Lippstadt (dpa / lnw) - During excavations in Lippstadt, archaeologists from the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL) and a specialist company discovered an arrowhead from the Stone Age. The find was discovered during excavations in the vicinity of a wind turbine in the Soest district, the LWL announced on Friday in Münster. The approximately 4500-year-old spearhead is therefore the oldest find that has ever been discovered in Lippstadt. The arrowhead is made of flint and is assigned to the late Neolithic.

The area in Lippstadt has been under monument protection since 1988 because traces of cremations were discovered there during initial investigations in 1933. Subsequently, however, there were only a few finds. Therefore, according to the LWL message, there were low expectations that things would be different on the eastern edge of the area.

"But already in the first excavated area, a cremation grave came to light. Further soil discoloration showed that pits were once there. Two - possibly even three - pits can be assigned to a burial due to cremation," said the archaeologists. The mass of the other 150 or so pit finds therefore refers to a former prehistoric settlement that was previously unknown at this point.

Experts suspect that the arrowhead got into the pit by accident or that the people of the former settlement collected it as a curiosity.

The site is on a ridge south of the village of Lohe, around three kilometers south of the Lippe. "Among the findings are numerous post pits, but it has not yet been possible to reconstruct a clear building floor plan," says Philip Robinson, who was involved with his archeology company on behalf of the LWL, according to the statement.