An Iron Age Tomb Full Of Treasures Uncovered In Germany

Archaeologists discovered an Iron Age tomb abounding with treasures that were adorned with gold, bronze and amber in ancient southern Germany at a hill fort known as Heuneburg in 583 B.C. The treasures include jewels that surrounded the skeleton of a woman, who probably died between the age of 30 and 40 and was believed to be a priestess.

The researchers said that the woman might be an elite member of the Celtic society that buried her. There were also a petrified sea urchin and ammonite in the grave. These indicate that the woman would likely be a kind of priestess, according to the lead researcher, Dirk Krausse, an archaeologist for the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg.

Iron Age tomb in southern Germany with treasures of gold, bronze, and amber. Celtic woman was buried in 583 BC. https://t.co/L2tVgHv8pR

— Jennifer K Cosham (@Jenniearcheo) January 31, 2017

Among the treasures that were found are sophisticated jewelry made of gold, amber and bronze, an ornament made from boars' horns, piles of furs and textiles, carved boxwood objects, bronze jingle bells that would have adorned a horse's chest, a belt made of bronze and leather, and bracelets carved from black stone. The jewelry and the belt wrapped the skeleton of the elite woman, according to Fox News.

Hoard of Buried Treasure Discovered in Iron Age German Tomb - https://t.co/R2NqPyx3vx pic.twitter.com/BKpqgSk5Ae — Mysterious Universe (@mysteriousuniv) January 28, 2017

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the chamber was a skeleton of another woman that measured 5 feet and 1 inch tall with a few pieces of bronze jewelry. Krausse said that the skeleton might have belonged to a servant.

The team also found a 1.3-foot-long bronze sheet decorated with circle at the feet of the second woman. It might be the remains of an iron horse bit as revealed in a computed tomography (CT) scan. The team theorized that the sheet would likely be a chamfron, which is a piece of metal that covers a horse's forehead.

Heuneberg is known as a prehistoric hill fort near the Danube River. Krausse told Live Science that the Celtic city-state was likely founded in the sixth century B.C. Also, it is thought that even the famous Greek Philosopher Herodotus (circa 484 B.C. to 425 B.C.) mentioned it while writing about the history of the Danube River.