Research Project

The Aurignacian Open-air Site Breitenbach (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)

The Palaeolithic Roots of Human Spatiality and the Social Organization of Settlement and Society

Summary

Fieldwork at the Early Upper Palaeolithic open-air station at Breitenbach, which has been ongoing since 2009, is investigating the roots of differentiated spatial use and organisation. With the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, economic activity in newly organised socio-economic units seems to promote an intensification of the most diverse subsistence areas. Corresponding space use systems thereby institutionalise social interactions and entail new forms of communication. Art, jewellery and/or symbols would have to be understood as functionally integrated in a context of communally used “public” space and not, for instance, as forms of expression of increased cognitive abilities.

45,000–30,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans spread across Europe and the era of Neanderthal man came to an end. For a long time it was believed that anatomically modern humans had displaced Neanderthals until they finally died out, but today there is increasing evidence that the two forms of humans mixed.

However, the Neanderthal way of life certainly did become “extinct”. This is shown by the completely different archaeological record, which can be summarised as the Early Upper Palaeolithic Aurignacian, about 42,000–34,000 years ago: different forms of equipment, but above all of jewellery, art and musical instruments, most of which were found in cave sites, testify to new forms of social interaction.

However, the causes of the emergence of correspondingly newly organised social environments are still little understood. This is due especially to the fact that our knowledge of this decisive phase of human development is distorted by the dominance of cave excavations. Certain forms of space use and organisation, which may promote or restrict interactions in very different ways, can hardly be traced in narrow cave spaces.

Against this background, the competence area Pleistocene and Early Holocene Archaeology, in close cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, is investigating the large-scale open-air site at Breitenbach, not far from Zeitz, in the very south of Saxony-Anhalt.

Research objective

From the Upper Palaeolithic onwards, the entire life of humans is permeated by cultural rules and codes. The existence and significance of such rules manifests itself above all in the spatial organisation of settlement sites. Spatial studies on regulatory ideas and mechanisms of coexistence, which have been reconstructed in detail at Late Upper Palaeolithic settlement sites, raise the question of the roots of corresponding concepts of space use. The work carried out at Breitenbach in recent years aims to work out the essential differences compared to Middle Palaeolithic features, and thus to contribute to the understanding of the socio-economic advantages of socially differentiated forms of spatial organisation.

Methodology

With an area of at least 6,000–7,000 m², the Breitenbach site, which is around 34,000 years old, is without doubt one of the largest preserved sites of this period. Breitenbach is thus excellently suited for investigating questions of spatial organisation and the use of space. The basis and prerequisite for this is extensive and large-scale site work, which has been carried out since 2009 in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Halle.

Extensive exploratory and area excavations according to modern standards and geoarchaeological investigations are opening up both the site itself and its immediate surroundings. By means of geostatistical analyses, summaries and mapping, it is thus possible to address the outlined questions of spatial use.

Since the previous work not only proves the spatially differentiated use of the site, but has also uncovered several find layers, it will be possible to work out changes in spatial organisation depending on the intensification and duration of the use of the site.

  •  Share
  •  Copy link
  •  Print article

Contact

Dr. Olaf Jöris
+49 2631 9772-14
Kontakt

Team

Dr. Olaf Jöris
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Daniel Lauer
Tim Matthies M.A.

Project Period

Since 01.2009

Support

2009-2011: Fördermittel der Leakey Foundation, ID 20140, der Wenner-Gren Foundation, Grant No. 7974, und der Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung, FTS Az 20.09.0.57; darüber hinaus der Faculty of Archeology der Universität Leiden und dem LDA Sachsen-Anhalt LEIZA und Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt (LDA Sachsen-Anhalt)

In Druck

  • Jöris (in Druck): O. Jöris. Der räumliche Niederschlag neuer Bedürfnisse. Auf der Suche nach den Wurzeln unseres modern-menschlichen Siedlungs- und Gemeinwesens / The Spatial Signatures of Human Needs. Searching for the origins of modern-human settlement and communal behaviour. In: S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser / O. Jöris (Eds.), MONREPOS forscht. 318–325.
  • Jöris & Street (in Druck): O. Jöris / M. Street. Wandel von Weltanschauungen vor 34.000 Jahren. Der Übergang vom Aurignacien zurm Gravettien / A Changing View of the World 34,000 Years ago. The transition from the Aurignacian tot he Gravettian. In: S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser / O. Jöris (Eds.), MONREPOS forscht, 336–347.
  • Jöris et al. (in Druck): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / L. Schunk / J. Weiß. Eine 34.000 Jahre alte Elfenbeinwerkstatt: Zeugnis früher Arbeitsspezialisierung / A 34,000 year-old Ivory Workshop as an example of early craft specialisation. In: S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser / O. Jöris (Eds.), MONREPOS forscht, 326–335.
  • Jöris et al. (in Druck): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / J. Weiß. Wenn auch nur fragmentarisch: eine 34 000 Jahre alte Elfenbeinplastik aus Breitenbach, Sachsen-Anhalt - neue Funde aus einem Land früher Innovationen. In: Meller, H. (Ed.), Schönheit, Macht und Tod. Veröffentlichungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Sachsen-Anhalt (Halle / Saale).
  • Jöris et al. (in Druck): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / J. Weiß. Schmuck und Identität vor 34 000 Jahren - Schönheit und Stolz, Tracht und Tradition. In: Meller, H. (Ed.), Schönheit, Macht und Tod. Veröffentlichungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Sachsen-Anhalt (Halle / Saale).

2021

  • Lindemaier (2021): K. Lindemaier. Mittel- und jungpleistozäne Relief- und Bodengenese im Bereich der Freilandfundstelle Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland). Multi-Proxy basierte Analyse der Löss-Paläoboden-Sequenz BRE 16A. Unveröffentl. Bachelorarbeit, Geographisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg Univ. Mainz (Mainz 2021).

2019

  • Jöris et al. (2019): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / P. Fischer. At the northern edge of the habitable world. New results from the Aurignacian open-air site of Breitenbach, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. In: A. Maier (Ed.), Hugo Obermaier Society, 61st Annual Meeting in Erkrath, April 23rd - April 27th 2019. Abstracts. (Erlangen), 34.
  • Jöris et al. (2019): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / P. Fischer. How ‘Gravettian’ was the Late Aurignacian? Worked Ivory Objects from the 34,000 year-old open-air site Breitenbach (Germany). In: P. Woital / J. Wilczynski (Eds.), 3rd Conference World of Gravettian Hunters. Kraków, Poland, 20-24 May 2019. Abstracts. (Kraków), 28–29.

2018

  • Jöris (2018): O. Jöris. Der Mensch und das Verhalten. In: S. Fink / R. Rollinger (Eds.), Oswald Spenglers Kulturmorphologie. Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien. Studies in Universal and Cultural History. (Wiesbaden), 11–51.
  • Reiche et al. (2018): I. Reiche / C. Heckel / K. Müller / O. Jöris / T. Matthies / N. J. Conard / H. Floss / R. White. Combined Non-invasive PIXE/PIGE Analyses of Mammoth Ivory from Aurignacian Archaeological Sites. Angewandte Chemie International Edition / Kombinierte nicht-invasive PIXE/PIGE-Analysen von aurignacienzeitlichen Objekten aus Mammutelfenbein bedeutender archäologischer Fundstellen. Angewandte Chemie 130 (25), 7550–7554.

2017

  • Jöris et al. (2017): O. Jöris / T. Matthies / P. Fischer. Am Rande der bewohnten Welt. Vom Leben in den trundrenähnlichen Graslandschaften des nördlichen Mitteleuropa vor 34000 Jahren. In: H. Meller / Th. Puttkammer (Eds.) 2017. Klimagewalten – treibende Kraft der Evolution. Begleitband zur Sonderausstellung im Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale), 318–331.
  • Matthies et al. (2017): T. Matthies / P. Fischer / O. Jöris. Hunted or collected? A critical re-evaluation of the Proboscidean remains at the Aurignacian open-air site Breitenbach-Schneidemühle. Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution Vol. 6, 2017, 130.

2016

  • Taszus (2016): R. Taszus. The Breitenbach Archaeological Site – A Palaeoenvironmental Analysis Based on Micro-mammals. Unveröffentl. Bachelorarbeit, Inst. Ur- u. Frühgeschichtl. Archäolog. Friedrich-Schiller-Univ. Jena (Jena).

2014

  • Becker (2014): N. Becker. Mittel- und Jungpleistozäne Hang- und Talbodengenese im Bereich der Freilandfundstelle Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Deutschland) – sedimentologische und geochemische Untersuchungen des Bohrkerns BRE 13. Unveröffentl. Bachelorarbeit, Geographisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg Univ. Mainz (Mainz 2014).
  • Schunk (2014): L. Schunk. Geräteverhalten im Frühen Jungpaläolithikum. Die retuschierten Artefaktfunde der Grabungen Breitenbach 2012–2013. Unveröffentl. Bachelorarbeit, Inst. Vor- u. Frühgeschichtl. Archäologie, Johannes Gutenberg Univ. Mainz (Mainz).

2013

  • Moreau & Jöris (2013): L. Moreau / O. Jöris. La fin de l’Aurignacien. Au sujet de la position chronologique de la station de plein air de Breitenbach dans le contexte du paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe centrale. In: P. Body / L. Chehmana / L. Klaric / L. Mevel / S. Soriano / N. Teyssandier (eds.): Le Paléolithique supérieur ancien de l‘Europe du Nord-ouest. Actes de la table-ronde de Sens (avril 2009). Mémoire de la SPF, Paris, 395–414.
  • Verpoorte et al. (2013): A. Verpoorte / A. García Suárez / O. Jöris / T. Matthies. Site Formation at the Early Upper Palaeolithic Open-Air Site Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany) Hugo-Obermaier-Gesellschaft für Erforschung des Eiszeitalters und der Steinzeit e. V., 55. Jahrestagung in Wien, 02.–06. April 2013, 49-–50.

2012

  • Moreau (2012): L. Moreau. Breitenbach-Schneidemühle, Germany: A major Aurignacian open air settlement in Central Europe. Eurasian Prehistory 9, 51–75.
  • Moreau (2012): L. Moreau. Status of flake production The Aurignacian of Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany): Status of Flake Production. In: A. Pastoors / M. Peresani (Eds.), Flakes not Blades: The Role of Flake Production at the Onset of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Wissenschaftliche Schriften des Neanderthal Museums 5 (Mettmann), 181–197.

2011

  • García-Suárez (2011): A. García-Suárez. Micromorphological and Geochemical Analysis of the Late Aurignacian Occupation at the Open-air Site of Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany). Unveröffentl. Masterarbeit, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Reading (Reading).
  • Moreau (2011): L. Moreau. La fin de l´Aurignacien et le début du Gravettien en Europe centrale: continuité ou rupture? Étude comparative des ensembles lithiques de Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, D) et Geißenklösterle (AH I) (Bade-Wurtemberg, D). Notae Praehistoricae 31, 21–29.

 

2010

  • Jöris & Moreau (2010): O. Jöris / L. Moreau. Vom Ende des Aurignacien. Zur chronologischen Stellung des Freilandfundplatzes Breitenbach im Kontext des Frühen und Mittleren Jungpaläolithikums in Mitteleuropa. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 40, 1–20.
  • Jöris et al. (2010): O. Jöris / C. Neugebauer-Maresch / B. Weninger / M. Street. The Radiocarbon Chronology of the Aurignacian to Mid-Upper Palaeolithic Transition along the Upper and Middle Danube. In: C. Neugebauer-Maresch / L. R. Owen (Eds.), New Aspects of the Central and Eastern European Upper Palaeolithic – Methods, Chronology, Technology and Subsistence. Symposium by the Prehistoric Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences; Vienna, November 9–11, 2005. Mitteilungen der Prähistorischen Kommission 72 (Wien), 101–137.
  • Matthies (2010); T. Matthies. The Exploitation of Fur-bearing Mammals during the Late Aurignacian of Central Europe: a Case Study of the Faunal remains from Breitenbach (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany. Unveröffentl. Masterarbeit, School of Humanities, Dept. of Archaeology, Univ. Southampton (Southampton).
  • Moors (2010): C. Moors. Untersuchungen zu Petrographie, chaîne opératoire und Verwendung der bearbeiteten Sedimentgesteine der aurignacienzeitlichen Freilandfundstelle Breitenbach, Kreis Zeitz (BLK). Unveröffentl. Masterarbeit, Fakultät für Geschichteswissenschaften, Inst. f. Archäologische Wissenschaften der Ruhr-Univ. Bochum (Bochum).

Ältere Arbeiten zu Breitenbach:

  • Hahn (1977): J. Hahn. Aurignacien. Das ältere Jungpaläolithikum in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Fundamenta A, Bd. 9 (Köln/Wien).
  • Niklasson (1927): N. Niklasson. Die Grabung auf der jungpaläolithischen Station bei der Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach, Kreis Zeitz. Nachrbl. Dt. Vorzeit 3 (Leipzig).
  • Niklasson (1928): N. Niklasson. Die paläolithische Station bei der Schneidemühle bei Breitenbach im Kreise Zeitz. Tagungsber. Dt. Anthropol. Ges. 1928, 89–90.
  • Pohl (1939): G. Pohl. Die mitteldeutschen Flachklingen von Breitenbach. Unveröffentl. Inaugural-Diss. Phil. Fakultät Martin Luther-Univ. Halle-Wittenberg (Halle).
  • Pohl (1958): G. Pohl. Die jungpaläolithische Siedlung Breitenbach, Kr. Zeitz, und ihre bisherige Beurteilung. Jahresschr. Mitteldt. Vorgesch. 41/42, 1958, 178–190.
  • Richter (1987): J. Richter. Jungpaläolithische Funde aus Breitenbach/Kr. Zeitz im Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nürnberg. Quartär 37/38, 63–96.
  • Schäfer (2012): J. Schäfer. Zur Stratigraphie und Geomorphologie am Aurignacien-Freilandfundplatz Breitenbach-Schlottweh. In: H. Meller (Ed.), Zusammengegraben – Kooperationsprojekte in Sachsen-Anhalt. Tagung vom 17. bis 20. Mai 2009 im Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). Arch. Sachsen-Anhalt, Sonderbd.16 (Halle), 19–26.

First results

Situated at a latitude of 51° N, Breitenbach is one of the northernmost sites of the Aurignacian. So far, only a few sites from this period are known, and those situated further north are only slightly so, such as Hermann’s Cave in the Harz Mountains or some sites in the British Isles; they have generally yielded only very few or even single finds and overall attest to what was probably only a very brief presence of humans so far north. However, the large extent of the Breitenbach site, its wealth of finds and the number of features imply that this region of northern Central Europe was not only visited sporadically and at favourable times, but that it should rather be understood as an integral part of the Late Aurignacian ecumene. Accordingly, the region would have provided a livelihood sufficient for the groups dwelling there. Perhaps the intensive occupation of Breitenbach in the Late Aurignacian is based precisely on the abundance of resources that were available here: hunting game for food as well as for the extraction of furs and raw materials (such as flint and ivory) may have made this region, and this site in particular, attractive from the point of view of key subsistence issues.

Three archaeological layers indicate that people probably visited this site to intercept the seasonally migrating reindeer in autumn. With longer lasting settlement, the hunting of ice fox and snow hare for winter furs increasingly came to the fore. As we observe the period of occupation progressing, this offers the first indication of how the long-term use of a Stone Age site affects the archaeological record: the range of finds becomes more diverse, spatially differentiated features become clearer and more frequent, the use of fire intensifies, and ornaments, art objects and the use of red paint gain in importance. In a final phase, the evidence seems to suggest that preparatory measures were taken for vacating the site.

Among the outstanding finds and features are detailed insights into the spatial organisation of an area that was specifically dedicated to the processing of mammoth ivory for the production of a wide variety of objects of different types: ivory projectiles, beads and fragments of a sculpted female statuette were found in this area. This manifests a spatially differentiated use of defined work areas. The female statuette is the second oldest example of this category of finds. Together with the “Venus vom Hohle Fels” in southern Germany, the Breitenbach finds prove that this idea already had its beginnings in the Aurignacian and then spread east and west from Central Europe.

Stay informed!

Regular LEIZA updates in your inbox:
Subscribe to our newsletter

Yes, I agree to the use of the personal data I have provided. For more information, please see our privacy policy.


We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By completing and submitting the form, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with the Terms of Use.