Niederbieber

Niederbieber is an archaeological site in the Neuwied basin in Rheinland-Pfalz. It lies in the Middle Rhine region near the town of Neuwied. The site belongs to the Federmesser culture from the end of the Pleistocene. A thick layer of pumice from the Laacher See eruption sealed the ground around 12,900 years ago. This preserved bones, tools and hearths almost intact beneath the ash. The site is important because it shows how late ice-age hunter-gatherers lived. Excavations uncovered nearly 1,000 square metres of finds. Radiocarbon dates from bones place human activity just before the eruption. Artefacts include arrow shaft smoothers and backed points used as arrowheads. The finds reveal hunting, tool-making and food preparation in a single place. Visitors see where these activities took place. Twenty separate clusters of flint, bone and ash mark work areas. Some clusters show signs of hearths where meat was cooked. The tools were made from local stone and flint brought from up to 150 kilometres away. The arrow shaft smoother with its engraved figure is displayed nearby. The site helps explain how Federmesser groups used the Middle Rhine valley.