Was there a hitherto unknown settlement on the Bavarian shores of Lake Constance around 3000 years ago? In addition to a previously discovered dugout canoe from this period, there is now also a bone find from the bottom of the lake near Wasserburg. It is a skullcap that was dated to the 10th to 9th centuries BC. The new clue now encourages underwater archaeologists in their further search for traces of a possible Bronze Age settlement in the northeast of Lake Constance.
The history of the find in the Eschbach Bay between the Wasserburg peninsula and the island town of Lindau began five years ago: a strange object had been discovered at a depth of around four meters, 170 meters from the shore. Exploration of a diving team of the Bavarian Society for Underwater Archeology e. V. (BGfU) then showed: These are the remains of a dugout canoe. In 2018, the find, which was around seven meters long and one meter wide, was finally recovered with great effort and taken to a laboratory of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments for examination. The analyzes there showed: The oak for the construction of the boat had been felled around 1130 BC. It is the oldest known boat in Bavaria.
A skullcap provides further clues
As the find showed, people paddled in the Eschbach Bay in the Bronze Age. This already suggested that a previously unknown settlement could have been nearby. Therefore, the divers of the BGfU started looking for further traces in the find area. Last year, they came across an unusual find about 70 meters from the location of the dugout – which, however, did not initially look promising: they discovered a skullcap at the bottom of the lake between the remnants of the wood. The find on the surface of the floor did not seem to speak for an object from the Bronze Age and the C14 dates of the surrounding wood remains were sobering: they come from the early Middle Ages.
Surprisingly, however, this did not apply to the skull cap, the dating result of which is now also available. “It was a surprise that this skullcap dates from the Bronze Age,” says Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. According to the research results, the skull bone probably belonged to a woman who lived in the 10th to 9th centuries BC. This makes the find about 200 years younger than the dugout canoe. Nevertheless, it is another indication of a Bronze Age settlement in the surrounding area, the experts say.
Archaeological search in the find area
A settlement of the so-called urn field culture, which dates from around 1300 to 800 BC. BC was widespread in Central Europe. It is named after the customary funeral rite at the time, to burn the bodies and put them in urns. The settlement could have been right on the lake shore or by a stream that flows into it. However, a branch inland is also conceivable, say the experts.
As the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments reports, the team will now look even more intensively for further traces. For this purpose, the BGfU’s research divers will systematically explore certain areas of the lake and its tributaries. Side view sonar devices are to be used that can locate larger objects in the lake bed. In addition, trial drilling is planned to examine the soil deposits for signs of settlement. It will be interesting to see whether archaeologists will actually find traces of a Bronze Age settlement in the far south of Germany.
Source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments