60 Crouched Inhumations
The large Neolithic cemetery at Rössen in Saxony-Anhalt comprises about 100 graves. The deceased lay in a kind of sleeping posture with their legs drawn up on their sides in the earth.
A grave from this important cemetery was purchased by the Hamburg Museum für Völkerkunde in 1886 and is now part of the holdings of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg. The deceased is a man who was one of the last to be buried in this cemetery over 6,000 years ago. This is shown by the grave goods he was given: two small clay cups, a rock axe and 14 flint blades. Animal bones also suggest that he was given food for the journey to the afterlife.
Info: Showcase 60
Skeleton
Age: 4600 - 4200 v. Chr. Neolithic period
Neolithic period: In the Neolithic period, people began for the first time to actively shape and change their environment: sedentarisation was one of the essential prerequisites for civilisational progress. Farmers cleared forests for their settlements, fields and for keeping livestock. They built their farms out of wooden posts, wattle and daub and clay. Cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are recorded as domestic animals. The diet of the people was now enriched by cereals such as wheat and barley, which were cultivated on farmland.
Material: Human Bone
Location: Rössen
Cup
Age: 4600 - 4200 v. Chr. Neolithic period
Neolithic period: In the Neolithic period, people began for the first time to actively shape and change their environment: sedentarisation was one of the essential prerequisites for civilisational progress. Farmers cleared forests for their settlements, fields and for keeping livestock. They built their farms out of wooden posts, wattle and daub and clay. Cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are recorded as domestic animals. The diet of the people was now enriched by cereals such as wheat and barley, which were cultivated on farmland.
Material: Ceramics
Location: Rössen
Hatchet
Age: 4600 - 4200 v. Chr. Neolithic period
Neolithic period: In the Neolithic period, people began for the first time to actively shape and change their environment: sedentarisation was one of the essential prerequisites for civilisational progress. Farmers cleared forests for their settlements, fields and for keeping livestock. They built their farms out of wooden posts, wattle and daub and clay. Cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are recorded as domestic animals. The diet of the people was now enriched by cereals such as wheat and barley, which were cultivated on farmland.
Material: Stone
Location: Rössen
Blades
Age: 4600 - 4200 v. Chr. Neolithic period
Neolithic period: In the Neolithic period, people began for the first time to actively shape and change their environment: sedentarisation was one of the essential prerequisites for civilisational progress. Farmers cleared forests for their settlements, fields and for keeping livestock. They built their farms out of wooden posts, wattle and daub and clay. Cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are recorded as domestic animals. The diet of the people was now enriched by cereals such as wheat and barley, which were cultivated on farmland.
Material: Flint
Location: Rössen
Bone Remnants
Age: 4600 - 4200 v. Chr. Neolithic period
Neolithic period: In the Neolithic period, people began for the first time to actively shape and change their environment: sedentarisation was one of the essential prerequisites for civilisational progress. Farmers cleared forests for their settlements, fields and for keeping livestock. They built their farms out of wooden posts, wattle and daub and clay. Cattle, pigs, goats and sheep are recorded as domestic animals. The diet of the people was now enriched by cereals such as wheat and barley, which were cultivated on farmland.
Material: Animal Bones
Location: Rössen