State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-AnhaltThis 5,000-year-old skeleton of a man with an injured skull was discovered in a Corded Ware kiln pit in Gerstewitz.For members of the Corded Ware culture, an archaeological category that spans several European civilizations from the Late Neolithic Age to the Early Bronze Age, a kiln was more than just a tool for firing household pottery.Archaeologists have seen evidence of ritual practice involving these kilns. And while such evidence rarely involves human remains, researchers in Germany recently discovered the 5,000-year-old skeleton of an injured man inside a Corded Ware kiln pit.This find is so unusual and macabre, in fact, that experts think the man could have been the victim of a human sacrifice.The Neolithic Skeleton Found Inside A Kiln In Central GermanyBefore constructing an important power line that will run underground through central Germany, archaeologists are investigating along the route for historical discoveries that would require preservation.While excavating near the village of Gerstewitz, archaeologists unearthed the Neolithic skeleton at a newly-discovered Corded Ware kiln grave, according to a statement from Germanys Science Information Service.Experts have dated the site to somewhere between 2900 and 2050 B.C.E. The team also determined the man to be around 25 years old when he died.dpa Picture-AllianceThe man suffered a skull injury that may or may not have been related to his cause of death.The kiln pit in which the man was buried had two connected underground chambers. He was laid to rest lying on his right side in a crouched position while facing south, a position that the team said is typical for male burials in the Corded Ware culture.The mans upper body also looked as though it had been moved from his original position, which indicates to the researchers that he may have been buried upon a layer of some sort of organic matter, such as plant or animal remains which then decayed some time after the burial.The mans skull also showed visible evidence of an injury that clearly damaged the bone. But experts remain unsure whether this had something to do with his cause of death.What The Discovery Of This Possible Human Sacrifice Victim Could Reveal About The Corded Ware CultureThis discovery comes after archaeologists excavated another site near Gerstewitz in 2025 and found 12 sacrificial pits. These pits contained the remains of burnt houses, animal bones, human skulls, and intact pottery that had likely been placed there as a ritualistic offering. The team also found a burial of two bodies in a converted oven pit, which suggested that all of this was evidence of some sort of complex funerary ritual.Although that find is similar to the new one, the team attributed the prior discovery to an earlier group, the Salzmnde culture, which is a regional variant of the Funnelbeaker culture that dates to somewhere between 3400 and 3050 B.C.E.With little precedent for the discovery made in Gerstewitz, this skeleton is now opening up new questions about Corded Ware burial rites and potential sacrificial practices.dpa Picture-AllianceArchaeologists said the man buried in the kiln pit may have been a human sacrifice.The Corded Ware culture is named for the cord-like designs and impressions found on its pottery. Although the culture spread across wide swaths of Northern Europe, its archaeological sites are always easy to spot because this group had very distinctive graves and burial practices.Almost always, women were buried lying down on their left side, while men were buried on their right, and every person was buried in a crouched position. These specific rules have even led some to refer to the Corded Ware culture as the Single Grave culture.The man found in Gerstewitz mostly conforms to this pattern, but the fact that he had an injured skull is unusual, as is the fact that he was buried in a kiln pit.The archaeologists offered up three potential reasons for this odd variety of burial. One possible explanation is that the man was a victim of murder via a violent skull injury and that he was hidden in the pit to conceal the crime. Another potential explanation is that the man was a warrior who was quickly thrown into the kiln pit for a burial of convenience during or just after an intense battle.The third explanation is that the man was a victim of human sacrifice who was placed in the kiln pit deliberately in a certain kind of ritual practice. The archaeological team had seen such things before in other Corded Ware kilns, but with the skeletons of cattle or dogs instead.Although human sacrifice is a possibility, the team said that more lab analysis must be done to determine the accuracy of the theory. If, after further analysis, the human sacrifice theory does seem the most plausible, it would shed important light on the religious and ritualistic practices of the Corded Ware culture, and thus open pathways for future discoveries and research.The excavation that found the man in Gerstewitz is set to continue until at least 2027, when the power line is expected to be finished.After reading about the possible human sacrifice found inside a 5,000-year-old kiln, learn about historys biggest mass child sacrifice found in Peru. Then, learn all about the prehistoric monument known as Germanys Stonehenge where ritual child sacrifice may have occurred.The post Power Line Construction In Germany Just Turned Up The 5,000-Year-Old Skeleton Of A Man Who Was Thrown Into A Kiln In A Possible Human Sacrifice appeared first on All That's Interesting.