The open trenches during the excavation in 2019.

Debates on social tensions, conflicts and hierarchies are repeatedly at the centre of interest within the well-known and highly complex Bronze Age societies in Central Germany. Fortified settlements, among other aspects, play an important role in these debates, as they can provide information on questions of connectivity and social conditions. In order to investigate the role of a settlement site within the diverse Early to Late Bronze Age landscape around Haldensleben, excavations were carried out in August 2019 at the fortified Bronze Age settlement Hundisbug-Olbetal. The site was already investigated in 2010 and 2011, but with a focus on the Funnel Beaker period settlement phase. In the course of these investigations, one of the ditches of the site was dated to the Bronze Age.
The excavations in the inner area of the trench were carried out between August 13th and 19th and pursued several objectives. Among these, the state of preservation of the features in the interior of the Bronze Age settlement, the character of these features, and finally their dating stood in the focus of the investigations. In the course of the excavations, several settlement features were documented. Due to the deep ploughing horizon, however, no cultural layers were preserved. Within several large settlement and waste pits, find material was recovered which indicates a Bronze Age dating. The material, which included coarse pottery, animal bone fragments and flint artefacts, is clearly related to settlement and everyday life. Two particularly deep and almost vertical pits can be mentioned as potential extraction pits. In combination with the promising recovered archaeobotanical find material, these finds will allow a more precise interpretation of the socio-economic character of the site.
In view of the findings documented in the test sections, the question of a more representative character of the fortification complex arises. In connection with the diachronic grave features of the region, the results of the excavation, as well as the trench features, will provide further insights into the role of conflicts in Middle to Late Bronze Age societies in the region of present-day Central Germany.

The location of the site and the trenches of the excavation in 2019 on a field close to Hundisburg. The outer ditches are part of Neolithic settlement activities.

One of the two excavated potential extraction pits. The pits are characterized by their narrow and straight shape.

One of the large settlement pits within one of the trenches. Finds from the double-pit contained typical settlement material consisting of animal bones, ceramic sherds and broken flint tools.

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Project by Maria Wunderlich m.wunderlich@ufg.uni-kiel.de