From the Irish Times: Archaeological dig uncovers ‘cradle of Berlin’.

Archaeologists in Berlin have uncovered evidence that the German capital is older than previously thought in one of the city’s oldest graveyards, containing 2,300 skeletons.

Since March, archaeologists have been at work at Petriplatz, Peter’s Square, which served in the Middle Ages as the central square of Cölln, Berlin’s now vanished sister city. (…)

In one corner of the site, octagonal stone steps are the only reminder of St Peter’s Church which once stood here. Destroyed and rebuilt five times over 700 years, it stood as the heart of the settlement until it vanished for good in 1964.

It was in the ruins of the church that archaeologists found the first mention of Cölln and Berlin in a church document from 1237. [continue]