An Archaeological and Geoscientific Research and Educational Excavation in Lichtenberg, Lower Saxony
M. Weiss
September 2023
As part of the collaborative project CCEHN the Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, in cooperation with the Institut für Ökologie, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, conducted a two-week archaeological and geoscientific research and educational excavation. Students learned practical applications of core drilling, excavation techniques, identification and classification of stone artifacts, as well as sedimentology fundamentals through hands-on experience and mutual exchange within the team.
The Lichtenberg sites are located around a paleolake where Neanderthals had their sites between approximately 120,000 and 70,000 years ago. Lichtenberg represents one of the northernmost Neanderthal sites and documents the presence of our ancestors under changing climatic conditions – from the last interglacial period („Eemian“, approximately 125,000 to 115,000 years ago) to the first glacial maximum of the last Ice Age (approximately 70,000 to 57,000 years ago). Settlements in the region are also confirmed for later periods, such as the Bronze Age (approximately 2200 – 800 BCE) and Iron Age (from around 800 BCE to the Early Middle Ages, depending on the region), as well as the Mesolithic period („Middle Stone Age“, the last European hunter-gatherers, approximately 10,000 to 4000 BCE, depending on the region). Using the example of the paleolake in Lichtenberg, we are working on a detailed environmental reconstruction to explore, in conjunction with archaeological finds, the adaptation strategies and landscape use of Neanderthals in the North.
One goal of this year’s campaign was to establish a high-resolution coring transect of up to 9 meters in depth to investigate the sub-surface lakeside deposits. Simultaneously, test trenches were opened to expose the stratigraphy and document the distribution of finds.
In our transect of 16 drillings, we were able to identify a total of 5 shorelines from various warm phases within the last Ice Age. It is now planned to archaeologically investigate some near-surface lakeside layers in the coming years. In our excavation trenches, we discovered finds from the Iron Age (ceramics) and the Mesolithic period (stone artifacts) in a near-surface mixed horizon. Regarding Neanderthal settlements, we found only few indications in our excavation areas this year. We could, however, document a few stone artifacts. However, the absence of finds also provides insights: in comparison with known find distribution patterns from Lichtenberg, we can now narrow down these patterns and have a much better understanding of how settlement activities were spatially distributed at the Lichtenberg lake around 70,000 years ago.
One goal of this year’s campaign was to establish a high-resolution coring transect of up to 9 meters in depth to investigate the sub-surface lakeside deposits. Simultaneously, test trenches were opened to expose the stratigraphy and document the distribution of finds.
In our transect of 16 drillings, we were able to identify a total of 5 shorelines from various warm phases within the last Ice Age. It is now planned to archaeologically investigate some near-surface lakeside layers in the coming years. In our excavation trenches, we discovered finds from the Iron Age (ceramics) and the Mesolithic period (stone artifacts) in a near-surface mixed horizon. Regarding Neanderthal settlements, we found only few indications in our excavation areas this year. We could, however, document a few stone artifacts. However, the absence of finds also provides insights: in comparison with known find distribution patterns from Lichtenberg, we can now narrow down these patterns and have a much better understanding of how settlement activities were spatially distributed at the Lichtenberg lake around 70,000 years ago.
