30 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ice Age turtle finds near Magdeburg point to canned food from the Stone Age

Experts have recovered around 50,000-year-old turtle shell fragments from the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit near Magdeburg. The turtles could have been easily transportable food reserves.

The numerous gravel pits in the middle Elbe valley near Magdeburg have already yielded many special archaeological finds from the period between the Middle Pleistocene (Ice Age) and modern times.

In the Adamsee lake area near Barleben (Börde district), gravel accumulation occurred over a period of several tens of thousands of years. Since gravel extraction is conducted with bucket dredgers below the water table, observing the find layers is not possible.

Dating is therefore only possible using the shape of tools or, especially in the case of organic finds, scientific dating, e.g. the radiocarbon method. The finds are usually recovered from the excavator’s conveyor belts. Here, the contribution of voluntary archaeologists, who invest great amounts of time in surveying the material for finds, is of paramount importance. In the case of the Barleben-Adamsee gravel quarry, the finds from recent years are especially attributed to Uwe Beye.

Not only around 180 flint artifacts have been recovered from the Adamsee (including hand axes, other tools, cores and flakes), but a very special find also came from the gravel pit. As early as 1998/99, a 41.8 centimeter long tip made from the rib of a bovid (aurochs or bison) was discovered. One end of the bone has been very carefully prepared in the form of a long, slender point approximately twelve centimeters long.

Radiocarbon dating places the animal’s time of death with 95 percent probability between 32,992 and 32,406 BC, in the late Middle or early Upper Paleolithic period. This makes the find one of the oldest ground bone tools in Central Germany. The stone implements belong to the same period. Among them is, for example, the fragment of a bifacial leaf point, which can be compared with finds from the Ilsenhöhle near Ranis in Thuringia.

The three carapace fragments of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) found in the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit. Photo: Uwe Beye / Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt
The three carapace fragments of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) found in the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit. Photo: Uwe Beye / Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt

A team of researchers with the participation of the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology recently identified early modern humans as manufacturers of these devices 45,000 years ago. Previously, the leaf points had often been associated with Neanderthals.

Turtles – living tins?

Among the more recent finds from Adamsee, five fragments of turtle shells that can be assigned to the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) stand out. All fragments were dated twice using the radiocarbon method. The age is between around 50,000 and 42,000 years BP. The turtles therefore lived during the Weichselian Glacial, a date that was unexpected for Central Europe.

The eggs of the European pond turtle, which are laid in the ground, require a temperature of more than 18 to 20 degrees Celsius for embryonic growth. The Barleben-Adamsee finds are therefore likely to be outside of the natural range of the European pond turtle at that time, which raises the question of their origin.

Ethnographic and historical comparisons show that people often took turtles with them when traveling as provisions, as “living tins” so to speak. The animals are easily transportable and provide a supply of fresh meat even if the hunt is unsuccessful.

It is possible that Ice Age hunters – Neanderthals or modern humans – brought the turtles with them to northern, cool regions. Future research will have to prove whether this is actually the case.

Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt

Cover Photo: Uwe Beye / Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt

Related Articles

1,500-year-old Byzantine artifacts found under a peach orchard in Turkey’s Iznik

27 January 2023

27 January 2023

In the world-famous historical city of Iznik, which was the capital of four civilizations, a farmer found coins and historical...

2000-year-old passage found after Latrina at Smyrna Theater

28 January 2022

28 January 2022

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old passage that was 26 meters long and constructed in an “L” form in the theater part...

New Archaeological Discoveries in Abu Dhabi shed light on Umm an-Nar Bronze Age culture (2700-2000 BCE)

1 February 2024

1 February 2024

New findings demonstrate the resilience and inventiveness of local Bronze Age societies (Umm an-Nar Bronze Age culture), as well as...

New research reveals the true function of Bronze Age daggers

30 April 2022

30 April 2022

A new study led by Newcastle University has revealed that the analysis of Bronze Age daggers has shown that they...

In Germany, volunteers unearthed the largest hoard of Slavic coins to date and bronze-age seven swords

29 November 2023

29 November 2023

Volunteer archaeologists found bronze age seven swords and from the 11th century 6000 silver coins in the northeastern German state...

Excavations at a 4th millennium BC settlement uncover evidence for the emergence and rejection of the earliest state institutions in Iraq

6 December 2024

6 December 2024

New excavations of the 4th-millennium B.C settlement at the archaeological site of Shakhi Kora, located in the Iraqi Kurdistan region...

Scientists reveal new discovery inside the Pyramid of Khufu

20 March 2023

20 March 2023

An Egyptian pyramid for 4,500 years is still spilling secrets. After a years-long project using modern technology to reveal the...

First example of Roman crucifixion in UK discovered in Cambridgeshire village

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

In Cambridgeshire village, the earliest evidence of a Roman crucifixion has been discovered. Archaeologists investigating a previously unknown Roman roadside...

Archaeologists Unearthed a Rare Hoard of Hasmonean Coins in Jordan Valley

31 December 2024

31 December 2024

A team of archaeologists from the University of Haifa discovered a rare hoard of approximately 160 coins during an excavation...

‘4,200-year-old Zombie grave’ discovered in Germany

22 April 2024

22 April 2024

Archaeologists excavating in East Germany have found a 4,200-year-old grave near Oppin in Saxony-Anhalt containing the skeleton of a man...

Medieval ship found off the west coast of Sweden

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

A previously undiscovered wreck has been found outside of Fjällbacka on the Swedish west coast. Analysis of wood samples shows...

Decapitated skeletons of Roman ‘criminals’ found on HS2 route

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

Archaeologists working with the HS2 project have discovered 425 bodies on the route of the new railway line – around...

Climate has influenced the growth of our bodies and our brain

8 July 2021

8 July 2021

Over 300 fossils from the genus Homo have been measured for body and brain size by an interdisciplinary team of...

Exciting Discovery of oldest English coin in Canada

16 November 2022

16 November 2022

A gold coin found on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province, may be the oldest known English coin...

Thousand-year-old bone skate discovered in Czech Republic

20 March 2024

20 March 2024

Archaeologists from the central Moravian city of Přerov, Czech Republic have announced a unique discovery. While carrying out excavations in...