In Swabia, archaeologists have completely recovered an approximately 1300 year old child’s grave using shock freezing technology. As the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation reported on Wednesday, the method newly developed by the authority was used for the first time on Monday. In a new building area in Tussenhausen (Unterallgäu district), the grave was completely lifted out of the ground, including the soil.
This block was then transported to the restoration workshops of the Bamberg branch office of the state authority, where the grave will continue to be cooled for the time being. The freezing of the grave was intended to prevent the finds from slipping and being damaged during salvage. In the workshops, “the ice will be melted in a controlled manner” at a later date in order to further investigate the find.
In the 7th century grave was the skeleton of a boy who was buried with a dog. A sword and a belt decorated with gold fittings in the grave suggest that it was a child from wealthy circles. The finds are in “excellent condition” for the time. Bavaria’s general curator Mathias Pfeil particularly emphasized the importance of the leather and fabric remnants that have been preserved. “They promise highly interesting insights into the early medieval fashion world,” he said. High-quality textiles and decorated leather would have been of great importance for the representation of the status in the early Middle Ages.
The recovery took 14 hours
The whole tomb was frozen by the archaeologists. To do this, it was wetted with water and frozen with liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 196 degrees. Then a plate was pushed under the burial chamber and the grave “pulled out of the ground by a crane as if on a tray,” reported the state office. A restoration team, archaeologists and excavation technicians from the authority developed the method. The recovery took a total of 14 hours.
The excavations had taken place in a district of Tussenhausen in which ground monuments were suspected. The remains of a building dating back to Roman times were found there. The building was then used as a prominent burial place for the child a few centuries later. Jewelry such as silver bracelets and crosses made from gold sheet were also discovered in the tomb. In the further investigations, the experts now want to determine the boy’s age. Since the child still had milk teeth, the researchers assume that it is hardly older than ten years.