Positive crop marks of a pit alignment in a cereals field

Pit alignments are still a mysterious phenomenon in archaeology, the background of which has not yet been clarified. Since the individual pits are mostly empty of finds and uniformly backfilled, it is very difficult to clarify their dating and function. A dating to the later Bronze Age or early Iron Age is probable ^[1]. However, modern variants of these rows of pits have also been excavated ^[2].

In June 2014, a field in the Munich area was flown where such a row of pits is already known. In the ripening winter barley, the individual pits stand out as still green spots in the grain, which is already turning yellow. The slightly curved line of the pits also continues in the neighbouring field as a positive crop marks.

In the dry early summer of 2017, this field was flown again. The row of pits in the winter barley stood out much better than in 2014 and both ends of the row could be recorded. Interesting are the row becoming more irregular towards one end (lower edge of the picture), where individual pits in the row seem to have been omitted. Furthermore, the post traces of several wooden houses can be seen at this end. Whether these traces of settlement have a temporal connection with the row of pits can probably only be proven one day by an excavation.