Archaeologists excavating a field in Brandenburg have uncovered an extraordinary square structure dating back almost 2,800 years — and evidence suggests it may have been the setting for communal feasts, ritual ceremonies and possibly animal sacrifice.
The discovery was made at Seddin, a village north-west of Berlin already renowned for one of Germany’s most significant Bronze Age burial sites.
Unearthed in September 2026, the structure measures approximately 10.6 metres from north to south and 11.4 metres from east to west. Archaeologists have dated it to around 850 BC, placing it firmly within the Late Bronze Age.
What makes the discovery particularly unusual is its shape.
Buildings from this period in northern Germany were typically long and rectangular. The almost perfectly square structure at Seddin therefore represents something archaeologists have not previously encountered in the region.
“We believe that this almost square building was used for cultic and ritual purposes,” said Franz Schopper, state archaeologist and director of Brandenburg’s regional heritage office.
Schopper has described the structure as a “Templum” — a building apparently associated with ceremonial or religious activity.
Evidence of ancient rituals
The building itself is only part of the mystery.
Excavations around it have revealed pits containing unusually large quantities of Late Bronze Age pottery. Some of the vessels are exceptionally large, with rim diameters exceeding 50 centimetres.
Researchers believe the discoveries could indicate that sizeable groups of people gathered at the site to eat and drink together.
Numerous animal bones have also been uncovered, many of which appear to have been deliberately burned.
Exactly what happened to the animals remains uncertain. One possibility is that they were eaten during communal feasts before their bones were subsequently burned. Another, more dramatic possibility is that entire animals were burned as sacrificial offerings during ritual ceremonies.
Further scientific analysis will be required before archaeologists can determine which explanation is more likely.
“The current discoveries at Seddin highlight the special importance of this site for the European Bronze Age,” said Dr Immo Heske of the University of Göttingen, who is leading the excavation.
According to Heske, the combination of the unusual building and surrounding pits containing discarded ritual vessels represents something previously unknown within the Nordic Bronze Age.
A settlement of hundreds
Today, the site is agricultural land, but around the ninth century BC it appears to have been part of a substantial Bronze Age community.
Archaeologists estimate that between 200 and 300 people may have lived in the settlement, which covered an area of roughly 2,000 square metres.
Its inhabitants are thought to have included farmers, carpenters, metalworkers and other craftspeople.
The newly discovered structure occupies one of the highest points in the surrounding landscape — close to another archaeological monument that has fascinated researchers for generations.
The mysterious tomb of ‘King Hinz’
Nearby lies the monumental Seddin burial mound, traditionally associated with the legendary King Hinz, a figure from local folklore in the Prignitz region.
Whether a ruler called Hinz ever actually existed is another matter.
“Hinz is a common name, equivalent to Heinrich,” Schopper explained, suggesting the name may simply have become attached to the ancient ruler through later folklore.
There are no surviving written accounts from the region dating to the Bronze Age, making it impossible to identify the person originally buried within the mound through historical records.
The cremated human remains recovered from the tomb — including fragments of bone and teeth — were also lost during the Second World War, further complicating attempts to establish who the individual was.
Yet the discovery of the nearby ceremonial structure adds another dimension to Seddin’s significance.
Rather than being simply the location of an extraordinary prehistoric burial, the landscape may have served as an important gathering and ritual centre for Bronze Age communities across the region.
Nearly 2,800 years after the square building disappeared beneath the landscape, archaeologists are now beginning to reconstruct what took place there.
Whether its fires were used to cook enormous communal meals, dispose of the remains of ceremonial feasts or make sacrifices to long-forgotten gods remains unanswered.
For now, the field at Seddin is offering a rare glimpse into a ritual world that left no written record — only pottery, burned bones and the footprint of an enigmatic building buried beneath the soil for almost three millennia.
Sources : University of Göttingen
