Ancient Warrior Burials from the Copper Age Bell Beaker Culture Found
Archaeologists in Germany have unearthed a series of burials near the village of Förderstedt, in Saxony-Anhalt. The graves are some 4,500 years old and contain warriors from the Copper Age.
The brief period in our history marks the first use of metals as we moved out of the Stone Age. Over time our use of copper would be mixed with other metals to produce stronger and better tools, made of bronze.
In truth, we had long suspected the burials to be there, hidden under a distinctive mound. But with a new powerline scheduled to be built through the area it was considered an opportune moment to have a look.
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The burials are of people from the Bell Beaker culture, who had started to spread across Europe around 2500 BC, reports IDW. They are known for their distinctive ceramic vessels with characteristic shapes, and formed a loose knit collection of tribes across the continent for centuries.
Bell Beaker graves are distinctive: the men are laid on their left with their heads to the north, women on their right with their heads to the south. And although there are often very few grave goods found, the earliest gold discovered in this region come from Bell Beaker burials.
There is not a great deal in these graves, sadly, but what has been found can tell us a lot about these people. For a start, the presence of arrowheads in one grave and an archer’s stone wristguard in another reveals that at least two of these individuals were warriors.
Everything else, apart from a bell beaker in the third grave, has been lost to decomposition and the passage of time. Expect for one odd feature near the arrowheads: a strange patch of discoloration on the soil base of the burial.
This discolored patch, in close proximity to the arrowheads, in believed to be the remains of a quiver. And to find such evidence of organic artifacts in these graves is extremely rare.
Header Image: One of the graves, including an archer’s wristguard still attached to the forearm, as well as the remains of a bell beaker after which we named this culture. Source: IDW.
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