2023-09-19 10:49:00
Berlin archaeologists in mid-September presented the rarest and most unusual find made during excavations in the area of the city’s oldest market – the historical Molkenmarkt square. Work has been going on for about four years in preparation for the construction of a new quarter – on the site of one destroyed during the Second World War.
The excavations, which involve eighteen specialists, are scheduled to be completed in 2025. The construction project will then take an estimated ten years to complete.
Photo of a neighborhood destroyed during World War II Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa/picture alliance
What has already been found near the Red Town Hall?
So far, about 300 thousand artifacts from different periods have already been discovered in the Molkenmarkt area – from flint products from the Middle Stone Age (8-10 thousand years ago) to numerous objects from the Middle Ages.
Particular attention was drawn, in particular, to the 13th century log flooring, which turned out to be the oldest street in Berlin. Among others are the remains of a steam power station from 1889 and fragments of the decoration of the facade of the Red Town Hall located next door – fragments from the war.
In 2022, at the site of a large cesspool, which was probably used for a long time as a public latrine, during excavations many leather and other objects from the mid-14th century were found – in particular, the remains of shoes and clothing, a belt decorated with silver, tiles , coins, dice and two hundred kilograms of window glass.
Excavations at Molkenmarkt. Photo gallery
“Berlin Ring”
The sensational discovery, which is now being reported by the city archaeological department, was located approximately three meters deep at the bottom of a covered well. We are talking about a gold ring from around the 14th century, decorated with pyrope. This dark red Bohemian garnet measures 0.7 centimeters by one centimeter and has a cabochon shape – a convex polished surface without edges.
On the sides of the ring there are two elements in the form of golden flowers; one of them contains a light stone, the exact type of which has not yet been determined. The second flower has no stone.
The scientific director of the excavations, Eberhard Völker, considers this discovery unique, since such old rings have not been discovered in Berlin until now. Next year, the Berliner Ring, as it is called, will be part of a special exhibition at the Archaeological House on Petriplatz.
Archaeologist Eberhard Völker at the excavation site Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa/picture alliance
Ceramic fragments discovered nearby in the same layer, as well as comparisons with medieval rings found earlier in other places in Germany – in particular, in Erfurt and Dortmund, helped determine the age of this medieval jewelry of the 13th-14th centuries. During the Late Middle Ages, valuable jewelry of this kind were symbols of high status – for example, they belonged to bishops or other very wealthy people.
Whether this ring was a wedding ring – experts cannot give a definitive answer to this question, but usually the wedding rings of this time depicted two hands holding each other. There is no such element on this decoration.
How could the ring end up at the bottom? There are two hypotheses about this. According to the main one, it could simply jump off the finger while scooping water from a bucket. However, it is possible that they got rid of him after the adultery as if from an evil omen – they threw him into a deep well.
View of the Molkenmarkt square in Berlin from the window of the Red Town Hall in 1998 Photo: Florian Profitlich/akg-images/picture alliance
Molkenmarkt
“Whey market” – Molkenmarkt is the oldest square in Berlin. The history of this place, from which the settlement of the urban area near the Spree River began, dates back about eight centuries.
The area around the square was destroyed during World War II. After the war the area was cleared and used as a roadway.
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