The company - A superlative excavation on the Northvolt site
This is an excavation of superlatives: On the site of the planned Northvolt battery factory, several teams of the Archaeological Office have opened and worked on a total of 9.1 hectares. The extremely high density and quality of finds, as well as the exceptionally good preservation conditions on a site of this size, are unique in Schleswig-Holstein, as the office announced.
Therefore, finds from the Neolithic (New Stone Age) to the Migration Period (approximately 4600 years) have been discovered here - humans have left traces here for over 4600 years. A few individual finds even reach back to the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.
"This is an excavation of superlatives," said the deputy head of the Archaeological Office, Ingo Lütjens, during a visit to the excavation on a Thursday. No archaeological excavation in Schleswig-Holstein has discovered such a dense concentration of archaeological finds from different periods before.
Approximately 17,000 archaeological finds were unearthed and documented: Among them are the plans of 250 longhouses, 65 pit houses, 165 storage or ancillary buildings, and 16 graves, including 13 coffin graves of the late Roman imperial and early Migration Period. For example, 200 ovens, 40 wells and water taps, as well as 4000 pits were discovered by the archaeologists.
The excavation has significance beyond Germany, says excavation leader Eric Müller. He is thrilled about the sheer number of building finds. This number was not calculated. It was estimated to be around 5000 to 6000.
The knowledge gain is enormous and the finds of outstanding significance, said Müller. For example, from the Migration Period (around 375 to 700 AD) in Dithmarschen, only one pit house was previously known. Now, 65 more have been discovered suddenly. Coffin graves were also rare here before.
- The excavation at the proposed Northvolt battery factory location in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, has revealed a concentration of archaeological finds that is unprecedented in energy sector excavations.
- The archaeological team from Germany unearthed over 17,000 finds during the excavation, which includes detailed plans of longhouses, pit houses, storage buildings, and graves from various periods, including the Migration Period.
- The Director of the Archaeological Office in Schleswig-Holstein, Northvolt's excavation site, Eric Müller, stated that the excavation has significant implications beyond Germany, as it uncovered significant findings that were previously unknown to archaeology in the region.
- The company Northvolt is not only aiming to revolutionize the energy sector with its battery factory construction but also unintentionally contributed to the field of archaeology by unearthing valuable data and artifacts from Schleswig-Holstein's history.
