The Neolithic settlement of Eilsleben in Saxony-Anhalt is considered an important source of information about the life of the first farmers in Central Germany. New research results from the archaeological excavations are now available. Accordingly, the settlement was around eight times larger than previously assumed. It was also surrounded by an elaborate wall-ditch system with palisades. This suggests that the coexistence of the newly immigrated farmers with the previously resident hunter-gatherer societies was not entirely harmonious. However, it is still unclear how serious the territorial conflicts over the fertile land were.
Near Eilsleben in the Börde district is a settlement that is around 7,500 years old and dates back to the early Neolithic period, where some of the first farmers in Central Europe lived. It was built around 5375 BC and is assigned by historians to the people of the so-called Linear Ceramic Culture (5500 to 4800 BC) and, with an area of around twelve hectares, is one of the largest towns of its time.
Archaeologists extensively examined the area near Eilsleben between 1974 and 1989. They documented traces of houses and graves and found remains of ceramics, tools made of stone, flint and antler, as well as animal bones. Further excavations have been taking place since 2024. The researchers hope to gain further insights into the lives of these early farmers who practiced agriculture and livestock breeding and who probably immigrated to Central Europe from Anatolia and the Aegean. In Saxony-Anhalt they found fertile loess soil.
Conflicts between immigrants and residents?
It is unclear what the relationship between farmers and the hunter-gatherers who lived in the region before them was. It is assumed that the newcomers drove the local hunter-gatherer societies away from the fertile soil and pushed them into zones less suitable for agriculture. Nevertheless, the Neolithic immigrants likely remained in close contact with the locals, as suggested by some tool finds such as arrowheads that both cultures used. Eilsleben is particularly informative when it comes to this question of intercultural relations, as it lies on the northern border of the farming world.
Now researchers from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology, the Martin Luther University of Halle Wittenberg and the Free University of Berlin have published new results on the interim status of the excavations. Accordingly, they found unusually well-preserved remains of the former settlement. These are now being examined in more detail using scientific analyzes such as archaeobotany, micromorphology and sediment analyses. This should also provide information about what the infrastructure in the settlement near Eilsleben looked like. For example, it is unclear which areas of the town served which purposes.
Wall-moat system against attackers?
Initial results suggest that the settlement was apparently fortified by the oldest Linear Pottery farmers during the earliest wave of immigration. They created an elaborate wall-moat system with palisades that surrounded the houses and protected them from attackers. The researchers also found that the settlement and the surrounding fortifications occupied a much larger area than previously assumed: 80,000 instead of 10,000 square kilometers. Further tests will now show whether this fortification was built to protect the farmers as a precaution or actively from confrontations with the previous population. It provides important evidence as to whether there were serious territorial conflicts between the early farmers and the local hunter-gatherer societies.
Source: State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt – State Museum of Prehistory; Specialist article: Antiquity, doi: 10.15184/aqy.2025.10270