Urgeschichte und Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie

Excavations in Götzenhain, Hessen

A joint project of the Universität Tübingen (Dr. Jordi Serangeli) and the Universität Greifwald (PD Dr. Th. Terberger) and the support of the  Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege Hessen.

 

Since 2005

Götzenhein (district of Dreieich) is a town in Southern Hessia located in the northern region of the Oden forest. Due to its elevated location (192 m) it remains dry throughout the year and is located conveniently in the Rhein-Main-watershed. The surroundings can be viewed in three directions. During the pleistocene, the Main ran further south than today, through the Neu-Isenburg gate, only a few km away from Götzenhain. This means the area connected the north-south aligned Oden forest and the east-west aligned Taunus. 

 

Research history

The two Magdalénien surface find sites Götzenhain-Ost (I) and Götzenhain-Nord (II) were discovered by volunteer ground monument conservationalist Walter Raffius during his regular surveys near Dreieich-Götzenhain in 1971. Angela Rosenstein first mentioned the site in a publication in 1998. In October 2005, the site was formally located, working together with the help of Raffius. In October 2006, in cooperation with the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen surveys were conducted and trial trenches opened. 

 

Current research goals

The goal of the field work was to record the extent of the find scatter, examine the homogeneity of the find categories and determine the state of a possible find layer in regard of the agricultural use of the land. In Göthenhain-Ost (I), a find layer was discovered; the trial trench in Götzenhain-Nord (II) did not provide any insights. The findings drawn from Götzenhain-Ost (I) will soon be published (Serangeli, Terberger in preparation).

Literature

Fiedler, L. 1994. Alt- und mittelsteinzeitliche Funde in Hessen. Führer zur hessischen Vor- und Frühgeschichte.

Rosenstein, A. 1998. Vor mehr als 12.000 Jahren - Jäger und Sammler des Magdalénien in Dreieich. Landschaft Dreieich, Blätter für Heimatforschung 1998, 17-32.

Serangeli, J., Terberger, Th. 2007. Sondierungen an der Magdalénien-Fundstelle von Götzenhain-Ost bei Dreieich, Kreis Offenbach. Mittelungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 15. academia