Between the rivers – against the tide?
The Role of the Elbe-Weser Triangle during the Funnel Beaker Culture Period: An Investigation of Megalithic Graves
Since the classification of the Funnel Beaker Culture into regional groups almost 100 years ago, the Elbe-Weser Triangle has been counted among the Western group. However, this region has always been viewed as a zone with influences from neighbouring areas, situated between the large rivers Weser and Elbe. This is clear from both the finds and the megalithic structures. Against this background, the project “Between the Rivers and Against the Current”, funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture as part of the “PRO*Lower Saxony - Cultural Heritage Research Projects - Collections and Objects” program, has set itself the goal of investigating the social contacts and cultural influences of the Neolithic communities living in this region.
The project builds on the extensive results of the “Relics in the Bog” project, which investigated Neolithic burial monuments and traces of settlements in the area of the Ahlen-Falkenberg Moor, located north-east of Bremerhaven. Unlike almost any other natural area, a prehistoric landscape has been preserved there in a unique time capsule, in which both settlement remains and burial sites in the form of megalithic graves have been preserved by the moor to this day. Three of these megalithic sites, which were built by communities of the Funnel Beaker Culture over 5000 years ago, have been archaeologically investigated in the above-mentioned project.
The excavations in the Wanna region will now be continued in the period from 2025-2027 as part of the “Between the Rivers and Against the Current” project. The focus will be on the comprehensive investigation of the site Wanna 1591, which was already partially excavated in 2020 and proved to be the best-preserved site in the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor. Among other things, an intact burial horizon was identified in the burial chamber, which will now be fully examined. For the first time, soil samples for DNA analysis will be taken from a megalithic tomb in Lower Saxony and analysed by the "Ancient DNA Research" working group at the Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology at Kiel University. It is also planned to uncover the outer area in order to record possible external deposits, which are typical of these graves but have hardly been documented for the Elbe-Weser triangle to date.
Furthermore, archive and inventory research on ceramic finds from megalithic graves is planned in order to identify supra-regional contacts by comparing the shapes and decorations of the vessels with those of neighbouring landscape areas. In addition, the architectural features of the graves will also be analysed with the aim of identifying cultural links between the different regions. Both analyses also allow to draw conclusions on regional community structures.
The expected finds represent an important item in the overall inventory of the Elbe-Weser triangle, which is particularly sparse for the north. Investigations on pottery forms and decorations, together with lipid analyses, should provide information about the processing of animal products during the Funnel Beaker period. A further methodological innovation is the possibility of having these fats dated at the University of Bristol and thus, for the first time, to classify finds and features from the region in scientific chronological terms.
By compiling the data, the aim is to look beyond the Elbe-Weser triangle and to be able to clarify the connections and development of this region, which is understood as an interaction zone. Further information will be provided by Dr. Moritz Mennenga und Anja Behrens. Get access to the blog
