Two remarkably detailed bird figurines have been discovered at Hohle Fels cave in south-western Germany. The cave, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura’, has produced an array of…
Study of ivory use in the early medieval world is revealing fresh insights into how this material was viewed. The results have important implications for our understanding of the scale of the trade, and its impact on the elephants it exploited, as Rowan S English and Julia Steding explain.
Investigating the environs of a Roman fort at Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, in south-west Germany, has revealed the remains of a remarkable number of cavalry horses. Sarah Roth explains what these can teach us about a key instrument of Roman power.
A remarkably well-preserved 6th-century burial chamber has been discovered near Riedlingen, in south-west Germany. The burial chamber lies beneath a huge burial mound, which measures 65m in diameter and currently survives to a height of 2m, although it probably once…
A new exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 1,000 years of life in south-west Germany.
What is it? This perforated baton made of mammoth ivory is believed to be a Palaeolithic tool used to make rope. The baton is 20.4cm long, 3.6cm wide, and 1.5cm thick. Four holes of slightly different sizes have been drilled…
An Ice Age mystery In 1999, archaeologists working in Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany discovered the head of a 35,000-year-old ivory figurine, believed to depict a horse. Recent excavations have now produced part of the figurine’s missing body, which…
This ring is a significant discovery because it represents the earliest gold object from a clear and well-dated context discovered in this region so far.
This identification of Cornish gold in Central Europe indicates that there was probably contact between these two regions during the Bronze Age, and perhaps even a well-established trade route.
The discovery of the gold object in an Early Bronze Age grave was unusual, as precious metals are rare in the region at this date.
At a time of food scarcity, obesity became a desirable condition… the Venus figurines represented an ideal body type.