Discipline studying the human past through material remains. - Stone-constructed church uncovered within fortified settlement.
Diggers stumbled upon a fortified settlement complete with a house of worship and a residential building close to Memleben (Burgenland area). According to Felix Biermann, the project overseer at the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology, he disclosed on a Tuesday that a densely crowded neighborhood was cordoned off by a square trench approximately 240 by 170 meters in width. The access points at the north and west were supposedly protected with rock constructions. Inside the boundary, two big stone structures were discovered to the west of the fortifications.
During the Middle Ages, a 16-meter-long, solitary-nave church with an eastern, semi-circular apse and a western extension featuring a cellar formed the grounds. The church succeeded an earlier, less than nine-meter-long sacred building. It also had a dense cemetery with head niche tombs and stone sarcophagi from the 10th to 12th century.
To the west of the fortifications, a 17 by 6.5 meter-long stone house was positioned at a right angle to the church. Its immensely substantial walls were overhauled and enlarged numerous times throughout the course of history. "In the late Middle Ages, metalworkers plied their trade in the remnants, leaving behind several furnaces," said Biermann. Plus, a pit house and multiple service pits give evidence of habitation near the rock buildings.
Extravagant artifacts found on the spot signify settlements from the 9th to the 14th century. In addition to Slavic pottery with wave patterns and an Ottonian era brooch, high and late Middle Ages ball pots were also unearthed. Metal knife sheath clamps, darts from crossbow bolts, medieval silver coins, a Gothic key, and a late medieval pilgrim's symbol illustrating a crowned sovereign were also found. CuriositySeekers have been digging in the place of the ancient church in Memleben since 2017. "The LDA is implementing a research study there and in the neighboring region to understand an Ottonian key central point from the time of medieval traveling monarchy," elaborated state archaeologist Harald Meller. "This endeavor also includes this current burrowing."
The goal of the study is not only to recognize and analyze the manor, consisting of the palatium, meeting hall, and palatine church, but also to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate infrastructure linked to such a ruling center, which encompassed not only the palace itself but also citadels or castles, possibly marketplaces, and assistant and supply settlements.
This also entails clarifying the connection between the newly-investigated site to the Ottonian precursor building of Otto II's monumental church, which was archaeologically recorded on the monastery premises last year. Similar to that, the identification of the settlement with one of the written records of the defunct villages of Wenigen-Memleben and Odesfurt, deserted in the late Middle Ages, is underway.
In the 10th century, there was an imperial palace and a monastery in Memleben. The first emperor of the Germans, Otto the Great (912-973), died in Memleben as did his dad, Henry I (876-936). The massive outlines of the first monastery church, 80 meters long and 39.5 meters wide, can still be seen today.
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Source: www.stern.de
