Franfurt's Archeological Museum

We heard there was a temporary exhibit at the Archaologisches Museum in Frankfurt  and knowing the weather and roads were not conducive for travel, we opted to have a look.  It turned out to be much to my liking.  This collection and the artifacts covering a period of 36 thousand years from the neolithic through 1000 AD gave ample evidence that Germany has much to offer in terms of significant early finds.  For example the the lionheaded figurine at the right is one of the oldest human sculptures in the World.  It was found in 1939 in Germany.  The original is now on display in the Ulmer Museum (City Museum of Ulm) but some other museums own a copy of this unique find.  It is carved out of mammoth ivory and has a noted curve to it. The age 32,000 years was determined by nuclear dating and by comparing it with other finds in the same dig horizon.  This was significant because it represents the oldest large frame carving of its kind in the world.  
     The one on the left is the oldest
known human picture found in Europe; it is a very small ivory plate with a humanoid engraving on one side.  It was found in 1979 in Germany.  The material again is mammoth ivory and it was dated 35,000 years old, 3,000 years older than the lion head.  It is believed this was worn as an amulet and there are mysterious engravings on the back. The interpretation of the engraving suggest some kind of star map of the constellation of Orion and contains many bright stars.  The dots on the back could be used to aim at the stars and thus orient using the constellation of Orion as a guide.  It might have been an early compass.  The figurine on the right is of an elephant again carved from a
mammoth tusk and is one the oldest carving found in the same area, demonstrating that the paleolithic culture had the means and sophistication to produce these and similar works of art.
From the early stone age, people have been living and building in the central part of Germany.  There have been mounds discovered that revealed the sites and structures of inhabitants living 7,000 years ago.  For centuries the same site was used and reused.
One of the premier archeologists of this area is an American - Michael Joachim.. His digs, research and cumulative studies have contributed a great body of knowledge about the early inhabitants of Europe.  I have included his home page which has a well done visual of his digs and findings with fascinating background.
Another bit of archeological trivia that proves noteworthy is the uncovering of remains of an English princess in Germany - a 1000 year old Princess Diana.  The story behind her life and the circumstances leading to the discovery of her remains make for some interesting reading.

There is one other site worth mentioning; England has its Stonehenge, Germany has a similar site, unknown to most, that predates it by almost 2,000 years.  This stuff obviously captures my interest.  It seems it captures the interest of a good number of Germans as well.   I now know there are five or six comparable museums in Germany to visit and before I am through I hope to have visited most of them. My only regret is that most of the museums have only German scripts- not easy for this neophyte to decipher.

The main exhibit at the museum was a temporary exhibit [Tim and Ashton you may enjoy this]. We saw the Bayeux Tapestry (unfortunately a replica - the original is in Normandy) with accompanying museum pieces from throughout Germany relating the story of the 'last viking'.  The invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy, which culminated in the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066, is considered historically as the 'last Viking raid.'   The history and the development of this conquest are related in a colourful, dramatic images and text on a tapestry.  It was in French and was close to a half the size of the original  (70 meters long and 50 centimetres wide.)  The one we saw included a script in French and German.  Fortunately I could read the French so I shared the story with Arendje as we followed the storyline through images.  The original was embroidered entirely on cotton.  It depicted elements of Norman and Norwegian culture of 1000 years ago.  I have included this link as it gives a full representation of what we saw and also tells the story.  You can relive our Saturday morning January 30th 2010, and go back a thousand years into the past.  Have fun!