After 10 years of field research at the Gravettian site of Krems-Wachtberg the data obtained will be evaluated and published on an ongoing basis The site is characterised by a partially preserved in situ find layer with an infant double burial of monozygotic twins and the burial of another infant Systematic core sampling conducted since 2000 on the loess-covered Wachtberg promontory at Krems provided evidence for the extensive presence of a distinct archaeological horizon dating to 31,000 calBP in close proximity to a Gravettian site with settlement structures known since 1930 when it was discovered by Josef Bayer provided sensational results: an infant double grave (Burial 1) and a single grave of another baby (Burial 2) a multi-phased fireplace and very rich remains of Palaeolithic camp life The newborns in the double grave were buried in an oval pit in crouched positions sprinkled with red ochre and covered by a mammoth shoulder blade An ivory bead necklace as a grave good and the elaborate grave construction testify to the importance of the infants to the hunter-gatherer society the single grave of an approximately three-months-old infant was found approximately 1.5 m from the double grave An ivory pin presumably functioned as a closure for a leather or fur wrap for the body sprinkled with ochre and oriented towards the east The open-air site Krems-Wachtberg represents a very rich Upper Palaeolithic campsite additionally offers excellent chronostratigraphic potential for a climatic reconstruction of the late Upper Pleistocene in the Middle Danube region With financial support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the Federal Province of Lower Austria the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been carrying out excavations and complementary field investigations at this site between 2005 and 2015 The results allow first insights into the spatial organisation of the campsite The two burials are located next to an activity zone around a repeatedly used fireplace with adjacent cooking pits allow deeper insights into the syn- and postsedimentary deposition processes together with the underlying slope processes and periglacial phenomena Austrian Archaeological Institute Dominikanerbastei 16 4th and 5th floor 1010 Vienna, Austria T + 43 1 51581-3483oeai(at)oeaw.ac.at Sign up and get regular information about OeAI events and news Metrics details The Upper Palaeolithic double burial of newborns and the single burial of a ca 3-month-old infant uncovered at the Gravettian site of Krems-Wachtberg are of paramount importance given the rarity of immature human remains from this time Genome-wide ancient DNA shows that the male infants of the double grave are the earliest reported case of monozygotic twins while the single grave´s individual was their 3rd-degree male relative We assessed the individuals´ age at death by applying histological and µCT inspection of the maxillary second incisors (i2) in conjunction with C- and N-isotope ratios and Barium (Ba) intake as biomarker for breastfeeding The results show that the twins were full-term newborns The findings show that Gravettian mortuary behaviour also included re-opening of a grave and manipulation of its layout and content Burial 1 with the skeletal remains of two infants recovered as block in 2005 (ind1 on the left, ind2 on the right). Photograph: Natural History Museum Vienna; modified. a The twin’s bodies (individual 1 and 2) in the grave pit of Burial 1 c Mammoth ivory beads and their arrangement on individual 1’s pelvis d Adornment of Individual 2 consisting of a perforated fox incisor (Vulpes sp.) and three perforated molluscs (Theodoxus sp.) e Ivory pin from Burial 2 (individual 3) (find numbers: c Ivory bead WA-18158; d molluscs (from top to bottom) WA-151565 fox incisor WA-151558; e ivory pin WA-37552) All these studies failed in aDNA analysis due to insufficient preservation of the skeletal remains and/or aDNA The archaeological layout of the double burial suggests that the inhumation of the two individuals was not simultaneous (at the same time sensu stricto) but rather suggests that placement of the two bodies occurred in separate This would imply that the grave had been re-opened Archaeological evidence for this possibility is provided by the dissimilar positions of the infants’ skeletons the different dimensions of space occupied by the bodies (the grave seems to have been constructed for ind2 while ind1 appears huddled against the grave pit’s edge) as well as differential symbolic treatment displayed by the personalised adornments In this study we aim (i) to assess the genetic relation of the two infants of Burial 1 to establish whether kinship was the motivating factor behind their burial in a joint grave (ii) to estimate the age at death for each individual to determine the time that could have elapsed between placing the infants’ corpses into the grave in order to provide an explanation for their divergent positions in the grave and their differential symbolic treatment and (iii) to address ind3 (Burial 2) in the analyses for comparison and to complement our knowledge about mortuary und ritualistic practices of Gravettian hunter–gatherer communities a Four-population symmetry tests showing that the individuals from Burial 1 (Krems1_1 Krems1_2) shared more alleles with ind3 (KremsWA3) from Burial 2 than to other tested individuals (white circles represent results that are not significant at a threshold of Z < |3|; the statistic for Věstonice13 falls below this threshold) b Outgroup-f3 results measuring pairwise shared genetic drift and showing the proximity of Krems-Wachtberg to the Věstonice cluster c Kinship analysis results using Věstonice16 to calculate mismatch rates The mismatch rate between KremsWA3 and the Krems twins is 1/8 to 1/16 of the way from the mismatch rates observed between Věstonice16 and the three Krems individuals consistent with their being third- or fourth-degree relatives doubts remain regarding such a diagnosis in a perinate the layer clearly represents a pathological change that could impair skeletal development and dimensions a Labial surface showing enamel degradation b Lingual view of a 3D-reconstruction of the dentinoenamel junction illustrating the similarities between both individuals From left to right: DEJ of ind1 (red): registration of DEJ surfaces of both individuals; ind2 (blue): comparison of surfaces from a mesiodistal perspective c Neonatal line (NNL) in µCT of ind1 (black rightwards arrowhead) followed by registered overlay of ind2 showing alignment of NNL of ind1 with enamel surface of ind2 (blue) thereby fitting into the area demarcated by the neonatal line of ind1 (red) d Horizontal slice showing location of longitudinal slices depicted in panel e e Longitudinal slices at identical positions in ind1 and ind2 Slices are aligned along the dentinoenamel junction NNL on ind1 (red arrowheads) aligns precisely with enamel surface on ind2 indicating that the tooth size at death of ind2 was the same as that of ind1 at birth We further observed other accentuated lines in the enamel of all individuals The non-specific stress symptom of subperiosteal newly built bone formations at the tibia of ind1 mentioned above in conjunction with the atypical accentuated lines observed in the enamel emphasise severe stress episodes and/or insufficient supply that might have contributed to the early death of the perinates a–c Histologic image and 138Ba/43Ca ratio sections for individuals ind1 d–f Boxplot diagram of statistical evaluation of the 138Ba/43Ca ratios (cps/cps) in post-NNL enamel pre-NNL enamel and dentin (ind2) and post-NNL-SL enamel pre-NNL enamel and dentin (ind3) (SL stress line These observations indicate that ind3 passed through further stress episodes during his short postnatal life In the case of ind1 and ind2, elevated levels in the outer 10 µm layer are also found for 138Ba/43C, 138Ba/31P and 88Sr/43Ca ratios (Fig. 5a, b and Supplementary Fig. 6g, h, p, q) but no distinct gradients were observed for 57Fe/43Ca ratios In the case of significant diagenetic alteration the penetration depth and corresponding diffusion gradients should be comparable for all three individuals (of a similar age and found within the same sedimentary setting) It is important to note that no significant increase of the 138Ba/43Ca 138Ba/31P and 88Sr/138Ba ratios can be observed for ind3 the increased Ba/Ca levels in ind1 and ind2 at >10–20 µm below the surface cannot be interpreted as diagenetic alteration we assume that any diagenetic effects signal from 10 to 20 µm off the surface are of insignificant impact on the biogenic barium (and strontium) The 138Ba/43Ca ratio data provide no clear indication/proof for the presence/absence of breastfeeding for ind2 An increased 138Ba/43Ca level in the outer enamel could indicate a short survival for ind2 although it is nonetheless evident that the layer is significantly thinner when compared to ind1 This indicates an older age at death for ind1 our study shows that Gravettian mortuary behaviour can also include re-opening of a grave and modification/manipulation of its layout and content Outgroup-f3 (qp3Pop) and f4-statistics (qpDstat) were computed using ADMIXTOOLS and computed outgroup-f3 statistics of the form f3(Mbuti.DG; Krems1_1/Krems1_2 Test) to investigate the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic individuals with whom Eurasia (Test) the Krems-Wachtberg twins shared the highest drift We also computed statistics of the form f4(Mbuti.DG Test) to evaluate if the Krems-Wachtberg twins shared more alleles with ind3 (KremsWA3) than with the same Test individuals as before For the f3 tests we used default setting and for the f4-statistics we used the options f4mode: YES and printed: YES Tests using less than 10,000 SNPs were not considered when analysing the data We selected the right maxillary second deciduous incisors (i2) of ind1 and ind2 a fragment of the right maxilla with embedded tooth germs of ind3’s frontal teeth and measured the i2s based on 3D high-resolution µCT scans and histologic ground sections High-resolution µCT images of the crowns were obtained with a SCANCO µCT 50 (SCANCO Medical AG 0.5 mm Al filter with 1500 projections over 360° with an exposure of 108 µAs Ind1 and ind2 were reconstructed to 3 µm isotropic resolution the crown of ind3 was scanned with a larger field of view resulting in an isotropic resolution of 4.4 µm The DEJ surface area was measured as the interface of enamel and dentin surfaces using the “surface area volume” Prisms were faintly visible in some parts of the virtual sections Prism orientation was determined by comparison to the corresponding histologic thin ground section ruptures within enamel were used to guide orientation of prism length measurements it was possible to observe that these cracks occur predominantly along prisms For ind3 the section was carried out through the maxillary fragment hereby cutting the second incisor Specimens were ground stepwise to a thickness of first 400 µm then 250 µm and finally 100 µm and scanned at every step with an Olympus BX61VS digital virtual microscopy system (dotSlide 2.4; Olympus Tokyo The final 100-µm-thick slides remain as a permanent record and were also used to determine the spatial distribution of Barium Histologic images were analysed and measured independently by a different observer than µCT images The C:N ratio for ind2 falls outside this range and the measurements are unreliable All blank corrected values smaller than the LOD were set to zero The 138Ba values were normalised to 43Ca signals the mass fractions of Ba were determined applying a one-point-calibration using certified reference material NIST SRM 1486 The boundary of the layer with increased 138Ba/43Ca ratios (~0.41–1.5) in enamel was determined by converting the number of enamel data points above the maximum prenatal 138Ba/43Ca ratio into a distance (using instrumental integration time and laser ablation speed) The maximum prenatal 138Ba/43Ca ratio was defined by the mean 138Ba/43Ca ratio plus three times the standard deviation in the region adjacent to DEJ corresponding to the material developed before birth The statistical methodologies used are described above in this section was performed independently by two of the researchers Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article The raw data are available at the European Nucleotide Archive with the accession number PRJEB40336 All custom code related to the ancient DNA analysis is available at https://github.com/DReichLab/ADNA-Tools. The Excel Macro used for the chemometric analysis is available at https://oc.unileoben.ac.at/index.php/s/pCA8WIMntQZfIDf (ed.) 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Archaeogenomic evidence reveals prehistoric matrilineal dynasty Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurements Regionalized quantitative LA-ICP-MS imaging of the biodegradation of magnesium alloys in bone tissue In Sector Field Mass Spectrometry for Elemental and Isotopic Analysis (eds et al.) 152–182 (The Royal Society of Chemistry Simultaneous multi-element and isotope ratio imaging of fish otoliths by laser ablation split stream ICP-MS/MC ICP-MS A combined chemical imaging approach using (MC) LA-ICP-MS and NIR-HSI to evaluate the diagenetic status of bone material for Sr isotope analysis Download references Lauermann (Provincial Government of Lower Austria Department of Art and Culture) for granting access to the Krems-Wachtberg human remains and all staff at the Oxford Laboratory Accelerator Unit We also thank Kendra Sirak and Mario Novak for some preliminary DNA laboratory work is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is supported by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation We are grateful to the four anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and very thoughtful comments on a former version of the manuscript These authors contributed equally: David Reich Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology Ulrich Simon & Christine Neugebauer-Maresch Karl Donath Laboratory for Hard Tissue and Biomaterial Research Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology conducted fieldwork and analysed the materials; D.F. did the histologic and histomorphometric evaluation; P.H performed µCT measurements and created µCT and histology figures; A.R. did the 15N- and 13C-isotope analyses; M.T.-N. All authors contributed to and helped to edit the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01372-8 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page quick journeys from A to B within confined space conditions and keeping an overview at the same time: At the composting plant in Wachtberg there are many different tasks to be done For this you need a true multi-talent machine is more than satisfied with his decision.. The North Rhine-Westphalian community of Wachtberg is located in the middle of a volcanic shaped hill landscape Wachtberg is a popular destination for many residents of the nearby federal city of Bonn To ensure that this continues to be the case gardens and parks of the community bordering on the Rhineland-Palatinate are constantly maintained large quantities of so-called green residues accumulate An extremely valuable resource for Klaus Riebau the owner of Wachtberg Kompost and his employees have been processing green residues into high-quality compost To ensure that the sorting and loading of the material will be even more efficient in the future the decision was made in favor of a 355 E telehandler from SENNEBOGEN supplied by sales and service partner Jungbluth Baumaschinen GmbH Compact and maneuverable - ideal for composting plants For the delivery of small quantities of green residues Wachtberg Kompost provides the customer with a trailer on loan for large orders the material is picked up directly from the customer by truck Once the material has been delivered to the composting plant the SENNEBOGEN telescopic loader 355 E takes over the sorting work and winds its way through the huge and closely packed mountains of sorted green waste root woods and other untreated garden waste This is where the all-wheel steering system comes into play This reduces the turning radius of the machine to less than 4 m and thus ensures a smooth ride from A to B Everything in view thanks to the telehandler’s elevating cab a shredder is used to chop bark into bark mulch Loading the shredder with raw material is done efficiently thanks to the elevating cab of the 355 E telehandler the driver has an excellent view into the shredder's loading opening and can thus load material precisely and prevent possible blockages Even when loading the trucks with finished bark mulch or compost soil the clear view into the loading area offers several advantages the flat viewing angle on or into the truck is neck-friendly for the driver and supports ergonomic working in the long term the driver can see what he is doing and can improve the distribution of the material inside the truck container which simplifies the processing of green residues as well as material handling and loading considerably the elevating cab gives us a constant overview of the site and also of the trucks Thus the 355 E has become indispensable for us" Stacking or loading material - both can be done quickly The finished bark mulch must then be stacked very high This is easy with the SENNEBOGEN 355 E telehandler The clever combination of telescopic handler and wheel loader is also ideally equipped for this requirement The robust steel construction of the telescopic boom with a stacking height of 8.5 m the ideal power transmission into the bucket using the cleverly engineered Z-kinematics and the powerful drive train with continuously variable travel drive provide the driver with the perfect working conditions Even heavily compacted and heavy compost is extracted effortlessly from the dense piles thanks to the high breakaway force of up to 85 kN The innovative control of the drive unit automatically provides the driver with an optimum mix of pull/thrust force and travel speed - depending on the requirements The focus is on the customer's wishes - in individual equipment and service The 355 E has been equipped with the Volvo quick-change system on request an additional hydraulic circuit on the boom head and a permanent function for the standard auxiliary hydraulics This means that demanding and already existing attachments can continue to be used The permanent function for the auxiliary hydraulics with freely definable oil quantity is particularly useful when using the sweeper Klaus Riebau is clearly enthusiastic about his new all-rounder and also praises the comprehensive on-site service and technical support provided by SENNEBOGEN Advertise With UsFacebookTwitter With market-leading print and digital platforms for the Recycling and Bulk Material Handling Industries we provide a comprehensive and virtually unique route to market.Our bi-monthly magazine is available in print or electronic mediums delivering the latest news on new product launches and industry projects directly to individually addressed on-site locations throughout the UK & Northern Ireland Such is the demand we enjoy a regular pass-on readership of 2.5 providing a total of in excess of 15,000 regular readers of the magazine We work closely with companies to provide on-site editorials focusing on their clients feedback All wrapped up with on-site recorded interviews delivering dynamic stories and images that enhance the stories We also attend open days & events and promote these by writing engaging editorial pieces published in our magazine Let HUB-4 distribute magazines at your open day and we'll promote your event for you in the news and events section of our website prior to the event Our bi-monthly magazine is sent directly to 6,000+ quarries with a pass-on rate of 2.5 giving an estimated readership of 15,000 throughout the UK © 2025 HUB Digital Media Ltd |Registered at Companies House Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy Eva-Maria Geigl has received funding from CNRS (ANR-17-EURE-0013 ; IdEx #ANR-18-IDEX-0001 l'Université de Paris ; Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir) Thierry Grange has received funding from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (DGE20111123014) Université Paris Cité provides funding as a member of The Conversation FR View all partners How did our species, Homo sapiens, arrive in Western Europe? Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, our new study analyses two skull fragments dating back between 37,000 and 36,000 years to conclude that our ancestors came from Eastern Europe and migrated westwards These two individuals interbred with Neanderthals and with the very first European Homo sapiens who arrived around 45,000 years ago and were thought to have become extinct following a major climatic catastrophe Together with lithic tools and pierced mammoth ivory beads, small skull fragments of the two skulls found in 2009 at an archaeological site in the Crimea bear witness to the presence of anatomically modern humans in Eastern Europe Working with French and Ukrainian archaeologists we were able to put in place a sampling protocol that took special precautions to prevent the fragments from being contaminated by modern human DNA and identify their ancient DNA The resulting analysis enabled us to generate a broad interactions and replacements as they settled in Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic the period from around -40,000 to -12,000 years ago characterised by the expansion of anatomically modern humans around the world These individuals are the oldest representatives of Western Europeans to have established themselves permanently in Europe and to have left traces in the genomes of present-day Europeans Archaeologically, this was the period of transition between the Middle Palaeolithic (250,000 to 30,000 years ago) and the Upper Palaeolithic (about 50,000–40,000 years ago until about 10,000 years ago) as the lithic industry of the last Neanderthals was replaced by that of the first Homo sapiens but the few that were found in archaeological sites in the Czech Republic Romania and Bulgaria have had their genomes partially deciphered Present-day Europeans bear no trace of the genomes of these first sapiens Europeans unlike the human populations that lived in Europe after the ecological crisis of 40,000 years ago Although the information obtained from the two skull fragments from the Buran Kaya III site is fragmentary we were able to compare it against the 740,000 genetic variations shared with the genomes of other ancient individuals a sufficient number to detect their affinities and shared ancestry Our palaeogenomic analysis of these two fragments which are thought to be 700 years apart from one another revealed that these individuals were part of the second wave of European settlement by H sapiens that occurred after the ecological crisis Both individuals are descendants of distant interbreeding with Neanderthals Our study also showed that the more recent individual bore traces of interbreeding with individuals from the first wave of settlement thought to have been exterminated by the -40,000 year ice age represented by the Zlatý Kůň individual (-45,000 years) We were therefore able to conclude that the first H sapiens were not completely replaced and some must have survived the ecological crisis The genomes of individuals from Buran Kaya III also revealed a genetic link with contemporary and much later Caucasian populations, in line with similarities identified by archaeologists between lithic tools found in the southern Caucasus and those found at Buran Kaya III at the same period This link indicates the direction of the migration of Buran Kaya III’s ancestors in Europe: from the Middle East via the Caucasus to the territory of present-day Ukraine The strongest genetic link has been identified between the genomes of individuals from Buran Kaya III and those from south-west France (see Fournol archaeological site dating back -29,000 years BC) and north-east Spain (Serinyà -30,500 years BC) and the Czech Republic (Dolní Věstonice -31,000 years BC) who lived 5000 to 7000 years later were part of the population associated with the Classical Gravettian period which produced the female ivory statuettes known as the “Gravettian Venuses” found in France The famous Venus “Dame de Brassempouy” from the French department of Landes was sculpted at this time but this attribution has been rejected by other archaeologists mainly because of their early date and their location to the east far from the classic “Gravettian” culture that was produced in central and western Europe between -34,000 and -26,000 years ago 5,000 to 7,000 years later and 3,000 km further east Our genetic results prove the Ukrainian archaeologists right: the individuals from Buran Kaya III were the ancestors of the Western Europeans producers of the Gravettian culture and artists of the famous Gravettian Venuses The “Génétique et epigénétique nouvelle ecole” project is supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR), which funds project-based research in France. Its mission is to support and promote the development of fundamental and applied research in all disciplines, and to strengthen the dialogue between science and society. For more information, visit the ANR website This article was originally published in French Katherine Hignett is a reporter based in London she edited a medicine industry newspaper and its accompanying websites Katherine graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Oxford in 2015. She also has an undergraduate degree from the University of York. You can contact her at k.hignett@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content The Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques has published two radar images of Tiangong-1 an uncontrolled Chinese space station hurtling closer and closer to Earth Fraunhofer FHR researchers caught the images in early February using the Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA) space observatory in Wachtberg near Bonn in Germany TIRA is one of the most powerful space observation radars in the world The European Space Agency (ESA) has commissioned the institute to use it to track Tiangong-1 Astronomers have recently narrowed re-entry windows from some two weeks over March and April to a few days spanning the upcoming Easter weekend As of March 22, The Aerospace Corporation predicts Tiangong-1 will re-enter around April 1, give or take three days. The ESA also predicts an Easter re-entry This forecast—which has been updated every 1-2 days since mid-March—is "highly variable," the ESA website states TIRA observations should help continue to narrow down re-entry estimates will determine the way Tiangong-1 rotates—an important influence on the space station's trajectory The institute is also regularly checking whether the space lab is still intact Most of the space station should burn up upon re-entry and debris that survives is incredibly unlikely to hit a human being the chance of an individual being hit by a piece of Tiangong-1 is about a million times smaller than the odds of winning the lottery And that's if you're in one of the areas Tiangong-1 debris is most likely to fall Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Rosie (right) and Paula stand in the donkey pasture in Arzdorf after feeding mum Paula and daughter Rosie graze in the pasture east of Arzdorf The two white female donkeys often attract the attention of cyclists and walkers although this is not always for their own good "People want to do something good for the animals and bring them food who looks after the donkeys at the Welsch riding stable this acts like sugar to the beasts of burden and harms them After signs had been posted on the pasture for a while This allows the passionate horsewoman to concentrate more on the donkey walks anyone can book a hike with her and her colleagues but also managers and other people from professions with high stress potential come to her groups that are too large have to be split up the purpose of the hike is either the individual experience or simply mental deceleration "That only works with individual attention," says Dürr The togetherness can only succeed if the four-legged friends are also relaxed If the animal smells danger or perceives something unusual and is therefore worried "This is the behaviour that many people think is stubbornness," says the hiking guide the animal is by no means stubborn in such moments "It focuses all its attention on a possible danger," says Dürr when she tried out the first hiking routes with the animals Because donkeys hear many times better than humans it took a while for the companions to figure out what the animals didn't like about the route "It's the high-voltage power lines," says Dürr "We often walk across the fields towards the forest," says Dürr she and her companions know so many tours that they can react flexibly to the guests' wishes or to unforeseen changes in the weather "Sometimes someone doesn't dare take a long donkey walk at first and then we're on the road for a good two hours because people enjoy the relaxing effect so much," says the donkey guide describing how plans can sometimes change even during the walks Those who get involved with the animals usually also quickly find out that the cuddly donkey ladies like to be cuddled behind their ears The German Donkey Breeders' Association was pleased about the growing interest in the animals someone should always accompany them who can take responsibility," says Annemarie Bank-Lauer If this is not the case and the hikers are not trained in handling the animal the donkey quickly takes responsibility for itself The result is not necessarily to everyone's liking "The donkey originally comes from the scree deserts in the Atlas Mountains," says Bank-Lauer it survived for centuries as a flight animal thanks to three typical reactions to possible dangers: "freezing Because a hasty escape in a rocky environment can quickly end fatally and the donkey does not exactly have distinctive attack possibilities the animal usually prefers to "freeze" - and does not move any more scared or does not trust the person on the other end of the rein the person leading the walk can intervene," says the expert Rosie and Paula belong to an unspecified Egyptian dwarf donkey breed In order for them to cope with the local climate there are a few things to keep in mind when keeping them the donkeys must not stand in the damp for long periods of time the dentist makes regular visits to the farm to care for the donkeys' teeth what they find in the pasture is not coarse enough for the animals' teeth to wear down naturally it doesn't mean that they don't get enough to eat But they know that their carers often have a permitted The Welsch riding stable in Arzdorf offers guided one-hour taster walks and extended two-hour walks for small and medium-sized groups Bookings can be made by calling 0170/48 60 600 According to the German Donkey Breeders Association (DZE) in Bad Camberg only a few donkeys living in Germany are assigned to a breed Because of the donkey's low estimated importance in relation to other farm animals no breeding according to a studbook was planned in this country until a few years ago It is only since 2015 that the association has maintained a studbook for the German donkey breed in accordance with European regulations and since 2019 also for the Thuringian donkey breed Worldwide earliest burial of monozygotic twins identified by an interdisciplinary team around OREA's Quaternary archaeology research group morphological and chemical analyses of two newborns found in a double grave at the Upper Palaeolithic site Krems-Wachtberg not only show they are monozygotic twins This implies re-opening of the grave - a mortuary behaviour hitherto undocumented for the Gravettian Read more in German Benjamin Menke (43) has spotted many an insect and reptile on the grounds of his business toads and camel-necked flies are some of the creatures that have crossed his path during his workday Now a special kind of spider has surprised the gardener "I was walking through the grounds a few days ago and suddenly saw a small animal crawling towards me from the bushes," Menke recalls "I was startled for a moment at the sight of the large fangs and pinchers - it did look exotic." The spider stopped as if waiting for something directly in front of Menke got the spider to crawl into it so he could get a closer look "It was very well-behaved and tame and not at all frightened," Menke says The animal was two centimetres in size and jet black in colour "it filled me with a mixture of terror and fascination." After the gardener had photographed the spider He then went on the internet and found that the eight-legged creature was apparently a rare purseweb spider Atypus affinis) biologist Hans-Joachim Krammer confirmed Menke's guess Krammer works at the Koenig Museum as a technical assistant in the Department of Arachnida He thinks Menke is a really lucky guy: "In fact an encounter like this between humans and purseweb spiders is most unusual as they lead a very reclusive life," the expert explains The species usually lives in burrows up to 30cm under the ground – making a chance encounter most unlikely "It’s only at mating time – if you are lucky – that you might meet a male on the lookout for a mate like the specimen the gardener found," Krammer explains The biologist was not aware that the spider occurs in Wachtberg He himself has found them in Niederzissen and knows of finds from Neuwied "It is definitely widespread here in the Rhine Valley region "The common purseweb spider is not dangerous to humans as long as the pets are not insects." However but the poisonous effect is generally not dangerous "Although all spiders kill their victims by means of a venomous bite there are no species dangerous to humans in Germany or the rest of Central Europe." The common purseweb spider feeds mainly on isopods the species is included in the Red List of endangered species with the status "near threatened" it is difficult for researchers to realistically assess its distribution and also its population situation "I think it's great that I got to see such a rare species," says Menke Anne Hathaway plays one of the main roles in "Mother Mary" No sooner had the Landpartie with its many tents been dismantled on the extensive grounds of Adendorf Castle than the film crew from the Cologne production company "augenschein" took control of the old walls more and more large trucks have been coming to the moated castle to unload heavy equipment What the GA had already reported exclusively in mid-May is now official: The Hollywood film "Mother Mary" (working title) which is aoso being produced by the American film studio A24 The film has an extremely prominent cast with Oscar winner Anne Hathaway ("Suddenly Princess" "The Devil Wears Prada") and Michaela Coel ("I May Destroy You") American actor Hunter Schafer will also star in the film - she recently made headlines for attending an Oscar party almost naked The film is being directed by David Lowery ("The Green Knight") Parking bans and letter from production company reveal details While hardly any of the people in charge wanted to comment on the film project to the GA in May they are making little effort to conceal the filming in the vicinity of the castle shortly before shooting begins the team has placed conspicuous yellow signs in the grass verges that read "MM Service" you will be led to the "Crew Parking" or to the future film base This is apparently being built along Georg-von-Loë-Straße Various signs there indicate that parking is prohibited What the signs also reveal: The Hollywood team is planning a longer stay in the Drachenfelser Ländchen This is a sign that larger and more elaborate scenes are being filmed in the remise of Adendorf Castle Two large vehicles have to shoot in a narrow intersection The first film clapperboards are unlikely to drop right from 5 June because there is a "request for a little help" on the part of the film crew The location manager of "Mother Mary" has made this request known with a total of three notices on the corner of Bachstraße and Georg-von-Loë-Straße "two large vehicles" were expected to arrive on Tuesday These would have to turn in the intersection and then reverse into Georg-von-Loë-Straße no vehicles should be parked there within a radius of 25 metres Residents should also leave a note with their mobile phone number in their vehicles Wachtberg's mayor is pleased about the shooting Film crew members are guided to the filming location with yellow signs like these Wachtberg's mayor Jörg Schmidt (CDU) is pleased that filming is taking place in his community "Of course it's great that Hollywood has now discovered our beautiful Wachtberg," Schmidt told the GA His municipality and especially Adendorf Castle would provide "the perfect ambience and an excellent film set" "I am very grateful to the von Loë family for making the castle available for the filming," the mayor continued He wished the film team "successful filming and a wonderful time in Wachtberg" (Original text: Maximilian Mühlens; Translation: Jean Lennox) Some places in and around Bonn allow you to pick your own strawberries visitors can pick their own certified organic strawberries starting June 3 The farm announces the dates for each week on its website At the Engels farm location in Niederkassel-Rheidt harvesting is expected to be possible starting in August Schneiders Obsthof also allows you to pick your own strawberries in the field Other farms offer freshly picked strawberries from their own cultivation in their farm stores or at sales stands in and around Bonn An overview is provided by the NRW Chamber of Agriculture at Landservice.de This is a listing that does not claim to be complete. It is also not a ranking. The order is arbitrary. Is a strawberry field missing from the listing? Send us an email to online@ga.de There are many carnival parades and parties in and around Bonn The carnival season is already in full swing and the first carnival parades will soon be making their way through Bonn and the surrounding towns After the storming of the town hall on Weiberfastnacht the so-called fifth season finally reaches its climax and there will be plenty of parties on the carnival days There are more than 30 parties from Weiberfastnacht to Rosenmontag in Bonn alone Some of them include fancy dress competitions >>> You can find an overview of the parties in Bonn in this article (in German) the street carnival started with the Geisterzug ("Ghost Parade") in Graurheindorf on Friday The carnival hustle and bustle reaches its climax ten days later with the big Rosenmontag parade in Bonn city centre >>> You can find all 2024 carnival parades in Bonn in this article <<< The first carnival parade on the Rhine and Sieg will take place in Siegburg-Brückberg on Sunday The street carnival ends with the parades on Rosenmontag >>> All carnival parades in Siegburg, Sankt Augustin, Niederkassel, Troisdorf and Hennef can be found in this article <<< Six carnival parades are on the programme in Wachtberg in 2024 >>> You can find all carnival processions in Wachtberg in this article <<< Meckenheim and Swisttal are scheduled between Saturday >>> All carnival processions in Rheinbach, Meckenheim and Swisttal can be found in this article <<< From the children's carnival parade in Bornheim-Sechtem to the Veilchendienstag parade in Alfter-Ort: There are numerous parades in Bornheim and Alfter >>> You can find all carnival parades in Alfter and Bornheim in this article <<< Carnival revellers will also be parading through the streets in the Siebengebirge region this session https://www.kamelle.de/narren-news/koenigswinter/bad-honnef-und-koenigswinter-alle-karnevalszuege-2024_aid-42724287 Remagen or Sinzig: there are plenty of parades along the Ahr this year >>> You can find all carnival processions in the Ahrweiler district in this article <<< Starlink satellites were visible over Bonn and the region on Thursday evening The photo was taken at the shopping center in Wachtberg-Berkum at around 9 pm there is something else we can see in the nighttime skies these days white dots suddenly appeared above Bonn and the region They moved across the clear evening sky as if strung on a string of pearls Our photographer Maximilian Mühlens photographed the formation on Thursday at around 9 p.m near the shopping center in Wachtberg-Berkum They are Starlink satellites of Elon Musk's U.S SpaceX has set itself the goal of providing internet access worldwide More than 3,700 satellites have been active since its launch in 2020 and launch approvals already exist for around 20,000 satellites This makes the company the world's largest satellite operator "The satellites are arranged in a formation and fly one behind the other in Earth's orbit," explains Tim Ruster of the Planetarium in Cologne This formation can be seen in the sky time and again SpaceX regularly sends satellites into space 21 Starlink satellites were sent into orbit by rocket on Monday When the launch vehicle with new satellites has reached the appropriate orbit They then join the other satellites in orbit The first satellites of the Starlink mission were much more reflective The new generations have a different coating "You can barely see these once the satellites arrive in orbit." Ruster who produces explainer videos about space under the name "Astro-Tim," suspects that in recent days these new satellites could be seen as they made their way into orbit The Starlink satellites are located at an altitude of around 300 to 600 kilometers the International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at an altitude of around 400 kilometers Weather plays an important role for visibility Each satellite is only visible as a white dot at dusk or dawn when it is illuminated by the sun and reflects the light in the dark night sky The sun can’t be too low below the horizon so that the celestial bodies can still be reached by sunlight The spots of light from the Starlink satellites tend to frighten some people chairman of the Society for the Research of UFO Phenomena in Lüdenscheid "Some people think of an attack from outer space and panic easily This has actually been reported to us," he says The sightings of the past few days are not an exception It provides information on when and where to spot the celestial bodies the satellites should be easily visible on Friday evening as well as on Saturday evening around 9:08 p.m. text: Alexander Hertel / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)