Schwedenschanze Isingerode

The Schwedenschanze Isingerode, also called Isiburg, is a Bronze Age ringfort near Isingerode in Lower Saxony. It stands on a gravel ridge shaped by ice-age rivers, with steep slopes on the west side dropping to the Oker valley. The site once commanded a crossing of an ancient east–west trade route that followed the river. Archaeologists recognise it as a fortified central settlement of the Lausitz culture, occupied from about 1200 to 600 BC. Excavations led by Wolf-Dieter Steinmetz and the Friends of Archaeology in the Brunswick Region uncovered sixteen bronze objects and many pottery sherds. A large cult stone dated around 700 BC was also found inside the walls. Visitors today walk over farmland where the inner and outer ramparts once stood. The outlines of the ditches show as darker lines of greener crops across the field. In the centre lie scattered stones and post-holes of long-vanished wooden buildings. The remains are slight, but the setting beside the Oker valley and the nearby Ilse river still suggests why this place was chosen so long ago.