Archaeologists investigating a prehistoric settlement landscape in Nauendorf, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, have uncovered an extraordinary Bronze Age discovery: the remains of two very young horses deliberately buried beside an ancient burial mound.Image Credit : State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
The animals were only around five to nine months old when they were deposited, making their deliberate burial particularly significant.
The discovery was made during archaeological investigations ahead of construction of the SuedOstLink electricity transmission line.
Dating places the two burials at approximately 1212–1052 BC, during the beginning of the Late Bronze Age.
Rather than being isolated animal remains, the two foals were carefully positioned in relation to a burial monument containing stone-lined human graves. Their placement suggests that the animals may have formed part of a ritual associated with the monument.
The discovery provides rare evidence for the deliberate sacrifice and burial of young horses in Bronze Age central Europe.
A Forgotten Burial Mound
The archaeological investigation revealed a wider landscape containing traces of settlement and burial activity.
Among the features were:
- house remains;
- storage pits;
- oven pits;
- ditches;
- a burial ground;
- and an early Late Bronze Age burial mound.
The mound itself had disappeared over thousands of years, leaving little visible evidence in the otherwise flat landscape.
Archaeologists were nevertheless able to identify its former presence through a circular ditch surrounding the monument.
An earthen entrance or bridge remained on the eastern side of the enclosure.
Within the enclosure were two elongated, rectangular graves lined with stone and oriented approximately west to east.
Both human graves had been robbed during antiquity.
Ancient Grave Robbers
The condition of the stone-lined graves revealed evidence that the tombs had been deliberately plundered in the distant past.
Gaps in the protective stone coverings around the head, abdomen and feet indicate that the robbers appear to have known where important parts of the burials and their associated objects were located.
Only a small number of artifacts escaped removal.
These included:
- fragments of bronze pins;
- a small bronze ring;
- and pieces of a pottery vessel.
Some of these objects apparently survived because they had slipped between the stones.
The looted graves therefore provided only a fragmentary picture of the people originally buried beneath the mound.
But the investigation of the surrounding monument produced a much more unexpected discovery.
The First Foal
Archaeologists investigated a deeper pit that had been cut into the southeastern portion of the circular ditch.
Such features can sometimes contain secondary human burials.
Instead, the excavation revealed the skeleton of a horse lying on its right side.
The discovery was unexpected because the animal was not simply represented by isolated bones. Its position suggested that an entire carcass had originally been placed into the pit.
The excavation team expanded the investigation around the find.
That led to the discovery of another horse burial nearby.
Two Young Horses
The second animal had also been deliberately placed on its right side.
Even more significantly, it was oriented in the same general direction as the stone-lined human graves.
The two animals therefore appear to have been intentionally positioned in relation to the burial monument.
Further examination revealed that both horses were foals approximately five to nine months old.
One foal had been deposited directly within the circular ditch surrounding the burial mound.
The second was buried a short distance away.
Both animals had been placed on their right sides, with their limbs naturally bent.
Although the skeletons were incompletely preserved, the surviving remains provide important evidence about how the animals were deposited.
Evidence of Complete Carcasses
The young age of the animals contributed to the incomplete preservation of their skeletons.
The skulls and long bones of the limbs survived most clearly.
Nevertheless, the arrangement of the surviving bones indicates that archaeologists were dealing with complete animals rather than selected body parts.
This distinction is important.
The deliberate burial of an entire young horse represents a substantially different archaeological phenomenon from the deposition of an isolated skull, leg or other animal component.
One of the foals also displayed an unusual arrangement of the hind legs.
Its hind legs lay almost parallel to one another.
According to the archaeological interpretation presented in the source, this may indicate that the animal had been constricted or bound around the hindquarters before burial.
The evidence does not establish exactly how the animal died, but its positioning provides an additional indication that its deposition was deliberate.
More Than 3,000 Years Old
Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the two animals were deposited at approximately the same time.
The first foal produced a calibrated date of:
1212–1055 BC
The second produced a calibrated date of:
1211–1052 BC
The overlapping dates strongly place both animals within the same early Late Bronze Age period.
Their near-contemporary dates strengthen the possibility that the two burials were connected to the same broader ritual or ceremonial context.
An Exceptionally Rare Discovery
Horse remains are already known from prehistoric funerary contexts in Saxony-Anhalt.
Previous discoveries have included:
- individual bones;
- horse skulls;
- lower-leg bones;
- and combinations of selected skeletal elements.
Complete horse burials from this period, however, are described in the source as exceptionally rare.
Comparable discoveries have been reported only sporadically from the neighbouring Lusatian culture, where horses associated with funerary practices appear to have been cremated and their remains placed inside ceramic vessels.
The Nauendorf discovery is therefore unusual in several respects.
Here, archaeologists found two very young horses, apparently deposited as complete carcasses, in direct association with a prehistoric burial monument.
Why Sacrifice Two Foals?
The deliberate killing of such young animals raises an important question.
Why would a Bronze Age community sacrifice horses that were only months old?
By the Late Bronze Age, horses were increasingly associated with more than their practical value.
They could represent:
- mobility;
- wealth;
- social prestige;
- power;
- and religious or symbolic significance.
Evidence for the symbolic importance of horses can be found in prehistoric rock art, decorated pottery and bronze objects, as well as elaborate harness equipment deposited in graves and hoards.
The Nauendorf foals add another form of evidence: the deliberate burial of young horses beside a funerary monument.
A Costly Offering
The age of the animals may be particularly significant.
A foal only five to nine months old represented an animal with many potentially productive years ahead.
Killing and burying such an animal meant surrendering its future economic value.
The archaeological interpretation presented in the source is that this may emphasize the importance of the ritual.
It could also suggest that the people buried beneath the mound occupied an elevated position within their community.
The sacrifice of two young horses may therefore have been intended to express status, belief or the significance of the deceased.
The exact meaning cannot currently be established.
What can be established is that the animals were deliberately deposited in close association with a Late Bronze Age burial monument.
Horses, Status and the Bronze Age
The discovery fits within a broader picture presented by the archaeological evidence from the period.
Horses were becoming increasingly important symbols in Bronze Age societies.
Their association with movement and transportation could have connected them with power and prestige, while their appearance in artistic and funerary contexts suggests that they also possessed symbolic significance.
At Nauendorf, the deliberate burial of two young animals appears to have transformed valuable living creatures into part of a funerary landscape.
The foals were not simply discarded.
They were placed carefully in prepared pits, their bodies positioned on their sides and, in one case, apparently subjected to some form of restraint before burial.
Their relationship to the burial mound suggests that the animals formed part of a meaningful archaeological context.
The Broader Archaeological Landscape
The foal burials were not discovered in isolation.
The archaeological investigations revealed a landscape used repeatedly during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Evidence included settlement structures, storage features, ovens, ditches and burial areas.
This combination provides an opportunity to study how communities organized both their living spaces and their funerary landscapes.
The burial mound had disappeared from the surface, but its surrounding ditch survived sufficiently for archaeologists to reconstruct its basic form.
The discovery demonstrates how subtle archaeological traces can preserve evidence of monuments that have been almost completely erased from the modern landscape.
Discovered Through Modern Construction
The investigation at Nauendorf was carried out ahead of construction of the SuedOstLink electricity transmission line.
Such infrastructure projects can trigger archaeological investigations before construction begins, providing opportunities to examine landscapes that might otherwise remain unexplored.
In this case, the investigation revealed a prehistoric landscape containing settlement and funerary remains—and ultimately the two unusual horse burials.
The discovery illustrates how archaeological work associated with modern development can recover evidence of rituals that took place more than three millennia ago.
What the Foals Tell Us
The two animals offer an unusually intimate glimpse into Bronze Age beliefs.
The people who buried them were willing to sacrifice young animals that represented considerable potential value.
Their placement beside a burial mound suggests that the act was connected in some way with the funerary monument.
Whether the foals were intended as offerings, symbols accompanying the dead, markers of status or participants in another ritual practice remains unresolved.
The source supports an interpretation of ritual sacrifice, but the precise religious meaning of the act is not established.
That uncertainty is an important part of the archaeological story.
The physical evidence survives.
The beliefs behind it do not.
Conclusion
More than 3,000 years ago, two young horses were deliberately buried beside a monumental Bronze Age burial mound in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Both animals were only five to nine months old.
Radiocarbon dates place their burial around 1212–1052 BC, at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age.
Their careful positioning, their association with the burial monument and the apparent deposition of complete carcasses make the discovery exceptionally unusual.
The sacrifice of two valuable young animals may have expressed the status of the people buried beneath the mound or played an important role in a funerary ritual.
Today, the two foals offer archaeologists something extraordinarily rare: physical evidence of a Bronze Age ceremony in which horses were transformed from valuable living animals into offerings within a landscape of the dead.
Sources : State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
FAQ
Where were the two Bronze Age foals discovered?
They were discovered at Nauendorf in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, during archaeological investigations ahead of construction of the SuedOstLink electricity transmission line.
How old are the horse burials?
Radiocarbon dating places them at approximately 1212–1052 BC, more than 3,000 years ago.
How old were the horses when they died?
Both were very young foals, approximately five to nine months old.
Were the horses buried intact?
The surviving skeletal evidence indicates that complete carcasses were originally placed in the pits rather than selected skeletal parts.
Were the horses sacrificed?
The source interprets the deliberate burial of the young horses as evidence of ritual sacrifice, although it does not establish the exact circumstances or method of their deaths.
Why were the foals buried near the mound?
Their proximity and orientation suggest a deliberate relationship with the Late Bronze Age burial monument. The precise ritual meaning remains unknown.
What happened to the human graves?
The two stone-lined graves inside the mound enclosure had been robbed in antiquity. Only a few bronze and pottery fragments remained.
Why are the horse burials important?
Complete horse burials from this period are exceptionally rare. The discovery of two young horses apparently buried as complete carcasses beside the same burial monument provides unusual evidence for Bronze Age funerary practices and the symbolic importance of horses.
