»Neuere Forschungen zum Neandertaler in Neumark-Nord (Sachsen-Anhalt, D)«

Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser | Archäologisches Forschungszentrum und Museum für menschliche Verhaltensevolution des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums MONREPOS

From the former open pit lignite mine of Neumark-Nord, a 26 ha lake landscape has been known since the 1980s, which was used by Neanderthal man over long phases of the last warm period, the Eemian Interglacial. Through excellent preservation conditions, high-resolution correlations between archaeological evidence, landscape reconstructions, and vegetation phases of the last warm period, Neumark-Nord provides insights with unique detail into how Neanderthal man spelled out his ecological niche 120,000 years ago.

At Neumark-Nord, two basin structures occupied by humans at the same time are attested. Neumark-Nord 1 represents a 24 ha lake, the margins of which were used by humans during different reredation phases. Characteristic here is the selective preservation of large thanatocoenoses in excellent preservation and occasional anthropogenic signals. The causes for this finding have been discussed for a very long time and interpretations range from anthropogenic influence to natural catastrophes.

In contrast, the evidence in the Neumark-North 2 basin, barely more than 200 meters away, could not be more different. This basin is also dominated by a body of water, which, however, with a depth of about one meter is more like a pond. At its edges about 120,000 faunal remains and about 20,000 stone artifacts were discovered on a very small area of the not even 500m² total find scatter. The faunal remains can be reconstructed to nearly 170 complete animal carcasses of different large mammals that were completely exploited by humans.

The lecture will focus on the current state of research at Neumark-Nord and how the results are changing our perceptions about Neanderthal man.