7,000-year-old bones uncovered at construction site in startling find

Archaeologists excavating the site of a planned elementary school in Germany have unearthed a roughly 7,000-year-old skeleton — the oldest known grave ever discovered in the city.

The discovery, made in the German city of Leipzig, was announced by the Saxony State Office for Archaeology in late September.

Archaeologists were brought in ahead of the school's construction because the site was near a previously known Bronze Age archaeological site, officials said in a statement.

ANCIENT 'SEATED' SKELETONS UNEARTHED BENEATH MODERN SCHOOL SITE, PUZZLING ARCHAEOLOGISTS "Prehistoric finds were also to be expected simply because of the site's flood-free location near the White Elster River, within the fertile Leipzig Lowland Basin, an area exceptionally rich in archaeological finds," they added.

Instead of simple artifacts, the excavation uncovered the remains of an ancient Neolithic settlement, including the roughly 7,000-year-old grave.

The grave dates to a period when people were transitioning from hunting and gathering to living in permanent settlements, farming and raising livestock, according to officials.

The person buried there is believed to have belonged to the Linear Pottery culture — named for the distinctive spiral and wavy patterns decorating its pottery .

SHOCKING DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT BONES TURNS COUPLE'S KITCHEN RENOVATION INTO 'CRIME SCENE' Archaeologists also uncovered the remains of a 98-foot-long wooden house, along with evidence of at least two other houses.

The experts were taken aback by the unexpected discovery of the grave.

"The discovery of a burial within the settlement came as a surprise," officials said.

"This is a rare stroke of luck because, in large parts of Saxony , bone preservation is so poor that graves can only be identified by the objects placed in them and the shapes of the burial pits." DISCOVERY BENEATH SOCCER FIELD REVEALS MASSIVE MEDIEVAL CONVENT LOST FOR CENTURIES Although officials have not identified the person's sex or age at death, they said the skeleton was found lying on its left side, with its legs drawn up.

The grave contained no grave goods — objects buried alongside the dead — but archaeologists were able to estimate its age based on the skeleton's crouched position and the grave's relationship to the nearby settlement and one of its houses.

"In this case, the crouched position of the body, together with the grave's direct stratigraphic relationship to the settlement and one of its houses, makes it possible to date the burial to the Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, even in the absence of grave goods," the statement said.