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In recent times, German archeologists made known a clandestine tunnel from the Middle Ages — a tunnel secreted within a far more ancient gravesite.
The conclusions were publicized on Jan. 29 via a press statement from the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt (LDA Saxony-Anhalt).
Near Reinstedt, Germany, the tunnel was unearthed in the Middle Neolithic burial ground. Authorities project the burial ground was in use by individuals of the Baalberge civilization in the 4th millennium B.C.
Officials stated that excavators located it late the prior year, preceding the construction of wind turbines.
Roughly 5,000 years subsequently, an erdstall — or subterranean tunnel network — was erected inside the loess, or dense wind-borne silt, present at the locale.
German archeologists discovered a medieval subterranean tunnel, noticeable on the left, built into a significantly older Neolithic burial site near Reinstedt. (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Ulf Petzschmann; iStock)
The erdstall can be traced back to the late Middle Ages — and its intent is not yet clear, according to authorities.
“Interpretations of erdstalls vary from sanctuaries to spaces utilized for ritualistic pursuits,” the declaration specified.
At first, archeologists surmised that the element was a tomb.
The trench, depicted as “trapezoidal,” formed a component of a zone that housed numerous “poorly conserved” interments originating in the Late Neolithic era of the 3rd millennium B.C.
Upon spotting a stone plate at the pit’s northern boundary, archeologists initially reasoned that the element constituted a tomb — before discerning that it was, in reality, an underground passageway.
Officials conveyed that the element went on downwards into the loess beneath the prehistoric grounds.
Prior to archeologists recognizing a subterranean tunnel, a stone slab at the erdstall’s opening was first considered to denote a tomb. (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Ulf Petzschmann)
Excavators came across late medieval ceramics, several stones and minor hollows within the loess fill — which made apparent that the edifice was an erdstall.
As officials indicated, the subterranean passage held a horseshoe and a few residues of charcoal from a fire that “flared up briefly” — accompanied by animal remnants.
Authorities conjectured that the Neolithic ditch enclosure might have stayed visible above ground during medieval times. (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Simon Meier)
Evidently, it had been purposefully blocked up, enhancing the site’s enigma.
Officials stated, “An accretion of larger stones heaped upon each other was noted at the entrance’s most constricted point, which may point to the entrance having been sealed deliberately.”
Authorities pondered that the Neolithic ditch enclosure most likely remained noticeable above ground during the late Middle Ages. It’s conceivable that the tunnel was erected there since medieval Christians would have deliberately shunned a pagan graveyard.
According to authorities, late medieval ceramics, stones and minor cavities aided in affirming the edifice as an erdstall. (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Ulf Petzschmann)
This discovery joins a sequence of current archeological finds recorded throughout Germany.
Last summer, excavators detected a cryptic Roman-era settlement site in North Rhine-Westphalia, with the vestiges of buildings and artifacts enduring for nearly 2,000 years.
During a separate summer excavation, archeologists exhumed a cache of early medieval treasures — as well as an uncommon cross — alongside the banks of an inlet in northern Germany.