Two miniature clay wheels discovered in 4,000 year-old child's grave in Bavaria

In Swabia, archaeologists have discovered unusual burial objects in a children's grave from the Copper Age. The 4000 to 5000 year old grave contained two clay miniature wheels.

The small wheels discovered in Wallenstein during construction work date back to the Copper Age
[Credit: Bavarian State Office for Heritage Conservation]

"Until now, comparable miniature wheels from this period have rarely been found in settlements and only individually and without any closer functional connection," the Bavarian State Office for Monuments announced on Wednesday at the presentation of the find.

In Bavaria it was the first discovered pair of miniature wheels from this period. The excavations took place in a future building site of the municipality Wallerstein (district Donau-Ries).

The two wheels with a diameter of five centimetres were so fragile that they were recovered by the scientists together with the surrounding earth. The find has now been sent to a restoration workshop of the State Office before it is uncovered and the clay wheels examined in detail.

Based on the teeth the age of the child buried in the grave is estimated to be about seven years.

"The purpose of these wheels is still unknown," said a spokeswoman for the monument office. "In the past, similar finds had only been made in graves in the Carpathians."

The archaeologists believe that the miniature wheels were not toys but were placed in the dead child's grave as a symbolic or cultic offering.

Source: Welt [trsl. TANN, August 11, 2019]