In Saxony-Anhalt, archaeologists discovered ten graves from the time of the bell ceremony and uncovered three of them. According to the analyzes, the dead were buried with various grave inserts about 4500 years ago, including an arm protection, arrowheads and a quiver. These objects characterize the people as archers and thus as a Neolithic warrior or hunter.
People of the so -called bell cup culture lived from around 2500 to 2050 BC in large parts of Europe, at the transition of the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age. Not much is known about their way of life. Since these people lived in small, non -related communities, their ways of life and cultural practices also differ from each other. However, they have in common the way they buried their dead: individually, in a crouched side position and with a “look” to the east. Women were laid on their right side of the body with their heads to the south, men on their left side of the body with their heads north.
The grave goods in the bell cup culture were rather sparse. Most of the time, the communities were limited to one or a few decorated ceramic vessels with the eponymous characteristic form of an inverted bell with an S-shaped profile. Rarely people put their dead jewelry or objects made of gold and amber into the grave. However, male warriors always received weapons or protective equipment as grave additions, such as arrowheads made of flint, arm protection panels or copper daggers.
At least two warriors or hunters among the dead
As part of investigations by the State Office for Monument Conservation and Archeology (LDA) at Förderstedt in Saxony-Anhalt, archaeologists have now discovered at least ten graves from this time and exposed three of them. The graves were found in a historic cemetery along a planned electricity route. They were about two meters deep, were originally covered by a burial mound and are well preserved.
In one of the dead, the researchers found only a tones of bell cup that probably contained food once. In the second dead – due to the left side position, a man – they also found an eight times four centimeters tall, reddish stone slab. It is made of Gotland sandstone that had reached Central Germany via ice age glaciers. According to the experts, the plate is an arm protection, the archer at the forearm, to protect yourself from the rapid arch tendon when a arrow is fired. There were no arrow residues in this grave. The arm protection plate nevertheless clearly characterizes the dead as a warrior or hunter, according to the team.
Burial with arrows including quivers
The third grave Barg a special surprise: the dead – also lying on the left – was apparently buried with several arrows and therefore also a warrior or hunter. In the back area of the person, the archaeologists found two arrow tips and a soil discoloration, which indicates a quiver made of organic material. “Direct references to organic objects, such as the quiver to be found here, are very rare. This makes this find so special, ”explains Susanne Friedrich from LDA Saxony-Anhalt.
The cemetery proves that a community of bell ceremonial culture once lived in this region of Saxony-Anhalt. Analyzes of the remaining graves could provide further indications of the lifestyle of the Neolithic warriors.
Source: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt-State Museum for Prehistory