ARME 603 SUMMER FIELD REPORT

8630603 EXCAVATION FIELD PRACTICE IN BREITENBACH, Landburgkeis

Aylin Tunçer 1223965

Middle East Technical University
Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences
Department of Archaeometry
8630603 EXCAVATION FIELD PRACTICE IN BREITENBACH, Landburgkeis

Contents:

1. The Project
2. Preliminary Studies
3. Geography of the Area
4. Excavation
5. Flint Technology &
Aurignacians
6. Excursions
7. Results
8. References

1. The Project
The Excavation at Breitenbach (“Ehemaliges Landschulheim” Am Heckenborn 58 06712
Breitenbach Germany) is an Aurignacian Site of Early Upper Palaeolithic Period (Late-30,000
B.P.). It is an Aurignacian open air site discovered in 1920s. It is located on an oxbow, on the creek
Breitenbach, part of Weiße Elster River. The finds include tools as cores, endscrapers, burins and
bone points; and bone fragments of woolly mammoth, arctic fox, birds, rabbits, mice and reindeer.
The 2009 season is the first excavation season covering a period between Mo. 29th June 2009 – Fr.
16th Oct. 2009.

This is a collaboratory field study mainly directed by Römish-Germanisches Zentralmuseum

(Romano-Germanic Central Museum), Mainz; Forschunginstitut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte
(Research Instituteof Prehistory and Protohistory). The excavation collaborators are Leiden
University, Faculty of Archaeology and Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-
Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt Natural Sciences for Monuments and Archaeology), Landesmuseum für
Vorgeschichte (Museum for Prehistory).

Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz

 Leiden University has been running large-scale excavations at Neumark-Nord 2 and
Breitenbach, where a large-scale excavation of a very rich Aurignacian open air site, in
collaboration with German research and heritage institutions. Neumark-Nord is a unique Middle
Palaeolithic site with excellent preservation of bone and stone material in fine-grained lacustrine-
like deposits. Students are allowed to work on some of the lithic material from the site and its
context. The depositional environment, chronology, environment, spatial patterning of archaeology,
and lithic and faunal material from the site. This site has the potential to contribute to the three
strands of research on Neandertals, and early Homo sapiens and will provide an example of how
archaeological data can be used to address research questions.

2. Preliminary Studies

The site has been discovered in March 1925, by the recovery of a baked mammoth ivory and
these finds were followed by a hammer made from the antler of a deer and silex lithic tools of
Aurignacian Industry, which were published the same year by M. Wilcke. H. von Wichdorf
engaged himself with boring holes between 1926 and 1927, where he retrieved mounds of finds and
concluded that this Aurignacian settlement had a small village-like character. In 1927 N.
Nicklasson from the Museum of Halle started the first proper dig. He opened a 400m² trench and
reported that the site is very rich with artefacts.
The name became pronounced one more time when a collectioner appeared with an amount of
lithic materials in 1958. They turned out to come from a robbery dig from the Eastern slopes of the
hills from the site.
After a very long time 2009 has been the season of reopening the excavations for this very early
Homo sapiens site. The activities include excavation, water filtering, sorting and documentation of
findings and data processing (EDP). With an area of over 10,000 m2 Breitenbach is the largest
archaeological site of the Upper Paleolithic ca 30,000 years old.
The international orientation of the project provides an interesting insight into the work of major
research institutes. The project is an international collaboration of RGZM, the Archaeological
Department of the University of Leiden, Netherlands, and the State Museum of Prehistory of the
State Office for Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt.

Römisch-Ger manisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz

3. Geography of the Area

Breitenbach, Germany Burgenlandkreis in Sachsen-Anhalt Region

Breitenbach is a village on the south of Leipzig in a region called Burgenlandkreis. The region
Burgenlandkreis is located on the southern border of Saxony-Anhalt, on the west and south it
borders Thuringia and on the east Saxony. To the north it borders on the Saalekreis, on the
northeast the Saxon Landkreis Leipzig, Thuringian district Altenburger Land lies to the east, and
Thuringian county-level city Gera, counties Greiz, Saale-Holzland and Weimarer Land lie to the
south and Thuringian counties Sömmerda and Kyffhäuserkreis lie to the west.
The landscape is hilly and is supported by Saale, Unstrut and White Elster Rivers. The Unstrut
exceeds to the northwest of the district in Wendelstein, the border between Thuringia and Saxony-
Anhalt and ends at Naumburg in Blütengrund in Saale. Saale crosses Großheringen/ Klein-
herringen in the southwest border of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and exits to the northeast at
Wengelsdorf the county in the district Saale. From southwest to northeast White Elster flows from
Crossen in Thuringia over Zeitz, which leaves the county to the northeast of Profen towards Pegau,
Saxony.
The White Elster, about ten miles to its source, crosses between Doubrava u Aše and Bad Elster at
the border of Saxon Vogtland. Talsperre Pirk Dam had been built on Oelsnitz (Vogtland) by the
Elster. It then flows through the cities Greiz and Gera, before Gera it passes close to the Mt.

Römisch-Ger manisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz

Mittelgebirge and then through the Saxony-Anhalt city Zeitz and flows to Leipzig. As a result of
lignite mining in GDR times, the river bed was moved to the south of Leipzig, where it is partly
concreted and asphalted.
In Leipzig, the river divides into two major arms, the north retains the name White Elster and
flows below Beesen (today district of Halle (Saale)) into Saale. The southern branch is formed of
partly channeled arms and dikes, called Luppe and flows through the east of Schkopau into Saale.
The Elster glaciation is named after the Elster, which is the oldest Ice Age in which there has been a
large-scale glaciation in Northern Germany.
The Palaeolithic archaeology also goes hand in hand with geology. Therefore to understand the
deeper stratification, one has to cross-check the contexts with the Quaternary layers. H. von
Wichdorf and N. Niklasson provided profile drawings which had been later compiled by Richter.
The earliest geological study was carried out on the profiles and cores by K. Nuglisch and V.
Toepfer in 1962. Next to the reddish brown loess on the upper layers, there is alluvium from the
flood sealing the archaeological stratigraphy undisturbed.

5. Excavation

113.623

27.07.2009 Initial excavation. Removal of grayish loess. Lithological 1. (BC)

28.07.2009 Continuation of the removal of grayish loess. Lithological 2. Solifluction of
material. Activity with a burned patch. (BC)
29.07.2009 Removal of lithological 2. Below several flake and traces of ochre. (BC)
05.08.2009 Excavation on the quadrat C. (Natasha)
06.08.2009 From the middle to the left and right corners there are burnt remains of bone and
charcoal. Excavation on the quadrat B. Ochre pieces and sediment with lines of iron oxide.
(Natasha)
10.08.2009 Excavation of A and B. B with a slope to the NE and has red-orange loess sediment.
The rest of the soil is gray-brown loess. Ready for photography. (Natasha)
17.08.2009 Excavation of A and D and B. Levelling with quadrad C. The red-orange loess
sediment is Eemian soil. Gray-brown soil remains only in lenses and replaced by red-orange.
(Natasha)
18.08.2009 Excavation on quadrat B. Mostly red-brown sediment with some (<1cm) pieces of
burnt bone. (Natasha)
20.08.2009 Lense of find-rich material including pieces of burnt bone on the NE corner. Ready
for photography. (Natasha)
27.08.2009 Surface cleaning. Concentrations of calcite on the SW corner. 1Bucket sediment
collected. (AT)
31.08.2009 Surface cleaning yielded 4 buckets of sediment and NE of B and C are calcite
concentrations and the soil is limey with hard texture and light colour. A large ivory on SW of A.
After also levelling D with 113.622. (AT)
01.09.2009 Two lithics found in D close to the calcite cluster. (AT)
02.09.2009 D yielded large accumulation of burnt material and lithics. And few tiny bits of
flakes. (AT)
09.09.2009 C and D are pulled down level with 113.622 a nice piece of metapod from arctic fox
retrieved. (AT)
10.09.2009 A and B are dug and A revealed one lithic an B revealed lithic artefact possibly part
of a blade and two flakes to the east. (AT) No lithics and no finds in C and D.

113.624

09.07.2009 Two days of work to reach red loess sediment of the Eemian glaciation. Unregular
levelling stratification, more than 20 cm. Red layer is only in thin lenses. (Noemi)
10.07.2009 Few pieces of charcoal (1-2cm) and no artefacts. The red and brown layer surface in
B and is still higher than the other quadrats.
13.07.2009 One lithic flake and two burnt bones found. NE corner yielded a concentration of
burnt bone and charcoal in very small pieces. Still levelling B.
14.07.2009 More burnt finds and 5 flint flakes and small ivory from B. There is still charcoal all
over. A concentration in the NE with finds.
15.07.2009 There is nothing in Quadrant C. There are 2 big sandstones in the NE corner and a
quartz in the E. Few pieces of charcoal is scattered.

6. Flint Technology & Aurignacians

7. Excursions
8. Results
9. References

Auffermann, et al. 2002. B. Auffermann, J. Orschiedt. Die Neandertaler. Eine Spurensuche.

Stuttgart.
Groiss. 1987. J. T. Groiss. “Fossilfunde aus dem Aurignacien von Breitenbach, Kreis Zeitz” Bez.
Halle. Quartär 37/38: 97-100.
Hahn. 1972. J. Hahn. “Das Aurignacien in Mittel- und Osteuropa”. Acta Praehistorica et
Archaeologica 3: 77-107.
Hahn. 1977. J. Hahn. Das ältere Jungpaläolithikum in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Köln.
Hahn. 1989. J. Hahn. Genese und Funktion einer jungpaläolithischen Freilandstation:
Lommersum im Rheinland. Köln.
Wichdorff. 1932. H. H. von Wichdorff. “Ein bedutsames geologisch-vorgeschichtliches Profil im
Bereich der paläolithischen Freilandstation an der Schneidemühle bei Zeitz (Prov. Sachsen)”.
Mannus 24: 460-463.
Niklasson. 1927. N. Niklasson. “Die Grabung auf der jungpaläolithischen Station an der
Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach, Kr. Zeitz”. Nachrichtenblatt für deutsche Vorzeit 3: 58.
Pohl. 1958. G. Pohl. “Diejungpaläolithische Siedlung Breitenbach, Kr. Zeitz, und ihre bisherige
Beurteilung”. Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte 41/42: 178-190.
Richter. 1987. J. Richter. “Jungpaläolithische Funde aus Breitenbach/Kr. Zeitz im Germanischen
Zentralmuseum Nürnberg”. Quartär 37/38: 63-96.
Schulte im Walde. 1987. T. Schulte im Walde. “Gebrauchsspurenanalysen an der Kielkratzern aus
dem Aurignacien-Inventar Breitenbach”. B. Quartär 37/38: 101-107.
Toepfer. 1968. V. Toepfer. “Die Weichsel-Eiszeit und ihre paläolithischen Fundplätze im Gebiet
der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik”. Ausgrabungen und Funde 13/1: 9-17.
Toepfer, et al. 1962. V. Toepfer. J. Nuglisch. “Paläolithikum und eiszeitliche Tierwelt im
Flussgebiet der Elster und Saale südwestlich Leipzig” in Das Pleistozän im sächsisch-thüringischen
Raum. Exkursionsführer anlässlich der Herbsttagung der Geologischen Gesellschaft der DDR.
Berlin: 155-168.
Wilcke. 1925a. M. Wilcke. “Die Paläolithische Fundstätte an der Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach,
Kreis Zeitz”. Nachrichtenblatt der Gesellschaft für deutsche Vorgeschichte 1/1: 16-19.
Wilcke. 1925b. M. Wilcke. “Die Paläolithische Fundstätte an der Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach,
Kreis Zeitz”. Die Mark Zeitz. Zeitschrift des Geschicht- und Altertums-Vereins für Zeitz und
Umgebung 68: 257-259.
Wilcke. 1925c. M. Wilcke. “Die paläolithische Fundstätte an der Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach
(Kreiz Zeitz). Heimatklänge. Blätter und Blüten aus dem Saale- und Orlagau” (Beilage zur
“Pößnecker Zeitung” und zum “Ziegenrücker Kreisanzeiger” 2. August): 270-272.