Nearly 2,000 years of formal landscaping and settlement near the paramilit
Investigations into the eastern parts of the wooden henj in Germany have revealed a notable prehistoric landscape. Franzeska Nool shares the results from an interesting concentration of formal monuments and settlement.
Between grain and potato fields in the middle of Germany, near the city of Shinbec, 18 km southeast of Magdburg, is one of the most important archaeological scenes in Germany. The color of the Permalte was made towards the end of the Sanchatori, the third -year -old BC – to put it at the threshold between late neolithic and early bronze – now there is a visiting magnet, which is a monument to an average of 40,000 people every year. But this is not the only amazing discovery that archaeologists have done in the past 20 years in this extraordinary prehistoric landscape.
It has now become clear that once in the field of the former River Elbi Flood, formal facilities, recreational monuments, burial grounds and settlements have once extended to about 1.2 km. The Bellbaker culture and the emerging early bronze period, during the second half of the third thousand BC, has been activity, which is associated with the Palmalt region in the region. Early precision results, though, extends to the fourth thousand -year -old BC, while the most recently related to the Iron Age, and in particular, by the end of the first thousand BC. Since then, in addition to an extraordinary effort to coal mining in the early 20th century, the recent creation of the runway for gliders belonging to the local flying club – this area has been given to agriculture.
History
Thanks to a systematic aerial survey, the Pammlate Color Circular Garh was first discovered in the early 1990s. Until then, the so -called ‘circular Dutch system’ was already known in Central Germany, with most examples of the early neolithic period. The most famous of these early sites is a wooden circle in Gosak, 90 km south, and another monument that is now rebuilt. After it became clear that the wall was discovered in the parameters after the date of history, a research project was launched.
The complete excavation of the Permalt Ring Haram was funded by the DFG (Deutsche Protests, or the German Research Foundation), and was organized from 2005 to 2008 (before published by Andre Spotzier). In 2014, archaeological attention was received in areas outside the arrive circle of access to visitors for site preparation. This revealed the remains of graves and several buildings belonging to different periods, which indicate prehistoric activity in a vast area. Since these relatively stilt -in -law features were not shown in either air pictures or geo -physical surveys, it was clear that it would be possible to understand the sanctity of the pimple color and its environment only through large -scale excavation. Similarly, from 2018 to 2024, along with further projects provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM), the State Saxoni-Anelit also focused on entering the Permalt Complex immediately. With the light of the Indian, it can also be seen that the opening step towards the search for this wider prehistoric landscape was already taken in 2011, when the excavators first targeted almost the same but small color for Skinback, which is only 1 km northwest of Pammalt.
What is the sanctity of the color?
Permile structures – which include circular and segment pit, an outer remart, and several rings of inner wood and palacedes – fall into the category of ‘henj monuments’. When you discuss such a structure, Stone Hung, inevitably, is inevitable. This appears to be appropriate, as the paramilit Silasbury shows numerous features compared to the famous monument on plain, which includes both the same outer diameter 115 meters to 118 meters a complex management of the outer diameter and the internal circular structure. The similarities do not stop there. Although the oldest monument in Stone Hung was founded in 3000 BC, it was just c.2500 BC that he took the scale and is more familiar to us today. This structure of Stone Hung is not far from the construction date of the reunion, which was built around 2350 BC. Instead of a single stone, though, the rise in Central German shelters was created from the oak trunks, as showed in several charcoal samples analysis. This wood could be obtained from the nearby mountains to the south side or even more effectively from the point of transportation – from the mountains to the west from the mountains to the west. The abundance of wood can be contradicted by the lack of suitable rock, perhaps explaining the dependence on wood.
Why there?
Today, the region’s wealth is born from its location on the northeastern bank of the Magdburg Los Simple: an area of incredibly fertile black clay that can be considered the most fruitful in Central Europe. After that, it is not surprising that the first farmers would be attracted to such a region. These pioneers move towards the west, such as Elby. Although none of these marks have been found in the 15 HA investigated in the pummot, which is a settlement belonging to the period (c.5450-4775 BC) and the linear bond is known about 2 km near the Elbi affiliated with the culture (linear clay pot, LB).
The so -called ‘white gold’ may have also affected the site’s selection. In the nearest bad Salziels, the 18th -century Salt Brian Tower observes the former salts that once exploited underground reservoirs. Salt is also essential, it was also important for the early bronze age culture, which prepared special utensils of special utensils to extract salt from saline water, which was then used to preserve food -like food.
Despite these benefits, the decisive factor can be a major geographical location directly with the Elby: the key to the Middle East – the Western connection. In fact, 5,000 years ago, the river probably flowed compared to these monuments. Checking the site’s digital region’s model shows that the known structures are concentrated with the length of the roof between the two oxibos created by the river. In the third thousand -year -old BC, the flood may have periodically formed this strip of Earth in a natural secure island.
πάντα ῥεῖ (‘everything flows’)
Although the precise role that the Elbe played within the ritual landscape has yet to be clarified, it is tempting to see parallels with the River Avon and Stonehenge. In that case, the river connected Stonehenge to the monuments at Durrington Walls via the Cursus, and it is conceivable that the Elbe acted as an integral part of the sacred landscape too. As well as these fluid links, it is noticeable that Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds also played a role in shaping both landscapes.
Despite centuries of research, the UNESCO World Heritage Site prehistoric landscape in southern England is still capable of springing fresh surprises. While study of the Pömmelte and Schönebeck landscape got off to a much later start, the landscape around these ring sanctuaries can be considered – after 13 campaigns lasting several months – the more extensively excavated.
There is another notable difference between the hinterlands of Pömmelte and Stonehenge: apart from the buildings at Durrington Walls, which were probably used temporarily and most likely served as a ‘workers’ settlement’ for the builders of Stonehenge, no houses have been discovered in association with the southern English monuments. One would expect such structures, though, both to house those maintaining the monuments, and to cater for what would surely have been seasonal influxes of visitors.
Because of this need, a settlement was specifically sought in Pömmelte, ultimately producing traces of some 140 houses – more than the archaeologists had dared to hope for. Before we examine these buildings in more detail, let’s set the scene by taking a quick ride through the millennia…
Further information
Today, the ring sanctuary in Pömmelte, which was rebuilt in 2016 on the original site, can be experienced all year round and free of charge. The tourist information centre, which opened in 2023, replicates the shape of the Únětice longhouses. It is built from (rammed) earth, the oldest building material in the world, which was also used in the Early Bronze Age buildings.
The Pömmelte ring sanctuary is also part of an archaeotourism route called the Himmelswege (Sky Paths, https://www.himmelswege.de/en), which connects the site where the Nebra Sky Disc was found with key monuments of astronomical importance.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CWA 131. Read on in the magazine (Click here to subscribe) or on our website, The Past, which offers all of the magazine’s content digitally. At The Past you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
