Frankleben hoard

The Frankleben hoard is a significant hoard deposit of the European Bronze Age, associated with the Unstrut group (itself associated with the Tumulus or early Urnfield culture (ca. 1500–1250 BC)). The site is in the Geisel valley, formed by a minor tributary of the Saale River. It was discovered in 1946 in a brown coal pit near Frankleben, now a part of Braunsbedra municipality, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The hoard consists of three ceramic vessels, buried alongside one another.

One of the vessels was destroyed by a coal dredger at the time of discovery. The finds consist of a total of about 45 kg of bronze artefacts, most of them sickles, alongside some axeheads. The discovery was made by the operator of the coal dredger, Anton Wesp, in the "Michael Vesta" pit (now flooded and part of Runstedter See south of Frankleben, just off the BAB 38 highway). Wesp's dredger destroyed the first vessel almost completely in June 1946 (find I).

Wesp returned to the site on 5 July 1946 and discovered a second vessel (find II), from which he was able to save 93 sickles and two axeheads. Wesp examined the site and found a third vessel (find III), containing 130 sickles and 12 axeheads. Find III