The cemetery of Neu Wulmstorf-Elstorf (district of Harburg) - Investigations into early medieval burial traditions in the Lower Elbe region with special consideration of organic artefacts

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hauke Jöns
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 563222133

Numerous cemeteries are known from the coastal landscapes of north-west Germany, which were occupied between the 7th and 10th centuries AD and include pagan cremation and inhumation burials as well as burials without grave goods, which were probably Christian in character. Even if the selection of burial objects placed in the graves shows variations, there has long been a consensus among researchers that the communities living in the coastal aereas followed conventional burial traditions, which were handed down over several generations and only changed decisively under the increasing Christian influence. In the last 10 years, this hypothesis has been increasingly called into question after the significance of the mostly inconspicuous components of the grave furnishings made of organic materials, such as the clothing of the dead or plant burial objects, came increasingly into the focus of research. The cemetery of Neu Wulmstorf-Elstorf, district of Harburg, plays a central role in the description of early medieval burial traditions in the Lower Elbe region. Previous investigations carried out on these graves have shown that, despite the highly aerated sandy soil, remains of grave furnishings made of organic materials have been preserved in many of the graves. When the cemetery had to be completely excavated by the responsible heritage authority between 2008 and 2016 in advance of construction work and around 600 graves were discovered in the process, it was decided not only to use modern, digital documentation technology, but also to carry out block excavations on numerous graves in order to be able to carry out a detailed analysis of the burial equipment under laboratory conditions. This cemetery therefore has unique potential for the acquisition of new information about the population living in the Lower Elbe region between the 7th and 10th centuries AD and the burial customs they practised. Against this background, the aim of the project proposed here is to analyse in detail all the graves and their inventories recovered during the excavations in Elstorf, as well as the entire documentation, using methods from archaeology, anthropology, archaeozoology, palaeobotany and archaeometry, and to evaluate the data obtained in a comparative manner against the background of contemporaneous necropolises in the northwest German region. The results of the research are to be presented in a dissertation in Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology by a doctoral student employed as part of the project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants