Saxony-Anhalt - A 6000-year-old burial house discovered - planned power line becomes an archaeological goldmine
The remains of a roughly 6000-year-old mounded tomb, discovered by archaeologists at Aderstedt in Saxony-Anhalt, belong to the Baalberger Culture, named after the first find in Baalberge near Bernburg. The excavations were carried out prior to the construction of the future AC power line "SuedOstLink".
"The trapezoidal structure originally consisted of wood and was approximately twelve meters wide and twenty meters long," said Susanne Friederich, head of the Archaeology and Monument Preservation Department at the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology. "Over it, a large mound of earth had been piled up, resulting in a significant grave mound. Together with another monument about 100 meters away, which was built in the same way, we can for the first time reconstruct the height of the ancient grave mounds."
The tomb was used for centuries
This burial landscape was in use until around the 3rd millennium BC, during the so-called Linear Pottery Culture period. A burial was found at the base of a mound. "Five concentric graves of the Linear Pottery Culture indicate the position of the 6000-year-old earth mound, into which they were buried 1.500 years later," said the archaeologist. "The farther these graves were from the center of the mound, the deeper they had to be buried in the ground. Otherwise, foxes or other animals would have dug up the dead."
A notable finding is a double burial. "During the Linear Pottery Culture period, the dead were usually laid to rest with their backs facing south. This was also the case for this family burial, in which the two deceased were not lying facing each other," said the local excavation leader Jens Markus. A typical vessel was provided for the deceased.
Construction site in Saxony-Anhalt to be further investigated
The landscape was first intentionally shaped during the Baalberger Culture around 6000 years ago. The mounds could be seen from a distance and remained preserved for a long time. People were repeatedly drawn to such sacred sites over the course of centuries. New burial sites were often added. A comparable burial landscape was discovered recently near Magdeburg. There, a processional way between two baalbergezeitlichen mounds had even been preserved.
The approximately 150-kilometer-long section of the future AC power line "SuedOstLink" through Saxony-Anhalt is planned to still be archaeologically investigated until 2025. The entire route is around 540 kilometers long and stretches from Wolmirstedt near Magdeburg to the site Isar in Bavaria.
The upcoming Electric Road project, specifically the "SuedOstLink" AC power line in Saxony-Anhalt, will see further archaeological investigations near Bernburg, where significant ancient grave mounds, including the one discovered at Aderstedt, have been found.
During the Linear Pottery Culture period, the ancient grave mound at Aderstedt in Saxony-Anhalt, originally built around 6000 years ago during the Baalberger Culture, was likely part of a larger burial landscape that was in use for centuries, with new burial sites occasionally added.
