2 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

3000 years old wooden wishing well discovered in Germany

In the town of Germering, in the Germany state of Bavaria, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a well-preserved Bronze Age wooden well filled with ritual deposits.

People may have sunk jewelry and ceramics as offerings in the special water spring, similar to how coins are still thrown into so-called wishing wells today, according to the archaeologists.

The area of ​​today’s town of Germering in Upper Bavaria was a settlement area early on. Numerous finds from prehistory and early history bear witness to this. Many new ones have been added since the beginning of 2021: In the run-up to construction work, numerous traces of settlements from the Bronze Age to the early Middle Ages were discovered on an excavation area of ​​around seven hectares.

This also includes the remains of wells that were used by people of different eras to supply water. But one of the wells discovered on the site differed significantly from the others, reports the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (BlfD).

Photo: Marcus Guckenbiehl

This wooden water point is dated to be more than 3000 years old and, at around five meters (16.4 feet), reached particularly deep into the ground compared to others.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



“It is extremely rare for a well to survive more than 3,000 years so well. Its wooden walls have been completely preserved at the bottom and are still partly damp from the groundwater. This also explains the good condition of the finds made from organic materials, which are now being examined more closely. We hope this will provide us with more information about the everyday life of the settlers of the time,” adds Dr. Jochen Haberstroh, a responsible archaeologist at the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments.

Medieval pottery from well fill. Photo: Marcus Guckenbiehl
Medieval pottery from well fill. Photo: Marcus Guckenbiehl

The team of archaeologists discovered in what was once the base of the fountain: 26 bronze clothing pins, a bracelet, two metal spirals, a mounted animal tooth, amber beads and more than 70 ceramic vessels. The archaeologists emphasize that this filling makes this well fundamentally different from the others on the excavation site.

These expensive items, which were typically discovered in Middle Bronze Age graves, were not items for everyday use (1800-1200 B.C.). The state they were in when discovered at the bottom of the well suggests they were carefully lowered into the water rather than dropped or thrown.

“Even today, fountains have something magical about them for many people. They drop coins in the hope that their wishes will be granted. We cannot exactly explain what motives our ancestors 3000 years ago made to offer jewelry and other valuable gifts. But it can be assumed that they were intended as sacrifices for a good harvest,” explains Mathias Pfeil from the BlfD.

Among other things, the archaeologists discovered numerous bronze clothing pins at the bottom of the well. © Marcus Guckenbiehl
Among other things, the archaeologists discovered numerous bronze clothing pins at the bottom of the well. © Marcus Guckenbiehl

There may also be a clue in the unusual features of the well: “The depth of this well shows that it was used at a time when the groundwater level had dropped considerably, which indicates a long drought and certainly poor harvest yields. One can possibly see a reason why the people who lived here at that time sacrificed part of their possessions to their gods in this well,” says Marcus Guckenbiehl, city archaeologist and archivist of Germering.

Archaeologists have been working in advance of construction work for a letter distribution center on the site where the well has now been discovered since the beginning of 2021. The excavations are among the largest area excavations in Bavaria this year. In the meantime, scientists have documented approximately 13,500 archaeological finds, primarily from the Bronze Age and early Middle Ages. Some of the discoveries are currently being examined and conserved at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation.

Related Articles

1,500-year-old baptistery found in Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in western Turkey

3 December 2021

3 December 2021

A baptistery, estimated to have been built in the 5th century AD, was unearthed in the Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in...

Unexpected Origins of Mysterious Mummies Buried in Boats in a Chinese Desert

17 February 2024

17 February 2024

In 1990, hundreds of mummified bodies were found buried in boats in an inhospitable desert area in the Xinjiang Uyghur...

Inscription dedicated to Roman Emperor Hadrian found in ancient city of Blaundus

26 November 2024

26 November 2024

An inscription dedicated to the Roman Emperor Hadrian was discovered during the ongoing excavations at the ancient city of Blaundus...

The first ivory work of art recovered from the World Heritage cave Hohle Fels was believed to be a horse – until archaeologists made a new discovery-

30 July 2023

30 July 2023

For more than 20 years, the first ivory work of art recovered from the World Heritage cave Hohle Fels was...

Archaeologists say they have found the lost city of Natounia, belonging to the Parthian Empire

20 July 2022

20 July 2022

Researchers suggest they may have identified the lost Parthian city of Natounia in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Although...

2000-Year-Old Roman Origins Confirmed for Elche’s Monumental L’Assut de l’Argamassa Dam

17 May 2025

17 May 2025

An archaeological research project has unveiled that the imposing L’Assut de l’Argamassa dam in Elche, Spain, long suspected to be...

First Human Traces Buried in an Ancient Gold Mine in Eastern Sahara

2 May 2021

2 May 2021

Some of the earliest signs of human life dating back 1.8 million years have been discovered in an old gold...

1800 Years Old Roman Milestone Used as Seat at Turkish Mosque

7 November 2024

7 November 2024

A milestone from the Roman Emperor Gordianus III period, which dates to 239 AD, was discovered in the Fatsa district...

Scandinavia’s first farmers slaughtered the hunter-gatherer population, according to a new study

9 February 2024

9 February 2024

Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a...

2000-year-old ancient Roman Road, described as the most important in Scottish history, has been discovered

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

A 2000-year-old ancient Roman road was unearthed in Old Inn Cottage’s garden near Stirling, Scotland. The site is located a...

Temple of Olympian Zeus Horse Frieze Found a Depth of 9 Meters off the Coast of Agrigento, Sicily

5 February 2024

5 February 2024

A large marble relief believed to have been part of the Temple of Olympian Zeus frieze in Agrigento, Sicily, has...

Vindolanda marks the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall with an altar discovery

9 February 2022

9 February 2022

The excavation season hasn’t started yet, but the Vindolanda Roman fort has kicked off Hadrian’s Wall’s 1900th anniversary year with...

A cobbled ford uncovered near Evesham could be the finest Roman example of its type in Britain

19 October 2022

19 October 2022

A cobbled ford believed to be of Roman construction has been discovered near Evesham in Worcestershire, England. If the path...

The ancient city of Karkamış “House of the Seal” brings a different perspective to the Hittite-Assyrian relations with its important finds

6 May 2022

6 May 2022

Historical artifacts discovered during excavations by Turkish and Italian teams in the ancient city of Karkamış (Carchemish) in southern Gaziantep...

A center on the Anatolian Mesopotamian trade route; Tavsanli Mound

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Excavations at Tavşanlı mound, which is known to be the first settlement in Western Anatolia during the Bronze Age, continue....