Archaeologists Unearth 'Shaman' Campsite From 9,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists have unearthed a 9,000-year-old campsite that may have been frequented by an ancient shaman.

The Middle Stone Age (otherwise known as the Mesolithic) site is located near the spa town of Bad Dürrenberg, Saxony-Anhalt state, in east Germany, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Researchers from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology began excavating the site after the discoveries of a conservationist who had been working in the area.

The volunteer conservationist, Wolfgang Bernhardt, had collected more than 7,000 stone artifacts from the ground surface at the site over five years.

"This is an immense amount of finds for a Mesolithic site and the flint artifacts are of enormous quality," archaeologist and project leader Jörg Orschiedt told the dpa.

The archaeologist said some of the stone artifacts found at the camp site correspond to finds from the tomb of the shaman, which is located nearby.

The camp site itself lies on a hilltop at an altitude of more than 300 feet. From here there is a clear view of the place where the shaman was buried.

The archaeologists think that the shaman may have belonged to the group that occupied the camp site, which may have been home to around a hundred Stone Age hunter-gatherers at any one time.

The shaman's grave was discovered by chance in Bad Dürrenberg in 1934 during the digging of a water pipe ditch.

The woman, who was aged around 30-35 by the time she died, was buried upright in a crouching position with a small child in front of her chest.

Her grave was elaborately designed and contained a wealth of artifacts, including a headdress made of deer antlers and animal teeth pendants. The evidence indicates that she was a spiritual figure and leader of her group.

Now, state archaeologists have been excavating the nearby campsite, on the hilltop, recovering numerous stone tools, bone and antler remains, as well as small flint points known as microliths.

The latter, which are typical of the Mesolithic, tend to measure just a few inches in size. They often functioned as arrowheads used for hunting, but had other uses as well.

"With the camp site... we are now getting our first insight into the lives of people at the time of the shaman," state archaeologist Harald Meller told the dpa. "We are adding another important piece of the puzzle to our picture of this era."

The archaeologists said the camp was likely used as a base for hunting activities, and that the surrounding areas will likely yield more finds from the period in future.

"People were still very mobile back then, and there are probably still numerous, previously unknown Mesolithic sites in the surrounding area that are not revealed by surface finds," said Orschiedt.

Newsweek has contacted the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology for comment.