Dish trolley: That belongs in – and that doesn’t

"After all, its bones are the only remains of a person from the immediate vicinity of the sky disc"says Michel. "As far as we can see now, we have discovered the oldest actually verifiable murder of a prince in world history."

The bones still show traces of violence

"We examined the bones for the first time in 2012/13"says anthropologist Nicole Nicklisch. "At that time we already suspected that some boils had injuries from sharp violence."

Frank Ramsthaler, deputy head of the Institute for Forensic Medicine at Saarland University in Homburg, says: "Three injuries can be clearly identified on the bones. There might be others, but those three alone were fatal. The murder weapon could be a dagger, the blade of which must have been 15 centimeters long."

Whoever did the stitch – he did it with determination

The forensic doctor reconstructs the possible course of the crime: a stab executed with great determination went into the stomach. The tip of the dagger hit the eleventh thoracic vertebra and left a clearly recognizable notch 6 millimeters long and 3 millimeters deep.

An anthropologist shows the injured thoracic vertebra: a six millimeter wide and three millimeter deep notch can be seen – probably created by a dagger. (Source: Hendrik Schmidt / dpa)

It took tremendous force to even poke through the stomach and inflict such a notch on the vertebra. The victim either stood against the wall or lay on the floor. Otherwise the perpetrator would not have been able to thrust the dagger into the bone. He will also have hit the main artery.

"In presurgical times this meant certain death"says the expert. Another stab struck the prince from above behind the collarbone and split the left shoulder blade. The dagger will have injured numerous blood vessels as well as parts of the lungs here – certainly fatal. "That speaks for an experienced warrior", Meller comments, "nor do the Roman gladiators strike the fatal blow there."

The prince tried to fight back

"What can no longer be found out is which stitch was executed first"says Ramsthaler. At least the cut on the upper arm as the third injury suggests that a fight was raging. The prince probably tried to protect himself with his arm against the assassin.

But who was that? "It must have been a confidant from the ruler’s environment. Maybe a relative, a friend, or the bodyguard"says Meller. "The ruler was innocent and was surprised by the attack. Like Julius Caesar, he may have fallen victim to a conspiracy in ancient Rome."

The prince lay on an oak death bed

A tyrant murder? Against this is the fact that the prince, who is around 30 to 50 years old, was buried with full honors under a huge hill. When the local researcher Hermann Großler (1840–1910) excavated the prince’s grave in 1907, he found the ruler’s skeleton on a death bed made of oak, with gold jewelry as a grave. 

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 The first high culture north of the Alps, the empire of Aunjetitz, which Meller and Michel assumed in their book, was so solid that it survived the murder of a ruler. Immediately thereafter, the empire experienced a heyday, of which the Nebra Sky Disc in the Landemuseum für Prehistory in Halle still bears witness.

Sources used: dpa news agency

Archaeologists unearthed skeletons during construction work on Magdeburg Central Station. Injuries and musket balls indicate the time of the Thirty Years War, the "hell of Earth".

On the tunnel construction site at Magdeburg Central Station, archaeologists have found skeletons that could have come from the time of the Thirty Years’ War.community service introduction essay Excavation manager Juliane Huthmann explained that the dead had various injuries. A small vessel from the 16th or 17th century was found between the bones, as well as a fired musket ball.

With further analyzes, the find, which came to light during excavation work, must be examined more closely and chronologically classified. The place where it was found also puzzles the archaeologists: the burials took place outside the medieval city, not in the churchyard, said Huthmann.

Possible "hell of Earth" revealed by finds

So far, around 30 skulls and associated bones have been excavated. Child and adult skeletons are among them. It is still unclear whether it is a family. It is clear that the human remains were relocated at some point. Traces of the wooden coffins can still be seen, coffin nails have been found.

It is clear that the people were well fed. Excavation manager Huthmann presented the skull of a middle-aged man with very well-preserved teeth. The skull shows various injuries, such as a blow injury to the side. 

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 If the find goes back to the year 1631, as suspected, according to Hutmann it is evidence of one "hell of Earth". At that time, the flourishing Magdeburg was turned into a village, it was pillaged and murdered. Within a very short time there were 20,000 dead in the city, said Huthmann.

Sources used: dpa news agency

The wreck of a merchant ship from the 16th century was found by chance in the North Sea. Also on board: copper plates from the German merchants Fugger.

Dutch salvage experts have found the wreck of a 500 year old merchant ship on the bottom of the North Sea. It is the oldest wreck that has ever been discovered in Dutch waters, said the Ministry of Culture in The Hague. The ship was probably 30 meters long, was built around 1540 and transported copper from the German merchants Fugger. This is indicated by copper plates recovered from the water with the trademark of the then powerful and wealthy German trading family, which had a copper monopoly in the 16th century. 

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The salvage experts discovered the wreck by chance near the Dutch Wadden Sea Islands. They were looking for the more than 340 containers that had been thrown overboard from the cargo ship MSC Zoe in early January. "This find is luck in misfortune"said Minister of Culture Ingrid van Engelshoven. The find is one "Enrichment of the Dutch cultural heritage." It was initially unclear whether the wreck would be recovered. The investigations were not yet completed on Wednesday.

Sources used: dpa news agency

One might think that Lake Constance has been well explored. But a secret is hidden from the Swiss bank: Who built the stone mounds under the water’s surface – and above all why?

Urs Leuzinger clearly enjoys the puzzle. "I’ve really never seen anything like it"says the archaeologist. "Usually, when we dig something up, we basically know what it is." But that is precisely what is not the case with 170 cairns on the lake bed in front of the Swiss shores of Lake Constance. Who built them, how exactly they were constructed and when they were created – these are the questions project manager Leuzinger and his team from the Office for Archeology of the Canton of Thurgau have been pondering for several years. On this Friday morning, the researcher is standing next to a pipe with a sediment sample from the bottom of the lake and is hoping for further clues about the formation and purpose of the formation.

Research ship discovered the hills

The hills, which are about four and a half meters deep in the water and in a row at regular intervals, were discovered by chance. A team of researchers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland had re-measured Lake Constance on behalf of the International Commission on Lake Constance – a research ship scanned the bottom of the lake in 2015 with the aid of a fan-shaped echo sounder. When evaluating the data, the surveys caught the eye of the scientist Martin Wessels from the Institute for Lake Research in Langenargen. "We originally thought that these were interference with the measurements", he says. But when the team measured again, it turned out that they were real structures.

Since the hills are in the shallow water zone between Romanshorn and Bottighofen, responsibility was transferred to Switzerland. The fall of the enigmatic stone formations landed on Urs Leuzinger’s desk – and the hills became Swiss German "Hilli". The name is actually misleading, says the archaeologist. "In reality they are quite flat, so more like flat cakes." But how did they get there? Originally there was still the theory that it could be natural deposits from a glacier 18,000 years ago, says Leuzinger. Investigations with a georadar device from the Technical University of Darmstadt would have shown that the hills were filled up by human hands.

Hills were probably formed before the birth of Christ

In order to be able to limit the construction period, Leuzinger and the geologist Flavio Anselmetti from the University of Bern have taken sediment from the hills over the past few days. For this purpose, the scientists have drilled up to eight meters into the lake bed and brought up several samples. In the best case, you will find organic material such as twigs, charcoal, seeds or fruits. Such remains could be dated using radiocarbon analysis, says Anselmetti. This could also narrow down the construction time of the hill.

So far, the scientists rely on a time range between 5000 and 0 BC. "But that’s not enough for us"says Leuzinger. "We want to know more about it." He himself guesses that the builders of the hills come from pile dwellings in the Bronze Age, i.e. lived around 1000 years before Christ. More precise information is only known after examining the sediment samples. The scientists expect the first results in autumn. The archaeologist also estimates that the area of ​​the hills was then in shallower water. "I assume that the water went up to the navel at most."

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The question of why is more complicated. "We may not resolve this"says Leuzinger. So far there have been various theories: some assume that it was a defense system, others argue that the series of hills formed a kind of transport route. And then there’s the idea of ​​one "Stonehenge from Lake Constance". Leuzinger has to smile when he hears the term. He thinks an astronomical reference is unlikely, he says. In his opinion, however, there could be a cultic background for the hills. "For example, they could have been used as a burial platform or as a memorial for the deceased."

Sources used: dpa news agency

Whether for baking trays, grids or cooking accessories: the sliding shelf under the oven of the stove offers practical storage space. The pull-out drawer often has a completely different function.

With kitchen stoves there is usually a pull-out drawer under the oven. Many use them as storage space for baking and cooking utensils – sometimes even for recipe books or tea towels.

But: if the oven is in operation and heated up, flammable materials such as wood, linen, cotton, microfiber, plastic or paper can quickly ignite and become a fire hazard. That is why neither a cookbook nor a rolling pin nor a drying cloth belong there.

But what is the pull-out drawer under the oven for? This is always stated in the operating instructions for so-called freestanding cookers with ovens. There are these differences.

Dish trolley: that belongs in – and that doesn’t

Most cookers only have a crockery cart or drawer under the oven. As the name suggests, cookware can be safely stowed here. In addition to baking trays and grids, this also includes pans, smaller pots or lids made of heat-resistant, non-flammable materials.

Important If the cookware is partly made of plastic, for example the handles on the pot, it does not belong in the crockery drawer. Use your kitchen cabinet for this.

In addition, no food may be stored in the crockery trolley, regardless of whether it is with or without packaging, such as in tins or storage jars, because these too can ignite due to the heat.

Warming drawer: warm plates, defrost food

With high-quality stoves there is a so-called warming drawer under the oven. The heat is given off directly from the stove into the drawer. Plates can be warmed here or food can be kept warm or thawed.

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In these drawers, depending on the model, the temperature can be regulated between around 30 and 80 degrees in various stages.

Sources used: Own researchHauswirtschaft.info: "Diet: stove"

Box trees are prone to fungal infections. While fast-growing and small-leaved box trees are often robust, edging box species in particular are affected by diseases. This is to be done on a sick plant.

overview

What can a fungal infestation look like in the box? What can be done against the boxwood fungus? Prevent the return of the fungus with fungicides Minimize the risk of diseasesNutrient richness as a recovery aidRightly water the bookChoose a sturdier boxwood variety

If your box tree is infected with fungi such as the Cylindrocladium buxicola, you should first stop the spread of spores.