Station: [227] Block Excavation

In Liebersee, in the district of North Saxony, a Lausatian Culture grave dating from between 900 and 700 BC was recovered as a block.  Nowadays, block excavations are common; the finds are then “excavated” in the Department of Archaeology. This allows large and complex finds to be scientifically investigated under optimum climatic conditions without worrying about deadlines. Here you can see the arrangement and condition of the vessels in a Bronze Age grave in situ, so to speak.

The little urns are easy to spot, and beside these there are jugs and other containers stacked in one another.  Some vessels are on the same level as the urn. This means they were placed in the grave at the same time.  Others, such as the two items with bird-shaped rattles, lie above.  Presumably, the grave was opened up at a later date, when these vessels were placed inside it.  Maybe a second large urn was removed, and a large stone set in its place.