Overview
- Conservation work and CT imaging confirmed a remnant of a pine stake embedded in the aurochs skull recovered in summer 2025 from the Duvenseer Moor.
- The find lies only a few meters from a 2022/23 Mesolithic cremation burial regarded as the oldest known grave in northern Germany, indicating a shared early post‑glacial context.
- Researchers interpret the mounted skull as deliberate special treatment linked to funerary rites, noting it is distinct from a nearby large poplar post and unlike butchery waste seen at Bedburg‑Könighoven.
- Archaeologists transported the skull as a block to the Archaeological Museum in Schleswig, where conservators documented it before CT scanning with Fraunhofer partners at Comet YXLON in Hamburg.
- Further digs are scheduled for summer 2026 on landowner Paul Petersen’s property with state and museum authorities, with urgency cited because drying peat threatens remaining waterlogged evidence.