During the construction work for "Kirchheim 2030", archaeologists came across around 50 graves from the Bronze Age. It is probably one of the largest cemeteries of this era in southern Bavaria.
Kirchheim - The future and past are currently close together in Kirchheim. The community is currently building on its future under the motto "Kirchheim 2030". The building's own history has now also emerged during the construction work. Archaeologists came across a burial site from the early Bronze Age. Between 40 and 50 people were buried here. As the community archaeologist Jennifer Bagley explains in a press release, it is one of the largest burial grounds of this period in southern Bavaria.
The early Bronze Age in this region spanned the period from around 2200 to 1600 BC. Only a few centuries earlier, at the end of the Neolithic period, the parish of Kirchheim had been settled for the first time, according to Bagley. "However, we only know a few grave finds from this first settlement phase." For example, those from the area of the old high school and the sports park in Heimstetten. Now the cemetery was added northwest of the youth center. "An impressive find that takes us a big step further in the knowledge about the settlement history of our community", Mayor Maximilian Böltl is quoted in the press release.
The final resting place: From the air, the grave pits are clearly recognizable as dark discoloration in the light gravel.
© Stefan Kluthe
The current excavations revealed about 350 findings on four hectares. In the area of the eastern half, 42 early Bronze Age burials were found and recovered in almost 50 tombs. "The remaining findings are scanty remains of recent settlements," explains archaeologist Jennifer Bagley. The vast majority of the graves are unfortunately disturbed, which means that they are no longer in their original condition.
In some cases, when the grave pits were laid flat, modern plowing had probably contributed to the destruction, but the majority of the burials had probably been opened again as early as the Bronze Age, and obviously a targeted approach had been taken. Were early grave robbers at work here? That, says Hans-Peter Volpert, the head of the excavations, “we don't know. We know the customs and rituals of the people of the time far too little for that. ”Perhaps it was also a customary, sanctioned procedure to make individual, special grave goods accessible to society again. Other objects remained in the grave.
There were earrings and robe needles in the graves
In addition to a larger number of copper or bronze awls, earrings and smaller robe pins were also found. So-called bronze tutules, which could be salvaged from several graves, were probably used to decorate items of clothing. In addition, several differently worked, partly decorated disc beads made of bone were found in several graves.
With its size, the burial site from around 1800 BC is one of the largest in southern Bavaria, according to Bagley. As a rule, small groups with less than ten burials were created. "Although we currently do not know for sure where the people buried here lived, in the penultimate year beyond the freeway on Aschheim's municipal area, simultaneous houses were examined," explains Bagley. Due to the high number of new graves in Kirchheim and the excavation according to current standards, archeology now has the opportunity to gain numerous new insights into the early Bronze Age in southern Bavaria. To do this, however, the skeletons and additions must be examined further.
The construction work on Kirchheim's future is not influenced by the find from the past. A delay is not to be expected, Bagley explains on request that a time window for possible excavations was planned in the planning after the construction area was located in an "archaeological suspect area".
fp / mm