Friday, October 27, 2023

German archaeologists uncover more parts of medieval castle complex

2023/10/27
An excavation participant uncovers a tomb from the Carolingian period on the grounds of the Royal Palatinate of Helfta. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of outer castle fortifications, pit houses and a later castle in Germany at the site of a former medieval imperial palace in the eastern town of Helfta, near Eisleben. Jan Woitas/dpa

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of outer castle fortifications, pit houses and a later castle in Germany at the site of a former medieval imperial palace in the eastern town of Helfta, near Eisleben.

"In the two outer castles of the fortified imperial palace, there was evidence of dense settlement with numerous pit houses," project leader Felix Biermann with the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology told dpa at the conclusion of this year's excavations.

"This is an important insight into the infrastructure of the imperial palace and the areas where ordinary people lived, worked and created the economic foundations for the Carolingian-Ottonian centre of power," Biermann said.

In addition, archaeologists also uncovered two graves of a hitherto unknown Carolingian-period cemetery.

"The buried bodies of a man and a woman, presumably a married couple, lived in the 9th Century," Biermann said. With the man lay several iron grave goods, including a knife, a belt set and the fitting of what is known as a staff of office.

"So the man might have been a socially higher-ranking person," said the archaeologist.

An excavation participant uncovers a tomb from the Carolingian period on the grounds of the Royal Palatinate of Helfta. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of outer castle fortifications, pit houses and a later castle in Germany at the site of a former medieval imperial palace in the eastern town of Helfta, near Eisleben. Jan Woitas/dpa

© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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