Archaeologists have uncovered several prehistoric burials at a site where American technology multinational Intel is planning to build two semiconductor factories.
The site, located in the Eulenberg industrial area near the central German city of Magdeburg, is home to a “complex” burial landscape from the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt (LDA) said in a press release.
LDA archaeologists have been investigating the area since 2023 ahead of the construction of the Intel plants.
Among the finds, researchers with the LDA have identified two monumental burial mounds that are thought to date to about 6,000 years ago. The mounds, roughly 650 feet away from each other, were constructed above wooden grave chambers, each containing several burials.
Oliver Dietrich/State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt
These burial mounds have been associated with the Baalberg culture (around 4100–3600 B.C.) of the Middle Neolithic.
“There were wooden mortuary houses for the deceased on the grounds. They were piled up with earth to form hills that were visible from a distance,” Xandra Dalidowski, the excavation manager on site, told German media outlet MDR.
The archaeologists also unearthed another intriguing burial in the area between the two mounds, including one about 1,000 years later.
In this space, the researchers identified the remains of a pair of young cattle, about 2-3 years old, that they said had been sacrificed and buried alongside each other. In front of the cattle, the team found the grave of a 35- to 40-year-old man.
The way that the human and animal remains are arranged creates the image of a driver in a cart or with a plow being pulled by the cattle, according to the archaeologists.
“Our ancestors recreated a scene from their lives here, a team of cattle with the coachman behind them,” archaeologist Susanne Friederich told MDR. “They gave the most precious thing to the gods: cattle, the guarantor of life.”
This burial is associated with the Globular Amphora culture (around 3300-2800 B.C.), the archaeologists said. These kinds of burials are known from other locations in prehistoric Europe.
The researchers found additional burial mounds—associated with the Corded Ware culture (around 2800-2050 B.C.)—that date about 1,000 years later than the cattle burial.
The finds from different periods in the Neolithic suggests an “astonishing” consistency of ritual use of the site, according to the archaeologists. The evidence indicates that the area remained important for prehistoric people for a long period of time.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about archaeology? Let us know via [email protected].
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.