Isolated human skull vaults from the Linear Pottery Culture burial site at Niederpöring (administrative district Deggendorf, Bavaria, Germany)

Abstract

The skeletal remains of 18 human individuals were recovered in the course of archaeological excavations in a construction area at Niederpöring-“Leitensiedlung” (administrative district Deggendorf, Bavaria, Germany). All inhumations date into the late phase of the Early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture. A small burial site made up of seven of these burials was located next to the contemporaneous settlement area and is outstanding because of the particularly rich grave goods. In the settlement area itself, three pits with burials were documented. Feature 61 with the remains of nine adult individuals is exceptional in so far as four individuals had been subject to the same ritual. The dead had obviously been deliberately killed, their skulls were opened and skull-cups were manufactured which were finally deposited in the pit together with other skeletal remains. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were typical for a mixed diet at that time. Apatite 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios revealed several immigrants to the site, especially with regard to feature 61.