Description : Bilzingsleben (German: Fundplatz Bilzingsleben, lit. discovery site Bilzingsleben) is a former stone quarry in Thuringia, Germany, notable for its wealth of palaeolithic human fossils and artifacts. The site belongs to the Reinsdorf interglacial, c. 370,000 BP. Fossilized bones at the site had already been found since the 13th century. In 1710 David Siegmund Büttner published his book "Rudera diluvii testes i.e. Zeichen und Zeugen der Sündfluth" (Signs and witnesses of the flood). In 1818 Freiherr Friedrich von Schlotheim (1765-1832) found a human skull covered by lime concretions. It is lost today. In 1908 geologist Ewald Wüst (1875-1934) of the University of Halle-Wittenberg published his first work on local flint artifacts. Amateur researcher Adolf Spengler took up work at the site in 1922. In 1969 Dietrich Mania, later professor at the University of Jena, discovered numerous fossils and artifacts during a routine investigation. Under the auspices of the Halle State Museum of Prehistory a systematic excavation was launched in 1971 that lasted until 1992 during which 1,600 m2 (17,222.26 sq ft) were documented and several human fossils were unearthed. Consequently administration of the site has been handed to the University of Jena.
See on map »