‘The Mayor’ buried 6,800 years ago with drinks and food for afterlife discovered in Bavaria

About 6,800 years ago, a high-status individual, dubbed "The Mayor," was buried with an amazing collection of riches and provisions near the Bavarian town of Eichendorf, southern Germany. Last week, archaeologists unearthed the grave close to Munich and the southeastern borders with Austria and the Czech Republic.

The discovery, made last week by district archaeologists excavating in the village of Exing, revealed the Middle Neolithic remains buried with significant grave goods. These included food and drink for the afterlife, body painting dyes, a stone axe, a stone adze, and a halved boar's tooth. 

These items, as per Live Science, suggest that the individual held a prominent position, potentially as an elder or chieftain. Thanks to this, archaeologists have dubbed him "The Mayor".

As of now, they do not know whether 'The Mayor' was a man or a woman, or how old they were at the time of their death.

The individual was buried in a squatting position, surrounded by several vessels, whose original contents remain unknown. 

A personal drinking vessel and stone blades were also placed in the grave.

The skeleton of "The Mayor" will now be examined by an anthropologist and photographed to create a precise 3D model using photogrammetry, a technique that stitches multiple digital images together to form a virtual model.

Florian Eibl, a district archaeologist, in conversation with German outlet Der Spiegel said that finding human remains from this period in this location is rare. Only a few Neolithic skeletons have survived, he noted. 

The grave's contents, as per Eibl, imply that the individual was older and of special status and had likely earned their wealth and position over their lifetime.

He further speculated that the boar's tooth, split in two, likely served as a container for a flint blade and fire-making tools, symbolising the dangerous prestige of boar hunting at the time. 

Archaeologists have been working on excavations at Exing since 2023, ahead of residential development. The site has yielded spectacular finds spanning 7,000 years, from the Neolithic to the Copper and Bronze Ages, including gold jewelry. The area's rich settlements, like Köthingeichendorf, Eibl said were significant centers of importance throughout Europe during the Neolithic period.

(With inputs from agencies)