Großwild, Schwarzerden, Bodenschätze – 300.000 Jahre Kulturgeschichte im ressourcenreichen Braunschweiger Land (Exkursion I am 6. April 2018)

Brunswick district (“Braunschweiger Land”) has a convenient position between Harz Mountains and North German Plain with best soils and diverse resources (Salt, iron ore, brown coal, dimension stones, oil) and as a result is offering best conditions for human hunters and gatherers, tiller, grazier, miner, craftsmen and merchants. Therefore, on one hand the density of archaeological finds is very high and on the other hand the record of artefact findings reaches back to a time about 300.000 years ago: The “Schoeningen Spears” are the oldest known wooden hunting weapons of mankind. Beside the location of the Schoeningen spears and the museum palaeon where they are presented, the field trip leads to several other archaeological locations of international importance that are identified as regional milestones of human development: megalithic tombs in the Helmstedt district, Neolithic earthworks, bronze aged Castle Hünenburg, early medieval settlement at Petersteich, early medieval imperial palace of Werla and the Romanesque Castle of Süpplingenburg.