The cold case of the shaman has been reopened

For this reason, scientists have started looking again at the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg and, during two years of research, they have uncovered some interesting facts. Over the centuries, she was obviously an important figure for people who needed help. The experts believe that the find was the oldest verifiable grave of a shaman in the world, Harald Meller says. He is the state archaeologist who once saved the Sky Disc for the country and is well known for not giving up in his attempts to solve mysteries far back in human history. Together with the bestselling author Kai Michel, he has reopened the unique archaeological cold case in a book entitled “Das Rätsel der Schamanin. Eine archäologische Reise zu unseren Anfängen” (The mystery of the shaman. An archaeological journey back to our origins).

The story is spectacular and it happened in real life: a 9,000-year-old grave, a women, a child, the unknown circumstances of their deaths. It was discovered by the Nazis and misused by them for their own purposes. After this, it was almost completely forgotten. Nearly a century later, a team of archaeologists, geneticists, anthropologists and doctors carried out research for two years and made some new findings. As the historian Kai Michel says, the grave of the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg is a “key find that gives us extensive insights into the origins of spirituality and religion.” It also indicates the central role played by women in prehistoric times. In the book, which was published by Rowohlt in October 2022 and has already made its way onto bestseller lists, the authors explain how exciting archaeology can be and how good researchers are at detective work.

Their findings indicate that the shaman was between 30 and 35 years old. During follow-up excavations in 2019, bones were found that allowed the child also found in the grave to be identified. It was a boy, but not her son, as Harald Meller explained.

Echtzeit - Online Magazin - The secrets of the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg