Fallward

Fallward is an old village mound in the Land Wursten, part of Lower Saxony’s Cuxhaven district. It sits on a strandwall of the Lower Weser in the Wesermarsch, two kilometres south of the well-known Feddersen Wierde settlement. Like its neighbours, it began as a flat village and was gradually raised into a mound as the sea rose in the 1st and 2nd centuries. By the 5th century growing storm surges forced people to leave Fallward for good. The real importance of Fallward lies in the nearby burial grounds that share its name. Archaeologists first spotted signs of graves when a single sherd was found during a state survey. In the 1980s more surface finds appeared, and between 1993 and 1998 full excavations uncovered a cemetery from the 4th and 5th centuries. The damp marsh layers preserved wood unusually well, so archaeologists recovered wooden vessels and furniture rarely seen elsewhere. These objects now go on display in Museum Burg Bederkesa. Visitors walk across flat marshland to reach the site. The old mound itself is still visible as a low rise in the landscape. Nearby, the two cemeteries stretch north of the mound, their outlines marked by low mounds and depressions. The museum in Burg Bederkesa holds the finds, letting people see the well-preserved woodwork that made Fallward’s graves so unusual.