Königsaue

Konigsaue is a Middle Palaeolithic site in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, discovered in 1963 by Dieter Mania during rescue excavations in an open-pit lignite mine. Dating to approximately 80,000 BP during the Eemian interglacial, it was a seasonal Neanderthal hunting camp on the shore of paleo-lake Aschersleben, yielding three archaeological horizons with Mousterian and Micoquian tool assemblages. The site is renowned for two birch tar pieces (1.35g and 0.83g) representing the oldest known synthetic substance, whose chemical analysis revealed Neanderthals used sophisticated underground distillation rather than simple above-ground methods, evidencing cumulative cultural evolution.