Archaeological excavations near Krauschwitz, Germany have revealed extraordinary 4,500-year-old decorated bags buried with women and infants, offering unprecedented insights into elite Neolithic motherhood and social status. The discovery, made during construction of the SuedOstLink power transmission line, includes bags adorned with hundreds of carefully arranged dog teeth that may have functioned as prestigious baby carriers for upper-class mothers.
The finds come from excavations conducted by the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt along the 170-kilometer (105 miles) SuedOstLink route. According to their report, the site has yielded remarkable evidence of a millennia-old cultural landscape, including five 6,000-year-old burial mounds from the Baalberg culture and spectacular Corded Ware burials characterized by richly decorated bags with animal teeth.
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Archaeological excavations near Krauschwitz, which have uncovered various Neolithic age burials. (© State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt)
Sophisticated Elite Status Symbols
The organic material of the bags - leather or fabric - has long since disappeared, but the pierced animal teeth that adorned them have survived remarkably well. The Popular Science report reveals that these elaborate accessories featured upper and lower canine teeth and incisors from dogs, "embroidered on the front of the bags, staggered like roof tiles." The bags measured approximately 30 centimeters long and at least 20 centimeters high, requiring nearly 350 teeth for full decoration.
"Between the Unstrut and White Elster rivers, with their tributaries extending to the Sangerhausen Mulde and the lower Saale valley, elaborately decorated bags were a regular part of the costume of young adult women who likely belonged to an elite social class," according to the State Office archaeological report. The discovery provides concrete evidence that Neolithic social stratification was more complex than previously understood.
The dogs used for these prestigious accessories were a medium-sized breed, similar to today's Small Münsterländer, and were probably bred specifically for bag production and killed at a young age to obtain their teeth. This specialized breeding program demonstrates the considerable resources devoted to creating these status symbols for elite families.
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Evidence for Ancient Baby Carriers
The most fascinating aspect of these discoveries is their probable function as baby carriers.
"The bags appear—based on their location in the grave—to have been carried in front of the body during life. They could represent a type of baby carrier, as the occasional infant bones preserved within indicate," according to Greek Reporter
The legs, arms, and head of infants would have protruded from the carrier and were further protected with fine cloth accessories.
Archaeological evidence suggests these carriers included additional protective elements: a 20-centimeter-wide scarf embroidered with sequins and lined with dog molars provided extra protection for the infant. The sophisticated design indicates that ancient childcare practices among elite families were far more elaborate than previously imagined.
The pouch-shaped bags were carried on wide straps, often decorated with wolf teeth, adding another layer of prestige to these already impressive accessories. Such elaborate baby carriers were found in approximately 20 percent of women's burials, suggesting they represented personal, non-inheritable possessions reserved for a narrowly defined elite social class.
The Krauschwitz discoveries represent just one part of a remarkable archaeological landscape revealed by the SuedOstLink project. The area contains evidence of continuous occupation spanning thousands of years, from Middle Neolithic Baalberg settlements to later Corded Ware communities. The earlier Baalberg culture established settlements on prominent hills and commemorated their dead with distinctive trapezoidal wooden houses built over grave pits, later covered with earth to create visible burial mounds.
A grave of a man of the Corded ware Culture, grave offerings including a stone axe and pottery vessel. (Oliver Dietrich / © State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt)
More than 15 Baalberg-era burial structures were uncovered during the SuedOstLink investigations, demonstrating that these ancient communities not only honored their ancestors but also clearly expressed their power through monumental architecture. Even after a thousand years, these symbols continued to attract later Corded Ware peoples, who established their own burial grounds near the ancient mounds.
The Corded Ware culture, widespread from Alsace to Ukraine and from southern Scandinavia to the Alps, shows consistent burial practices across vast distances. The dead were always laid facing south, with males placed on their right sides and females on their left, accompanied by characteristic grave goods including ceramic beakers, stone axes for men, and jewelry elements for women.
The Krauschwitz community's possession of these labor- and cost-intensive decorated bags confirms their membership in the elite social class that dominated Corded Ware society. The discovery provides remarkable insights into how ancient European communities expressed status, practiced motherhood, and maintained complex social hierarchies through sophisticated material culture that required specialized knowledge, resources, and craftsmanship to create.
Top image: Archaeological excavation revealing 4,500-year-old dog teeth-decorated bags buried with elite women and infants at Krauschwitz, providing extraordinary evidence of sophisticated Neolithic baby carriers and social status symbols from the Corded Ware culture. Source: © State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
By Gary Manners
References
Arkeonews. 2025. 4,500-Year-Old Dog Teeth-Adorned Bags Found in Germany May Have Been Elite Baby Carriers. Available at: https://arkeonews.net/4500-year-old-dog-teeth-adorned-bags-found-in-germany-may-have-been-elite-baby-carriers/
Greek Reporter. 2025. Prehistoric Tooth-Adorned Bags Linked to Elite Women and Found in Germany. Available at: https://greekreporter.com/2025/07/11/prehistoric-tooth-adorned-bags-elite-women-germany/
Popular Science. 2025. Neolithic moms decorated baby carriers with dog teeth. Available at: https://www.popsci.com/science/neolithic-baby-carriers-dog-teeth/
State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. 2025. Outstanding Corded Ware Culture burials with animal tooth-decorated bags discovered near Krauschwitz. Available at: https://nachrichten.idw-online.de/2025/07/10/outstanding-corded-ware-culture-burials-with-animal-tooth-decorated-bags-discovered-near-krauschwitz-saxony-anhalt
State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. 2025. Archäologie am SuedOstLink: Eine jahrtausendealte Kulturlandschaft bei Krauschwitz – Herausragende Bestattungen der Schnurkeramik mit tierzahnbesetzten Taschen entdeckt. Available at: https://www.lda-lsa.de/presse-und-oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/presseinformationen/9725-krauschwitz-suedostlink
