18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

4,500-Year-Old Three Warrior Graves Found in Germany, One Still Wearing an Arm Guard

Extraordinary discovery during the construction of a New Power Line: Archaeologists unearth a cemetery from the Copper Age with Three Warrior Graves. One of the deceased even wore part of his armor.

Archaeologists have discovered an approximately 4,500-year-old cemetery with ten graves from the Bell Beaker culture near Förderstedt, located in the Salzlandkreis district of Germany.

Currently, three particularly well-preserved burials have been uncovered. The deceased, buried in a hunched position facing east, were interred under a common burial mound. Women were laid on the right side, while men were on the left side of the body.

“A common burial mound covered all three deceased,” said project leader Susanne Friederich from the State Office for Heritage Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt.

In the Bell Beaker culture, the dead were always buried in a hunched position facing east. The name comes from the bell-shaped ceramic vessels that were filled with food and placed in the grave for the journey to the afterlife.

Among the most striking discoveries are the grave goods found within the tombs. In one grave, archaeologists unearthed a bell-shaped ceramic vessel, approximately 15 centimeters in diameter, filled with food to accompany the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.


At the time of burial, the deceased was still wearing his arm guard, which helps archers avoid injuring themselves with the bowstring.
Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
At the time of burial, the deceased was still wearing his arm guard, which helps archers avoid injuring themselves with the bowstring. Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa

This vessel was found in one of the three central burials. In the second burial, a stone arm guard was discovered. The archaeologist stated, “This indicates a male hunter or warrior.” The arm guard, measuring approximately eight by four centimeters, cushioned the snapping bowstring and thus prevented injuries.

“The third grave is remarkably well-preserved. In the back area of a warrior, two arrowheads were found. They were very close together,” Friederich noted. “Additionally, a quiver was faintly outlined in the sediment. This container for the arrows was made of organic material and has decayed. Only a different color and structure in the sediment indicate that the deceased was buried with his equipment.”

Graves Well-Preserved by Loess Clay

Although the graves were discovered at a depth of about two meters, they were originally much deeper or well-protected by a high burial mound. Excavation leader Christian Lau explained, “The graves were not placed on the surface, as is often observed with artificially mounded graves. Instead, the burial pit was dug through the upper soil layers and the loess clay down to the sand and filled with unmixed loess clay.”

This has allowed the bones to remain very well preserved. If they had been lying directly in the sand, the state of preservation would have been significantly worse. The graves will now be excavated in their entirety and examined more closely in the laboratory.

The excavations are taking place in advance of the expansion of the direct current line “SuedOstLink.”  The entire power line is approximately 540 kilometers long, stretching from Wolmirstedt near Magdeburg to the Isar site near Landshut in Bavaria.

Sachsen Anhalt

Cover Image Credit: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa

Related Articles

Spectacular Marble Portrait and Untouched Grave Found at Bulgaria’s Heraclea Sintica

5 July 2025

5 July 2025

Ongoing rescue excavations at the ancient Roman site of Heraclea Sintica in southwestern Bulgaria continue to deliver extraordinary finds, with...

Sensational Discovery in Salzburg: 1,800-Year-Old Roman Ship’s Bow Unearthed During Renovation

11 September 2025

11 September 2025

Archaeologists conducting excavations amid the renovation of the Neue Residenz in Salzburg’s Old Town have discovered a Roman ship’s bow...

8000-year-old with balcony architectural structure belonging to the Prehistoric period found in Anatolia

31 October 2021

31 October 2021

During the excavations in Domuztepe mound, it was revealed that an architectural structure thought to be 7-8 thousand years old...

Archaeologists find the largest bronze beast of Sanxingdui ruins

4 September 2022

4 September 2022

The largest and only one of its kind discovered in China to date, the bronze beast was discovered by archaeologists...

The Discovery of a Bronze Age Game Board in Azerbaijan Challenges the Origin of One of the World’s Oldest Games

30 August 2024

30 August 2024

A new archaeological study revealed that an ancient board of a game, known as “Hounds and Jackals” or the “Game...

Evil-Wisher Well: Ancient curse tablets 2,500-year-old found in a well in Athens

14 July 2022

14 July 2022

30 ancient curse tablets were found at the bottom of a 2500-year-old well in ancient Athens. In 2020, Archaeologists from...

1,800 years old Sewer system found in ancient city of Mastaura

17 May 2022

17 May 2022

Archaeologists found an 1800-year-old sewer system during excavations in the ancient city of Mastaura, in the Nazilli district of Aydın...

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland unearth the oldest English coin ever found in Canada

14 November 2021

14 November 2021

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland have unearthed a rare two-penny piece minted between 1493 and 1499 more than 520 years ago....

Archaeologists have uncovered the first human representations of the people of mythical Tartessos

19 April 2023

19 April 2023

Archaeologists representing Spain’s National Research Council (CSIS) excavating at the site of Casas del Turunuelo have uncovered the first human...

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will launch “The Painters of Pompeii” on June 26

23 June 2021

23 June 2021

A number of collection highlights will travel to North America for the first time as part of the exhibition The...

Ancient shipwreck dating back to the 2nd century BC was discovered off the coast of Croatia

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

A shipwreck dating to the 2nd century BC has been discovered in the shallow waters of the Adriatic Sea near...

Ancient DNA Reveals Surprising Maternal Lineages at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

28 June 2025

28 June 2025

New research, utilizing ancient DNA analysis, is challenging long-held assumptions about kinship and societal structures in one of the world’s...

Bronze Age Treasure Found in Swedish Forests

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

A man who studied the forest to make a map for the orienteering club in western Sweden made an incredible...

Archaeologists Discover Prehistoric Irish Monuments That May Have Been ‘Routes For The Dead’

27 April 2024

27 April 2024

Traces of hundreds of monuments, which were previously unknown, have been identified in an archaeological survey in Ireland. Five of...

A massive Rune stone found under a kitchen floor in Denmark declared treasure

8 June 2023

8 June 2023

A couple in Denmark discovered a massive rune stone weighing approximately 900 kilograms during a home renovation project that planned...