Neolithic settlement Hunte 1, Archaeological site in Lembruch, Germany

Neolithic settlement Hunte 1 is an archaeological site in Lembruch, Germany, that preserves traces of wooden structures from prehistoric times. The oval layout of postholes and palisade foundations covers several dozen meters and sits within a protected wetland near a large lake.

Founded around 3200 BC by people of the Funnel Beaker culture, the site was then used around 2800 BC by the Single Grave culture, whose palisade timbers were dendrochronologically dated to that period. Bell Beaker groups lived there from about 2500 BC, and the settlement remained inhabited until around 2000 BC, when flooding is thought to have caused its abandonment. Excavations in 1938–1940 uncovered 24 building plans.

The name Hunte 1 comes from the nearby Hunte river that flows through the region and has shaped the area for centuries. The excavated animal bones and tools show how residents relied on fishing, hunting and simple farming to organize their daily life.

The find spot lies on a wet meadow north of the L 853 between Lembruch and Dümmerlohausen, at the height of the road bridge over the Hunte, about 800 m from the present north shore of the Dümmer. A relocation of the river in the 1930s means the Hunte now cuts through the settlement area. An information board beside the bridge points to the Stone Age settlement and its excavation.

Among the human remains researchers found skulls with surgical cuts where pieces of bone had been removed. These operations were performed during the Neolithic period and many patients survived the procedure, as healed edges show.