Linear Pottery Well Altscherbitz

The Linear Pottery Well of Altscherbitz is a well from the Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture discovered in 2005. Altscherbitz is a locality of the town Schkeuditz in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, Germany. The well supplied several Neolithic settlements in the Altscherbitz area with water more than 7,000 years ago.^[1]

Round-bottomed jar from the well of Altscherbitz with glued inlays

It was located in soil 7 metres (23 ft) deep. The archaeological excavation took place in advance of the expansion of the Leipzig/Halle Airport. In order to enable a proper excavation, the well was recovered as a block about 4 metres (13 ft) tall and weighing about 70 tons using heavy machinery and brought to Dresden. There it was excavated under laboratory conditions in a hall of the State Office for Archaeology in Saxony from 2008 to 2010. Numerous unique finds are on display in the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz which opened in 2014.^[2] Wooden nails were used to connect the planks. These could be dated dendrochronologically based on the annual rings.^[3]

Decorated bone point from the Linear Pottery Well Altscherbitz