The remains of a Bronze Age violent conflict (ca. 1200 BC) in the Tollense valley, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the light of archaeological and anhropological research

• Applicants: Dr. Detlef Jantzen; Professor Dr. Thomas Terberger
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2010 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 175097944

During the 1990s two wooden weapons, together with human skeletal remains and horse bones, were discovered in the Tollense Valley north of Altenteptow (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Traces of violence on the human remains, dated to around 1300 calBC, demonstrate the exceptional character of the archaeological material. Since 2010 intensive research by an interdisciplinary team has been conducted on several sites in the area, following the thesis that the finds represent the remains of a Bronze Age violent conflict. Surveys and excavations on land, systematic underwater surveys and metal detector prospections as well as anthropological analyses, geoscientific and botanical studies and further scientific investigations helped to characterise the find area and the exceptionally well preserved finds. Accordingly, horse and human bones, often found together with arrowheads, are represented in a stretch of river 2.5 km long (linear distance). The human remains documented so far go back to more than 120 individuals, primarily young men; all in all, several hundred individuals are likely to be assumed for the river valley as a whole. The bodies, together with weapons, e.g. wooden clubs and arrowheads, were originally deposited in the bed or shallow areas of the river and later slightly relocated by fluvial processes. The unusual composition of the material and the exceptional rate of injuries indicate that the initial deposition of the find material goes back to a major violent incident. Valuable finds and heavily injured individuals raise the question, whether ritual acts could have influenced the formation of the find layer. Concerning the great number of individuals represented and the remarkable quantity of bronze objects (period II-III) a possible role of the Tollense Valley in Bronze Age trade can be discussed. This hypothesis is emphasised by evidence for a valley crossing a few hundred metres further south: Remains of a wooden construction dating to 1400-1200 calBC and a trackway dating to the 18th century calBC indicate a route established over centuries. Probably the valley crossing, connected to the importance of the Tollense Valley in Bronze Age infrastructure, can be seen as a reason for a violent conflict of a scale hitherto unknown for the period. Following a preliminary projection we can imagine that originally 3000-6000 combatants were participating in the conflict. Healed lesions indicate considerable experience with violence during several individuals lives, raising the question, whether a professional background should be assumed. Considering the dimensions as well as scientific evidence for individuals of heterogeneous origins, the conflict in the Tollense Valley seems to have been of supraregional importance in a time of transition in Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Jörg Orschiedt; Professor Dr. Jürgen Piek