idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
In advance of the construction of the SuedOstLink direct current powerline, archaeological investigations are currently being conducted by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt in close coordination with the transmission system operator 50Hertz. Now, near Krauschwitz in the Burgenlandkreis district particularly interesting discoveries have been made. Next to five Middle Neolithic, approximately 6,000-year-old burial mounds of the Baalberge Culture, several burials of the Corded Ware Culture of the 3rd millennium BC were uncovered. Some of the latter burials are characterized by the inclusion of bags richly decorated with animal teeth.
The SuedOstLink power line runs in Saxony-Anhalt from Wolmirstedt to Droyßig, largely converging with Highways A14 and A9. Along its 170 kilometers through Saxony-Anhalt, the line passes through a region with extremely fertile soils. Accordingly, a high number of archaeological sites is being investigated and scientifically documented by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt in close coordination with 50Hertz prior to construction. Work is currently underway along the entire route – including in the area between Osterfeld and Weißenfels, which was intensively settled during the Neolithic period and has now yielded interesting findings.
A Cultural Landscape of the Middle Neolithic
About 6,000 years ago, during the so-called Baalberg Culture, a settlement was established on a prominent hill north of present-day Krauschwitz. The deceased were commemorated in its immediate vicinity. They were buried individually in graves. In some cases, a trapezoidal wooden hut was built over the grave. These 'mortuary huts,' which occasionally contained multiple graves, were covered with earth, including loess, and stood out clearly against the landscape. Five of these mounds have been identified near Krauschwitz and one of the grave monuments, containing two burials, lies centrally along the future route of the power line.
Due to the sightlines created in prehistory, it was possible to see additional burial sites just a few kilometers away, also covered with light-colored loess soil. In total, more than 15 trapezoidal huts from the Baalberg period were uncovered during the SuedOstLink investigations so far. Today, the artificially raised mounds, once several meters high, are no longer visible above ground. Only the foundation ditches of the wooden huts and the burials buried deep in the ground inside them serve as archaeological evidence of beliefs during the Baalberg culture. In any case, with these grave monuments, the people of this period not only honored their ancestors but also visibly expressed their power. Even more than a thousand years later, these symbols attracted the people of the Corded Ware Culture.
Outstanding Burials of the Corded Ware Culture
The Corded Ware Culture is widespread from Alsace to Ukraine and from southern Scandinavia to the Alps in the 3rd Millenium BC. The hill near Krauschwitz was again chosen as a settlement site in this time. A new burial ground was created along the numerous burial mounds from the earlier Baalberg Culture, 15 of which are located in the area of the new power line. They are single burials typical of the Corded Ware Culture; double burials also occur occasionally. The dead were always buried facing south. When it came to orienting the dead, care was usually taken to ensure that males were laid to rest on their right side and females on their left. Gender-related rules also emerged supra-regionally regarding grave furnishings. In addition to ceramic vessels (mostly beakers and amphorae, which were placed in the grave of both sexes) the stone axe is considered a male insignia, while elements of jewelry and costume are more prominent in the canon of female grave furnishings. Particularly in central Germany, pierced teeth, usually those of dogs, are frequently encountered. Depending on the location of the finds in the grave, the grave goods indicate the former existence of long-gone organic materials – such as textiles or leather. These could have been blankets with braids, embroidered scarves, belt loops, cloak trimmings, embroidered capes, bracelets, and much more.
Between the Unstrut and White Elster rivers, with their tributaries reaching the Sangerhausen Mulde and the lower Saale valley, elaborately decorated bags were a regular part of the costume of young adult women who likely belonged to an elite social class. Three of the burials discovered near Krauschwitz provide evidence of such bags.
The organic material of the bags – leather or fabric – is long gone, but the pierced animal teeth that were sewn on have survived to this day. The upper and lower canine teeth and incisors of dogs were embroidered on the front of the bags, staggered like roof tiles. The bottom of the bag was usually about 30 centimeters long and at least 20 centimeters high. For fully embroidered bags, almost 350 teeth were required. The dogs were a medium-sized breed, similar to today's Small Münsterländer, and were probably bred specifically for the production of the elaborate bags and killed at a young age. Only in exceptional cases was a fox tooth or an imitation carved from bone used for repairs to the bags. The pouch-shaped bags were carried on a wide strap, often sewn with wolf teeth.
Based on their location in the grave, the bags appear to have been carried in front of the body during life. As the occasional infant bones preserved within indicate, they could represent a type of baby carrier. The legs, arms, and head protruded and were further protected with a fine cloth; the 20-centimeter-wide scarf was embroidered with sequins and lined with dog molars. Since a bag was also placed in the grave of young women who died during pregnancy, it can be assumed that these bags were personal, non-inheritable belongings. Ownership of these labor- and cost-intensive, richly decorated bags was certainly reserved for a narrowly defined, elite social class, to which the Krauschwitz community belonged. Such a "baby carrier" was found in 20 percent of women's burials. In Nessa, just 1.7 kilometers away, the remains of an elite woman were recovered, as well at the SuedOstLink. Her burial goods included a similar bag containing the remains of a fetus or newborn.
Further work
The burials containing evidence of bags will be recovered as blocks and examined in detail in the workshops of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. Currently, 20 employees of the State Office are on site in Krauschwitz, and the work is scheduled to be completed in July, in time before work on the actual power line begins. The goal for the rest of the SuedOstLink project is also to complete the archaeological preservation measures before construction begins, in close coordination with the transmission system operator 50Hertz.
A woman´s grave of the Corded Ware Culture with numerous animal teeth found at Krauschwitz
Quelle: Klaus Bentele
Copyright: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
A grave of a man of the Corded ware Culture, grave offerings including a stone axe and pottery vesse ...
Quelle: Oliver Dietrich
Copyright: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt
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A woman´s grave of the Corded Ware Culture with numerous animal teeth found at Krauschwitz
Quelle: Klaus Bentele
Copyright: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
A grave of a man of the Corded ware Culture, grave offerings including a stone axe and pottery vesse ...
Quelle: Oliver Dietrich
Copyright: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt
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