Germany’s ongoing SuedOstLink high-voltage electric powerline project is one of the nation’s largest ongoing infrastructure endeavors. But construction along the 105-mile-long transmission route is also yielding some of the country’s most striking and surprising archaeological finds in years. In July, workers uncovered multiple graves near the town of Krauschwitz dating back 4,500 years to the Neolithic Corded Ware Culture. According to the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, the construction has revealed yet another notable funerary site, this time about 115 miles east. About 500 years older than the previous discovery, the 12 pits were constructed by the Salzmünde Culture—a people whose ceremonial burials appear to reflect a violent and difficult world.
The Salzmünde Culture was a regional offshoot of the broader Funnelbeaker Culture that lived along the lower and middle Saale River between roughly 3400–3050 BCE. Archaeologists first discovered evidence of the group in 1921, and have since documented multiple sites linked to the group. Among these are graves displaying elaborate and unusual traditions, including burials beneath mounds of broken pottery, charred house materials, and even partial skeleton reburials—most often the skulls.
The latest finds mirror these ceremonies in many ways. Each pit measured 6.5 to 9.8 feet wide and 6.5 to 8.2 feet deep, and contained mixtures of burnt offerings including housing rubble. One chamber notably featured a pair of well preserved ceramic vessels likely intended as sacrificial offerings. In another chamber, archaeologists found charred dog bones still interred in anatomical order beside a human skull that displayed no signs of weathering.
“This suggests that the pits remained open during extended ceremonies, or that the dog bones were kept in another place for a prolonged period of time,” researchers explained in a statement.
Experts believe these details reflect the complexities of funerals for the Salzmünde Culture. One burial also seems to be in a converted oven pit, and included the remains of two individuals. Experts explained it appears they had, “apparently been laid out elsewhere for some time” prior to the community moving them to their final internment location. This further suggests Salzmünde Culture mourning rituals required multiple phases before they were completed.
But why were these observances so lengthy, detailed, and complicated? While direct evidence, archaeologists think the process reflected the harsh era in which the Salzmünde Culture lived. Both physical artifacts and climatological data indicate that Central Europe during the late 4th millennium BCE saw cooler and more erratic weather patterns. This would have dramatically affected agricultural communities such as the Salzmünde. Meanwhile, another Neolithic group known as the Bernburg Culture began expanding into the region from the north around the same time, possibly adding even more stress on both the community and local resources.
“The rituals, by which people were apparently seeking the support of their ancestors, can be understood in the context of this period of crisis,” the team explained.
More specifically, the inclusion of dogs possibly symbolized the Neolithic culture’s belief in the animals as spiritual guides, protectors, or even intermediaries between this world and the afterlife. Otherwise, there simply isn’t much direct evidence to explain the burned home rubble, or if the ceremonies were communal, family-oriented, or only reserved for prominent figures in society.
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