Construction in Germany Revealed the 'Princely Grave' of a Celtic Warrior Who Was Buried With Weapons and a Two-Wheeled Wagon

Meilan Solly | Senior Associate Digital Editor, History

Add as preferred source. The two-wheeled wagon found in the grave is a particularly rare find. Udo Recker / Lf DH In the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., a high-ranking Celt was buried in what is now Hessen, Germany. The Iron Age individual was laid to rest with a rich array of grave goods, including gold jewelry, an Etruscan jug and a two-wheeled wagon. Based on the assortment of artifacts found in the grave, experts think that it once held the remains of an elite male warrior.

Archaeologists discovered the burial while conducting excavations tied to the construction of a solar farm near the town of Bad Camberg. According to a statement, the “princely grave” proves “the previously only assumed presence of a local Celtic elite.” The wagon—accompanied by wheel hub fittings, iron wheel rim fittings and metal axle caps—is a particularly rare find: Just three comparable burials have been recorded in Hessen to date, and none come close to the quality of the newly identified grave.