Archaeology students dig for traces of rituals in Ginnerup
Archaeology students from the Saxo Institute excavate the Stone Age site at Ginnerup, Djursland
Again, this summer, a team of archaeology students from Saxo participated in the excavation of an exciting Stone Age site at the village of Ginnerup on Djursland, together with PhD fellow Rebecca Bristow and associate professor Rune Iversen. About 5000 years ago, Ginnerup formed the framework for a gathering place with traces of ritual deposits of ceramics, flint tools, remains of dismembered animals, etc. Wild horses make up a significant proportion of the bone material, and DNA analyses of these have already contributed important new knowledge about the horse's developmental history.
The excavation is led by Museum Østjylland and takes place in collaboration with Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen. The excavations started in 2020 and will be completed this year, and the many collected data form the background for a newly started interdisciplinary and international research project Ginnerup and the end of northern Europe's first farming culture. Rune Iversen is part of this four-year project which the Augustinus Foundation and the Aage & Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation support.