Metzendorf-Woxdorf head burial

The Metzendorf-Woxdorf head of burial is the Neolithic burial of a single human skull that was found in 1958 in the Seevetal district of Woxdorf, in Harburg, in Lower Saxony. The find is currently the only one of its kind of the Single Grave Culture in Germany and is in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
Even before the discovery of the head burial numerous archaeological finds were made in the vicinity due to intensive agricultural land use. The find spot, was located at 53.408732°N 9.958667°E / 53.408732; 9.958667 on a flat hilltop between two fields which has not been used for agriculture. The Metzendorf-Woxdorf head burial has been discovered during levelling work, while taking off soil of the hill with a bulldozer for a pipeline for the local the Metzendorf water supply association. The workers noticed broken ceramic sherds in the plained soil. They stopped their work on this site and reported their discovery to the Helms-Museum. During the following archaeological excavation, a large, upside stored giant beaker was uncovered in a depth of 30 centimetres , the vessel floor and wall was broken by the levelling work. The giant beaker was put over a foot shell which contains the remnains of a single human skull.

More information

Comments Statistics

| | Public | German