Overview
- Construction workers uncovered neatly cut oak beams about eight meters deep during March work on a stormwater basin near the Willigisbrücke, prompting archaeologists from the Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege to investigate.
- Dendrochronological analysis dated the oak timbers to the 4th century BCE, placing the structure firmly in the Iron Age La Tène period.
- Excavations have exposed a complex wood-and-stone riverside construction with numerous massive oak beams and a dry‑stone river-facing wall that stretches roughly 30–35 metres along the bank.
- Archaeologists and the city of Aschaffenburg are carrying out coordinated excavation, sampling and conservation within the deep construction pit while managing technical and safety constraints that may delay the ongoing riverside redevelopment.
- The waterlogged context has left wooden elements unusually well preserved, giving researchers a rare opportunity to study Iron Age timber construction, river use and regional trade networks linked to Celtic-era settlements.