13 recent archaeological finds in Germany

The Nebra sky disc was seen as a sensational archaeological find, believed to feature the world's oldest known depiction of a cosmic phenomenon. It was found by treasure-hunters with a metal detector in Saxony-Anhalt in 1999. First estimated to be 3,600 years old, German researchers are now questioning that dating.

The Venus of Hohle Fels was discovered in 2008 in a cave in southwestern Germany. The nearly six-centimeter ivory figurine is believed to have been worn as an amulet. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, making it the oldest known depiction of a human being in prehistoric art.

Three of the world's four known Golden Hats from the Bronze Age (1000 BC) were shown at a 2019 exhibition at Berlin's Gropius Bau museum. They served as a symbol for deities and priests in a sun cult that was practiced in Central Europe during that period. Made of thin gold leaf, the hats are presumed to have covered a similarly-shaped headdress made of organic material.

Archaeologists uncovered thousands of finds — including these oil lamps from the first century A.D. — in the mud on the site of the former Roman port in Cologne. At the time, the newly established Roman settlement was an important trade center, where one could easily find goods from North Africa, Pompeii or Aquitaine. A 1,900-year-old Roman boat was also discovered in Cologne in 2007.

At the end of 2010, a complete early Celtic tomb of a noblewoman was retrieved from the earth near the southern German town of Herbertingen. It contained bronze and gold jewelry that were imported from afar. The find provided further evidence that trade with the rest of Europe was already strong by the sixth century BC.

A particular Roman tomb was discovered in the town of Haltern, in North Rhine-Westphalia. It contained, along with the remains of a man, an intricate bone-carved kline, which is a bed for the dead. The kline was transported from Italy to Germany to guarantee Roman luxury even after death. The 1,900-year-old deathbed was reconstructed from thousands of fragments.

The hand axe, the longest-used tool in human history, was already in circulation around two million years ago in Africa. The hand axes found in Eurasia were much younger however, dated back to 600,000 years ago. The all-round tool was likely to have different functions such as chopping, cutting, scraping, hitting and even throwing. This piece of flint stone is at most 35,000 years old.

This bronze rider was among the 11 sculptures unearthed in Berlin's historical center in 2010, a discovery known as the Berlin Sculpture Find. The 1933-34 sculpture by Fritz Wrampe, listed as "degenerate art" by the Nazis, was believed irretrievably lost. The works removed from museums were however stored by the Nazis in a depot. The rider was deformed by the heat of WWII bombings on Berlin.

At the end of the 1990s, thousands of human bones and weapons were unearthed along the Tollense River in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It turned out to be the oldest archaeologically verifiable battlefield in Europe discovered to date. Though it remains unclear where they were all from, the warriors traveled great distances to join the battle. Several of the 3,300-year-old artifacts are shown in Berlin.

At the end of 2012, pots, cups, retorts and distillation stills — an entire laboratory — were found in Wittenberg, the city of Renaissance alchemist Dr. Faustus. The artifacts were however broken into 10,000 pieces. Pieced back together, they revealed the oldest known laboratory in Europe, dating back to 1520-1540.

An incredible find was discovered near Lake Constance in southern Germany: a Neolithic decoration on clay plaster. It shows that humans were already heavily decorating their houses by 4000 BC. The segment that was displayed in Berlin is believed to be a complex depiction of ancestors or deities that were to protect the house.

Pilgrim badges were worn in the Middle Ages by Roman Catholics as souvenirs of their pilgrimage, and some of them took their badge with them to the grave. This lead alloy pilgrim badge from the 13th-14th century was found in Harburg (today part of Hamburg). It shows Christ riding on a donkey.

In 2005, a hiker in Upper Lusatia happened to find an important trove of silver, known as the Cortnitz hoard. Most of the coins and silver jewelry pieces from the 11th century were hacked. The fragments came from Bohemia and Moravia, but also from Bulgaria, Scandinavia and even Baghdad. Hacked fragments of silver served as currency before official coinage was established.