6,800-year-old burial of Neolithic 'mayor' unearthed in Bavaria

About 6,800 years ago, a "mayor" was buried with a wealth of food and riches, including a halved boar's tooth, according to archaeologists who found the rare burial in southern Germany.

The mayor's Middle Neolithic remains were found near the Bavarian town of Eichendorf, close to Munich and Germany's southeastern borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. According to the local government of Bavaria's DinGolfing-Landau district, the discovery was made last week by district archaeologists excavating at the village of Exing, about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) to the west.

The person in the grave was buried with food and drink for the afterlife; dyes for body painting; a stone ax and a stone adze; and a boar's tooth split in two. 

The rich grave goods indicate that the person buried there was of high status, possibly an elder or a chieftain — and archaeologists have dubbed them "The Mayor."

The investigation hasn't yet determined how old the person was when they died, or whether they were male or female.

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Rich grave

District archaeologist Florian Eibl told the German outlet Der Spiegel that it was unusual to find  human remains in a grave from this time and at this place, as very few Neolithic skeletons have survived.