Research

In 1969, earthworks were carried out on the banks of the Jeetzel (a tributary of the Elbe) for the first time. No one could have guessed what surprises were gradually emerging – until the first ceramic shards and soil-discolourations came to light. They left no room for doubt: people had already lived here thousands of years ago.

Experimental archaeology

Archaeological excavation

Publications

Experimental archaeology

We work actively in the field of “experimental archaeology”: Experimental archeology means scientifically testing theories and considerations about certain problems in their function and getting closer to the original state. The goal, the question, is formulated precisely and is checked in a comprehensible, measurable and documented series of tests. This is not the popular didactic method of “living archaeology”, which aims to illustrate the techniques and working methods for visitors.

All Bronze Age longhouses were reconstructed based on the results of archaeological excavations. The construction was largely carried out under experimental conditions. Different materials which were commonly used in the Bronze Age were especially tested. Bronze Age techniques were used and even replicas from the tools used during that time, specifically made for this purpose, were used in individual work steps. The trouble was worth it.

The houses offer an impressive sight. They are accessible to all visitors and provide a direct and concrete expression of the construction technology and craftsmanship of the time. In addition to the display, the open-air museum continues to be a place for training, research and teaching. Seminars take place within the museum and experiments are continually carried out to test craft techniques and procedures for reconstructing archaeological findings.

The museum is an active member in the European Exchange on Archaeological Research and Communication (EXARC) and in the European Association for the Promotion of Experimental Archeology (EXAR).

Archaeological excavation

What has been discovered?

With the demolition of the former sewage treatment plant on the southern edge of the city of Hitzacker (Elbe) in 1968/69, the story of discovering one of the largest Bronze Age settlements in northern Germany began. During the demolition the first archaeological features were documented by the then district archaeologist Dr. Klaus Voss. Further research and rescue excavations followed, documenting a 1,300-year settlement history from the Late Neolithic (2,200 BC) to the beginning of the Iron Age (approx. 700 BC). In addition to search trenches and test pits, the areas of construction for the new district road, a supermarket and ultimately the entire area of today’s open-air museum were archaeological excavated.

What all prehistoric remains have in common is the fact that the original surface of occupation was preserved nowhere, and subsequently the only features that could be documented were approximately 30 cm below the former surface.

Additionally it has been almost impossible to establish any chronological and functional concurrence of the features based on the stratigraphy. The features were dated based on the finds within the pits or the typology of Bronze Age longhouses.

Two different horizons of features were documented during the excavations: at the top an early medieval (Slavic) horizon, which will be neglected at this point, and a prehistoric horizon underneath, which will be discussed in more detail here. Both horizons were separated from each other by a band of sand, which was only a few centimetres thick in some places.

The excavations revealed a high density of settlement traces such as house plans, settlement pits, post pits, fireplaces and even a hoard find. They suggested that about three to six houses stood simultaneously on the former branch of the river Elbe. This is a lvery arge settlement for this early period, as before its discovery we only knew of individual farms with a maximum of two farms at the same time. (e. g. Assendorp 1989, Sommerfeld 1992).

Exhibition

In order to tangibly explain the house plans of the prehistoric settlement, which are hard to recognize even for experts, we have built three different longhouses as walk-in, life-size models. The construction was made possible with the help of experimental archeologists, craftsmen, structural engineers and architects. The entire museum grounds were landscaped with trees and plants that have been proven to be from the Bronze Age.

Publications

Assendorp 1989: Jan Joost Assendorp, Das Hitzacker-See-Projekt und die Archäologie. Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 4/1989, 183-191.

Assendorp 1990a: Jan Joost Assendorp, Der älteste Fund aus Hitzacker. Archäologie in Deutschland 3/1990, 41.

Assendorp 1990b: Jan Joost Assendorp, Grabungsschutzgebiet und Archäologisches Reservat. Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 4/1990, 183-187.

Assendorp 1991a: Jan Joost Assendorp, Hausgrundrisse mit Wandgräbchen aus Hitzacker. In: W. Jürries (Hrsg.), Beiträge zur Archäologie und Geschichte Nordostniedersachsens – Berndt Wachter zum 70. Geburtstag. Schriftenreihe des Heimatkundlichen Arbeitskreises Lüchow-Dannenberg 8 (Lüchow 1991), 95-108.

Braun 2022: Ulrike Braun, Entwicklung archäologischer Freilichtmuseen am Beispiel des Archäologischen Zentrums Hitzacker. In: Archäologie in Niedersachsen Band 25, Oldenburg (Hg. Archäologische Kommission für Niedersachsen e. V.), 2022, S. 112 – 116

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Assendorp 1991b: Jan Joost Assendorp, Bronzezeitliche Besiedlung in Hitzacker. Archäologie in Deutschland 3/1991, 49-50.

Assendorp 1994: Jan Joost Assendorp, Zwischen Ausgrabung und Auswertung – acht Jahre Archäologie am Hitzacker-See. Hannoversches Wendland 14, 1992/93 (Lüchow 1994), 81-96.

Assendorp 1996: Jan Joost Assendorp, Asterix an der Elbe? Die Popularisierung von Ausgrabungsergebnissen im Archäologischen Zentrum Hitzacker. In: M. Fansa und Chr. Lamschus (Hrsg.), Museen im Wandel. Entwicklungen und Perspektiven in der niedersächsischen Museumslandschaft – Festschrift für H.-G. Peters (Lüneburg 1996), 100-113.

Assendorp 1997: Jan Joost Assendorp, Die bronzezeitliche Siedlung in Hitzacker, Niedersachsen. In: Jan Joost Assendorp (Hrsg.), Forschungen zur bronzezeitlichen Besiedlung in Nord- und Mitteleuropa. Espelkamp 1997, 51-59.

Assendorp 2010: Jan Joost Assendorp, Bronzezeitliche Bauern an der Elbe. Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 1/2010, 19–22.

Braun + Assendorp 2019: Ulrike Braun + Jan Joost Assendorp Das Archäologische Zentrum Hitzacker – Bronzezeit an der Elbe. In: Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 39.Jahrgang, Heft/2019, Veröffentlichung des Niedersächsischen Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hannover, 2019, S. 216 – 219

Braun 2012: Ulrike Braun, Phönix aus der Asche – ein jungbronzezeitliches Haus entsteht. Archäologie in Deutschland 1/2012, 6-8.

Braun 2011: Ulrike Braun, 20 Jahre Archäologisches Zentrum Hitzacker: von der Grabung zum archäologischen Freilichtmuseum, Halle /Saale. In: Beiträge zur Urund Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas 63, Varia neolithica VII 2011:5 – 8

Holsten e. a. 1991: Hermann Holsten/Regina Kaphan-Herzfeld/Arne Lucke/Frank Nikulka, Der Nachbau eines vorgeschichtlichen Langhauses am Hitzacker-See.Archäologischer Befund und bauliche Rekonstruktion. Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 2/1991, 64-67.

Linnemann 2011: Sophie Linnemann, Die slawischen Befunde am Hitzacker-See, Ldkr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. In: Karl-Heinz Willroth und Jens Schneeweiß (Hrsg.), Slawen an der Elbe. Göttinger Forschungen zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Bd. 1 (Göttingen 2011), S. 147-203.

Lüdke 1980: Hartwig Lüdke, Der mehrperiodige Siedlungsplatz von Hitzacker (Elbe), Ldkr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. Vorbericht über die Grabung 1979. Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 49, 1980, 131-152.

Lüdke 1980/81: Hartwig Lüdke, Der Fund zweier Töpferöfen innerhalb der mehrphasigen Siedlung von Hitzacker/Elbe, Kr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. Hannoversches Wendland 8 1980/81, 85-100.

Meyer 1993: Michael Meyer, Pevestorf 19. Ein mehrperiodiger Fundplatz im Landkreis Lüchow-Dannenberg. Veröffentlichungen der urgeschichtlichen Sammlungen des Landesmuseums zu Hannover 41 (Oldenburg 1993).

Moser 1994: Andrea Moser, Zur zeitlichen Stellung der “Riesenbecher” des Hannoverschen Wendlandes. Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 63, 1994, 3-38.

Nikulka 1991a: Frank Nikulka, Drei Grundrisse vom mehrphasigen Siedlungsplatz Hitzacker-See, Ldkr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. Vorbericht zu den Grabungskampagnen 1989 und 1990. Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 60, 1991, 89-99.

Nikulka 1991b: Frank Nikulka, Einige Bemerkungen zur funktionalen Interpretation slawischer und frühmittelalterlicher Grubenhäuser. In: W. Jürries (Hrsg.), Beiträge zur Archäologie und Geschichte Nordostniedersachsens – Berndt Wachter zum 70. Geburtstag. Schriftenreihe des Heimatkundlichen Arbeitskreises Lüchow-Dannenberg 8 (Lüchow 1991), 109-120.

Nikulka/Wachter 1992: Frank Nikulka und Berndt Wachter, Bodenmarken an jungslawischer Keramik aus einem frühmittelalterlichen Graben vom mehrperiodigen Siedlungsplatz Hitzacker-See, Ldkr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 61, 1992, 81-94.

Sommerfeld 1992: Christoph Sommerfeld, Archäologische Ausgrabungen “Hitzacker-See” – Übersicht über die wichtigsten Funde und Befunde der Kampagne 1991 – kein Vorbericht. Hannoversches Wendland 13, 1989/90/91 (Lüchow 1992), 167-186.

Sommerfeld 1993: Christoph Sommerfeld, Hortfund mit Steinstele. Archäologie in Deutschland 1/1993, 49-50.

Sommerfeld 1994: Christoph Sommerfeld, Ein mittelbronzezeitlicher Hortfund aus Hitzacker, Ldkr. Lüchow-Dannenberg. Zur Deutung der Quelle “Hort” in der Bronzezeit. Berichte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 1/1994, 9-15.

Voss 1969: Klaus Ludwig Voss, Vorbericht über die Teiluntersuchung eines Siedlungsplatzes an der Jeetzel bei Hitzacker, Kreis Lüchow-Dannenberg. Hannoversches Wendland 1, 1969, 47-50.

Voss 1970: Klaus Ludwig Voss, Zum Stand der archäologischen Untersuchungen auf dem Hasenberg von Pevestorf, Kreis Lüchow-Dannenberg. Hannoversches Wendland 2, 1970, 7-12.

Voss 1975: Klaus Ludwig Voss, Bericht über das Ergebnis der Ausgrabung in Pevestorf, Kr. Lüchow-Dannenberg, Fundplatz Nr. 19. Archiv des Niedersächsischen Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege in Hannover/Lüneburg, 1975.

Experimental archaeology

What has been discovered?

Exhibition

Publications

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