The Great Pit of Estenfeld (Bavaria) - Disposal of refuse or structured deposition? Studies of the taphonomy, chronology and function of an archaeological phenomenon of the Middle Neolithic in Southern Germany

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wolfram Schier
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 518888884

The project focusses on the well documented Great Pit from Estenfeld, Northern Bavaria. This over 30 m long and up to 3 m deep pit contained large quantities of exceptionally well-preserved pottery, daub, animal bones and intentionally smashed grinding stones. It can be compared to but a few other Great Pits in Southern Germany dating to the Middle Neolithic (MN) and should be differentiated from much more frequent pit complexes which are a common feature of MN settlements. The excavations in the large MN rondel of Hopferstadt already suggested complex ritual practices during the intentional backfilling of the circular ditches. These findings induced us to challenge the usual interpretation of Great Pits as communal clay pits, which had later been used to dispose refuse. Our working hypothesis does not see the Estenfeld Great Pit as disposal of refuse, but rather as structured deposition. Insofar the project intends to stimulate a discourse on structured deposition also within German-speaking archaeology. A detailed taphonomic analysis (degree of fragmentation, classification of sherd type, search for joining sherds and evaluation of the spatial distribution of matches) will help to reconstruct the backfill process and to compare it to several regionally available pit complexes. Since the finds from Estenfeld have only been cleaned superficially without water, a rare opportunity exists to analyse lipids and bio-markers not only from the clay matrix but also from sediment remains on the surface. These analyses could help to distinguish between accumulated use life residues and the last use of the vessel. Working surfaces of grinding stones will be sampled for phytoliths indicating the cereals/plants processed. The large majority of pottery can be attributed to the stylistic phase Planig-Friedberg, suggesting a rather short period of time and, thus, a rather fast backfill process. These impressions, however, must be checked by a Bayesian model of stratified short-lived radiocarbon samples to be taken from animal bones and/or botanic macrofossils. The project intends to comprehensively analyse for the first time a category of Middle Neolithic settlements, which is known for 120 years but so far poorly researched. It applies an interdisciplinary and taphonomy-oriented methodological approach.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants