'Extraordinary' skeleton of woman from early Bronze Age found in Germany

An "extraordinary" skeleton of a woman, who lived in the early Bronze Age, was found buried in a seated position, during an archaeological survey before the planned construction of a high-speed train track in central Germany.
 
According to a report in National Geographic News, the woman's skeleton was found near the town of Bad Lauchstadt and is one of several burials found so far during the dig, which runs from September 2008 to June 2010.
 
"From an archaeological point of view, the excavation is a great chance to learn about the development of settlement on the Querfurter Platte," a geological plate between the Saale and Unstrut river valleys, according to Ralf Bockmann, a spokesperson for the Saxony-Anhalt office for Monument Protection and Archaeology in Saale, Germany.
 
For example, according to the statement, "the broad range of traces from ancient cultures and the number and quality of the individual finds show how important this region has been for thousands of years not just as a settlement area, but as a transport route."
 
"The region has fertile soils and has been used for settlement for a very long time. But, until now, there had been no large-scale excavations in that region," Bockman added.