During excavation of an industrial park earmarked for a new Intel facility near Magdeburg, German archaeologists stumbled upon a complex ancient burial ground, featuring a chariot grave among other remarkable findings.

Located approximately 100 miles west of Berlin in the Eulenberg municipality, the site, where construction of two semiconductor plants is scheduled to commence later this year, has been under scrutiny by archaeologists from the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt since 2023.

Preparatory to the construction project, researchers uncovered burial mounds dating back to the Neolithic period, nestled beneath a small hill within the industrial park.

Described as “monumental mounds,” these burial sites, estimated to be around 6,000 years old, conceal wooden grave chambers hosting multiple burials, CBS News reported.

Among the fascinating discoveries is a chariot grave, where ritualistic practices involving sacrificial cattle and human burials were observed, mimicking a cart or plow pulled by animals.

These findings, heralded as “spectacular” by the state heritage office, indicate a prolonged significance of the landscape for prehistoric communities.

One of the burial mounds has been linked to the Baalberg group, an ancient Neolithic culture that flourished in central Germany between 4100 and 3600 B.C.E.

This mound comprises two sizable trapezoidal burial chambers constructed from wood, with a connecting corridor believed to have served as a procession route for settlers in subsequent centuries.

Along this route, archaeologists unearthed pairs of sacrificed young cattle, positioned alongside the remains of a man aged between 35 and 40 years old, whose grave was meticulously arranged to evoke the imagery of a chariot.

According to the heritage office, such ritualistic graves symbolize offerings of the most prized possessions, safeguarding one’s livelihood, to the gods.

Written by B.C. Begley