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Mysterious discovery: 3,000-year-old burial ground found in Wellaune!
Discovery of a 3,000-year-old burial ground in Wellaune, northern Saxony, provides insights into Bronze Age crafts and burial customs.
Mysterious discovery: 3,000-year-old burial ground found in Wellaune!
In Wellaune, northern Saxony, a team of five to ten archaeologists has discovered a remarkable burial ground. This area, which is around 3,000 years old, includes 37 urn graves and a nearby settlement that covers a total of 5,000 square meters. The excavations, which began in May, are part of preparatory work for a planned bypass. The work is scheduled to be completed in spring 2026. How stern.de reports, the finds offer a fascinating insight into the lives of people thousands of years ago.
The urn graves are partly surrounded by stones or stone beds and contain additional vessels such as cups and bowls for drinks and food. While some vessels have broken, others have survived the centuries intact. These finds indicate not only burial customs, but also everyday life and craft traditions of the time. Particularly revealing are the remains of smelting furnaces, which indicate a later phase of use and still need to be examined in more detail.
A look back into history
Interesting archaeological finds were also recently made in the neighboring town of Nauendorf. Here researchers came across an approximately 3,000-year-old barrow that was looted by grave robbers. As the Central German newspaper According to reports, the looters specifically searched for elaborate decorative elements and opened the grave in three places. The perpetrators were probably members of the community at the time and knew the deceased people.
The robbed grave was in a burial mound on the periphery of a green area measuring approximately 13 meters in diameter. Interestingly, it is believed that the looters were only interested in the metal items. The burial belonged to the so-called “Saale estuary group”, which was known for its very special burial method - the dead were buried without an indentation in the ground, lying on a stone pack and covered with other stones.
Outlook for future research
The archaeological investigations in connection with the planned construction of a power line through Saxony-Anhalt are of great importance. The entire route stretches over around 540 kilometers and runs from Wolmirstedt near Magdeburg to the Isar location in Bavaria. A comprehensive archaeological investigation will be carried out on parts of this route by 2025, which will also include the finds in Nauendorf. With every new find, the knowledge about our ancestors and their way of life becomes a little richer.