A Child’s Grave from the Rock Shelter Fuchskirche I near Allendorf (Thuringia, Germany) (original) (raw)
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Mesolithic burials - Rites, symbols and social organisation of early postglacial communities. Int. Conference Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th-21st September 2013, Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 13/I (2016), 2017
This article deals with a small but remarkable concentration of sites with Mesolithic human remains in the northern foothills of the Thuringian Mountains in southwestern Central Germany. Numerous caves and rock shelters are known in the Zechstein reefs south and southeast of the Thuringian Basin and the Saale-Ilm-limestone plateau. A number of these had been used already in the Middle Palaeolithic, Upper Palaeolithic and Late Palaeolithic, but also by the Mesolithic people. Human remains found in the middle of the 2oth century in the Urdhöhle at Döbritz, the Ilsenhöhle beneath Ranis Castle and in front of the Abri Fuchskirche I at Allendorf have been initially assigned to the Upper Palaeolithic, Late Palaeolithic or more recent periods. The context of human remains at all three localities led, together with the applied excavation methodology, to several possibilities of interpretation, either as burials or as randomly embedded loose human bones. Recent studies have led to a reclassification of the human remains and a new interpretation of the contexts of the finds. In the Upper Hall of Urdhöhle were found the disarticulated but fairly complete remains of at least one individual from the Boreal period and few remains of a second individual. Whether this was a primary burial with later turbation or a secondary burial, cannot be determined exactly. Also in the Boreal period of Mesolithic date there is the lower jaw of a child about one year old from the nearby Ilsenhöhle. In the 14C-dating of both, there is a large overlap. The mandible may have been introduced as a single piece into the cave and been relocated within to the base of an alluvial fan as loose human bone. About 1ooo years younger is the grave of a small child from the Abri Fuchskirche I. It dates to the early Atlantic period. An upper canine tooth of red deer was connected with the human skeletal remains. According to available data, the infant was buried as a primary burial in a shallow pit. Thus for the Mesolithic in the Thuringian Mountains foothills the use of naturally protected places, i.e. of caves and rock shelters, is found three times in the death ritual and burial services. In contrast, evidence of burials in open air sites as they exist further north in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt is so far lacking. Obviously, where the appropriate geographical conditions were present, the use of caves and rock shelters for burial was popular. Whether the naturally protected places in the south of Central Germany were the exclusive burial grounds or there are burials on open air sites too, can only be judged after excavations on well-preserved open air sites. At this time, a distribution of burials in Central Germany, which is also found in other parts of Europe, can be seen: burials in caves and rock shelters or their vicinity in foothills and burials on open air sites in areas without naturally protected places.
This article presents results of new research on the Mesolithic burial site at Groß Fredenwalde in northeastern Germany, where a multiple burial was first discovered by accident in 1962. Anthropological analyses identified one female with a child and two males with two children within this material. According to systematic AMS dating and 15 N/ 13 C-isotope analyses the individuals are typical Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers of the Atlantic period (c. 6 000 calBC). During re-excavation of the site in 2012-2014 three new burials including a disturbed child burial and a baby burial were recognised. There is also an outstanding burial: a young man was interred standing upright and then furnished in stages. The burial is without any parallel in Central Europe, although there are possible parallels at Olenij Ostrov in Karelia. Altogether nine individuals from at least four graves are now known; they probably belong to an early cemetery located at a prominent position in the landscape. AMS-dates assign the burials to the period from c. 6 400 to 4 900 calBC, and thus the site was in use when the first Linear Band Pottery farmers established the agricultural way of life in the region c. 5 200 calBC. Two successfully analysed individuals belong to the haplogroup U of mitochondrial lineages fitting well into the model of highly differentiated forager and farmer populations.
The Mesolithic Cemetery of Gross Fredenwalde (North-Eastern Germany) and its Cultural Affiliations
Lietuvos Archeologija, 2020
The site of Groß Fredenwalde was discovered in 1962 and has been known as a Mesolithic multiple burial since 14C-dates verified an early Atlantic age in the early 1990s. New research since 2012 reconstructed the situation of the poorly documented rescue excavation in 1962 and identified six individuals from at least two separate burials. The new excavations uncovered more burials and Groß Fredenwalde stands out as the largest Mesolithic cemetery in North Central Europe and the oldest cemetery in Germany. In this paper the known burial evidence from this site is presented and the location of the cemetery, mortuary practices, and grave goods are discussed in a broader European context. Northern and Eastern connections appear especially tangible in Groß Fredenwalde and it is suggested that the community associated with the Groß Fredenwalde Mesolithic cemetery was integrated into wider cultural networks connected to the North and East.
The Mesolithic Cemetery of Groß Fredenwalde (North-Eastern Germany) and Its Cultural Affiliations
2020
The site of Groß Fredenwalde was discovered in 1962 and has been known as a Mesolithic multiple burial since 14C-dates verified an early Atlantic age in the early 1990s. New research since 2012 reconstructed the situation of the poorly documented rescue excavation in 1962 and identified six individuals from at least two separate burials. The new excavations uncovered more burials and Groß Fredenwalde stands out as the largest Mesolithic cemetery in North Central Europe and the oldest cemetery in Germany. In this paper the known burial evidence from this site is presented and the location of the cemetery, mortuary practices, and grave goods are discussed in a broader European context. Northern and Eastern connections appear especially tangible in Groß Fredenwalde and it is suggested that the community associated with the Groß Fredenwalde Mesolithic cemetery was integrated into wider cultural networks connected to the North and East. Keywords: Mesolithic burials, Mesolithic networks, ...