Riesa/Dresden (dpa/sn) – Archaeologists have discovered thousands of evidence of earlier settlements during excavations on an area of ??more than 6000 square meters near Riesa (Meissen district). So far, they have documented over 880 archaeological finds and several thousand individual finds, as the State Office for Archeology (LfA) Dresden announced on Wednesday. The objects show “that the area was populated again and again from the Linear Pottery Culture around 7000 years ago until the Slavic settlement in the 12th century”.

The area near Canitz has been examined since September 2021 before a long-distance gas pipeline is laid by Ontras Gastransport GmbH Leipzig. In addition to typical linear pottery shards, the scientists found stone implements, a late Neolithic arrowhead, pottery from the Bronze and Iron Ages, shards of medieval Slavs decorated with wavy bands, spindle whorls and a loom weight – “indications of local textile production”.

In the southern section of the excavation, the experts also unearthed numerous Bronze Age urn graves from the period 1400 to 1200 BC. BC free. The graves with the epoch-typical furnishings of burial vessels are mostly complete, albeit broken. According to the state office, they are therefore strengthened with plaster for salvage so that they can then be removed in blocks.