inadequate equipment, and the potential of the site was not yet recognized. From 1980, systematic investigations were carried out as extensive area excavations under the direction of the archaeologist Wilhelm Gebers . They developed into a key project of the Institute for the Preservation of Monuments in the area of settlement archeology , as settlement processes could be explored in a limited space on the Kronsberg. When financial resources were becoming scarcer, the excavations were carried out with ABM workers. The almost annual excavation campaigns with the participation of around 500 employees lasted for almost 30 years. They were only abandoned in 1987, 2003 and 2004 because of other archaeological projects.
End of excavation
In 1996 an area of 50,000 m² was archaeologically examined, while a remaining area of 35,000 m² still to be examined remained open. In 2009, after 30 years of excavation activity, the area affected by sand mining was completely excavated. It is estimated that the long excavations have uncovered around half of the historical finds. However, archaeologically relevant areas continue beyond the excavation area to the north and south of Rullstorf. Further important finds are expected there, which for lack of financial means could not yet be searched. As a protective measure, the municipality has leased the suspected areas that have not yet been investigated .
Fund periods
The oldest finds on the Kronsberg are artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic . The Mesolithic is represented by numerous fireplaces and microliths , which were left with short stays by groups of hunters in the 7th millennium BC. Come from BC. The first settlement took place in the Neolithic through the funnel beaker culture and the individual grave culture . Their settlement areas are at the highest point of the elevation. The small-scale settlement chamber of the Kronsberg has been continuously settled since the late Bronze Age. The settlers were offered good economic foundations through fertile marshland , agriculture in the Geest landscape , moist swamp forest meadows as well as forest and hunting. In addition, the Kronsberg with its location on the Elbe could be used as a point of long-distance trade . After the Saxon period, the Kronsberg apparently fell desolate in the early Middle Ages . Since then it has been used for agriculture by the farmers of Rullstorf, which was first mentioned in the 13th century.
Find complexes and time periods
Neolithic settlement with a nave
The settlement of the funnel beaker culture from the Neolithic age was on the southern slope of the Kronsberg and covered around 25,000 m². A nave destroyed by fire , the post plan of which was found, is assigned to this period . Based on the ceramic material with around 30,000 pieces, it is assigned to the Altmark group of the funnel beaker culture. By means of the C14 dating , the house could be traced back to the end of the 4th millennium BC. It is the oldest building found in Lower Saxony to date. The two-aisled building was almost 24 meters long and up to 5 meters wide. Inside there was a division by transverse walls. Based on the findings, individual sections of the house are assigned special functions of housekeeping. In one area the usual clay-coated side walls were missing, there were larger pits and a partially buried amphora was found. There was no fireplace in the building. No grain residues could be detected, so that before a final evaluation of the extensive finds, archaeologists put forward the thesis that the inhabitants had not yet lived from agriculture, but rather from cattle breeding, hunting and collecting.
Bronze Age settlement
A settlement with an urn burial ground about 300 meters away was found from the younger Bronze Age . Four house floor plans and ancillary buildings, such as Darröfen and hundreds of settlement pits , were excavated . Miniature figures of pigs, which may have been used as children's toys, were particular finds. The settlement existed until around 800 BC. And was destroyed by fire.
Pre-Roman Iron Age settlement
Two building floor plans from the period of the Jastorf culture in the Ripdorf stage around 350–120 BC come from the pre-Roman Iron Age . A kiln and charred grain remains were found. From the following period of the Seedorf stage around 120–0 BC. Two building plans and several storage pits were discovered.
Roman Imperial Era
Four longhouses were discovered from the Roman Empire . During this time there was iron smelting in the settlement on a large scale, which was deduced from a total of 12 tons of found iron slag from furnace columns . The settlement, which is still under construction, fell victim to a fire, with external reasons presumably leading to the demolition of the settlement. After that, a short phase of desertification apparently began on the Kronsberg until the appearance of Saxon settlers towards the end of the 4th century.
Late Saxon settlement with burial ground
From 1984 on, a settlement from the late Saxon period with an associated body and cremation grave field (7th-9th centuries) was excavated on about 6000 m² . Since the excavation area was cut up by a current road, it can be assumed that the settlement was about twice as large as the excavated part. The settlement included four long houses, six small post structures and 32 pit houses . The first settlement fell victim to a fire in the 5th century, which was presumably followed by a brief period of desertification and subsequent resettlement.
A grave field with around 150 burials was discovered near the settlement, but the entire area has not been excavated. About 80% of the burials were cremated by burning at a stake . A large number of pyre constructions were found on the basis of the post floor plans , including oval, ship-shaped, angular, square or rectangular. The fire places were partially surrounded by wattle . In the case of the body graves, wooden panels were found in some graves. Burials also took place in tree coffins . In the graves of women there were numerous pearls made of glass , amber , bronze and silver , which originally belonged to pearl necklaces. It was the festive outfit for the women with which they were buried. Weapons and tools were found near the men's graves. An iron knife and the tip of a sax blade as well as fragments of a chain mail were found.
The cemetery comes from a time at the turn of the pagan-Saxon funeral rite to Christianity . It is one of the few well-researched fire and body burial grounds from this time in Lower Saxony. The rich grave goods allow conclusions to be drawn about the furnishings and costume and testify to the prosperity of the former residents on the Kronsberg. The excavations on the burial ground began in 1983. Even before the investigations were completed, the results were presented to the public in 1999 in the exhibition "The Rullstorfer Old Saxony".
Late Saxon horse burial ground
The horse grave field is the late Saxon time of the 7th-8th centuries. Century. Below is a grave with stallions and a stag . The horse grave field with 42 burials is one of the largest and most important of its kind in Germany and is one of the most important sites of this kind throughout Europe. The animals were each buried without a saddle or harness, sometimes in pairs. The number of animals that were buried next to the deceased residents of the Kronsberg testifies to the prosperity of the time. The numerous horse burials suggest an intensive horse keeping. There could be a connection with the Germanic peoples' ideas of the afterlife , in which Odin's stallion Sleipnir played an important role. An archaeozoological examination of the horse bones showed that the animals had heights at the withers of 1.32 to 1.48 m. They were rather slender. Of the 42 horses, 24 were male; the others could not be identified due to missing parts. The age of 39 horses could be estimated. They were between 2.5 and 20 years old, with the average being 7 years. The largest horse grave with three stallions and a dog had a diameter of 17 m and an area of 220 m². It was surrounded by a semicircular moat. Presumably there was a no longer preserved burial mound made of sod and plague , which could have had a height of 5 m. It was eroded over the course of around 1000 years by deforestation, agriculture and leaching.
Saddle find
In the summer of 2000, a particularly elaborately designed horse burial of extraordinary size was found. The horse served as an addition to a 24-post funeral pyre grave, which was constructed as a double circle. Glass beads, sheet silver, iron chain links and a belt buckle were found in the post holes of the pyre. The head of the found horse skeleton had been cut off, which was not the case with the other horse burials on the Kronsberg. The horse's hind legs were also facing south, while in all other horse burials the hind legs were facing north. The remains of a riding saddle from the 8th century AD with stirrups and complete harness were found at the grave site . The find recovered in the block was uncovered under laboratory conditions in the restoration workshop of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation. The saddle was later reconstructed with rich decoration and different fittings based on the findings. Together with the other finds, such as halter with bridle and rear harness , it was temporarily presented as equestrian equipment at the time in the German Horse Museum in Verden (Aller) .
Aristocratic grave
In 2000 a special wooden chamber grave was discovered during excavations on the Kronsberg. Instead of a coffin, a 2.6 × 1.3 meter wooden chamber was set into the grave pit, the wood of which was only recognizable as the discoloration of the floor. The skull of the deceased was preserved while the rest of the body was only recognizable as a corpse shadow. There was a shield with leather and silver nails, a sax , an iron knife and a lance. Other items of equipment included a belt with a belt pouch , a flint and a fire hammer, as well as bronze tweezers. Because of the rich and high-quality additions, a person of a higher position, such as a warrior or nobleman, is assumed to be in the buried . A 2.8 × 1.8 meter large lacquer print , which is exhibited in the lecture hall of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation in Hanover, shows the find situation with the discoloration of the floor of the wooden chamber above the deceased.
literature
- Wilhelm Gebers: A Saxon cult place with grave field in Rullstorf, Ldkr. Lüneburg in: Excavations in Lower Saxony. Archaeological monument preservation 1979–1984. Stuttgart 1985.
- Cornelius Hornig: The late Saxon burial ground of Rullstorf, Ldkr.Lüneburg , 1993, Buch am Erlbach, ISBN 3-924734-32-1 , dissertation
- Wilhelm Gebers: Fifteen years of excavation in Rullstorf - a balance sheet in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 2/1995
- Joachim Stark: Late Saxon grave findings from Rullstorf - first results of the 1995 excavation in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 2/1996
- Thilo Stapelfeldt: The new excavations on the late Saxon burial ground near Rullstorf, Ldkr. Lüneburg in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 2/1996
- Wilhelm Gebers, Friedrich Lüth: Rullstorf I. The archaeological investigations in the area of the site 5. excavation years 1979-1982 , Hanover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5642-3
- Britta Lauxtermann: The horse as a companion after Walhalla in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , p. 50–52, 2002
- Wilhelm Gebers: On the way to Walhall - The horses of the Old Saxons - Companions in life and death , Lohne, 2004, ISBN 3-9808151-8-8
- Wilhelm Gebers: Rullstorf - 20 years of archeology on the edge of the Elbmarsch in: Archeology | Land | Lower Saxony - 400,000 years of history , 2004
- Ilona Becker: The horses from the Saxon burial ground in Rullstorf (Ldkr.Lüneburg) , 2007 ( online ), (pdf, 2.1 MB)
- Wilhelm Gebers: Rullstorf - conclusion of the long-term and successful excavations in reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 4/2009
- Wilhelm Gebers: Rullstorf II. The archaeological investigations in the area of the site of the 5th excavation years 1983-2009 , Rahden 2014, ISBN 978-3-89646-977-9
Web links
- Extensively illustrated report on the excavations and finds (pdf, 1.24 MB)
- Brief description of the excavations at Rullstorfer Kronsberg with photos
- Excavation report 2005 with photos
- Rullstorf, a burial ground of the Old Saxons
- Find a special horse burial in Rullstorf
- Contents of the exhibition catalog: On the way to Valhalla
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ulrike Kressel: There is no money for further excavations in the Hamburger Abendblatt of October 21, 2008
- ↑ Presentation of the saddle reconstruction ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ On the way to Walhall (2004) ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Saxon aristocratic grave in Rullstorf ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Britta Lauxtermann: A member of the Saxon nobility in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , pp. 95–96, 2001
- ↑ Britta Lauxtermann: A member of the Saxon nobility - the warriors in the wooden chamber grave 5095 in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 2/2001
- ^ Reports on the preservation of monuments 2009/4
Coordinates: 53 ° 17 ′ 25.6 ″ N , 10 ° 31 ′ 18.5 ″ E