Archaeologists have discovered remains of a Stone Age village with 19 graves near a busy runway of an eastern German airport, and hope to discover more about the people using DNA tests. The experts said all the bodies had been placed on their sides and with the hands crossed. Another eight graves were mysteriously empty. State of Saxony archaeologists described the site at Leipzig-Halle Airport as the biggest Neolithic settlement ever discovered in central Germany. The human tissue will be tested to see how those buried were related to one another. Saxony's chief archaeologist, Judith Oexle, said the site dated from 5300 to 5200 BC, when hunter-gatherer cultures were giving way to farming settlements where people practised pottery and other crafts. She emphasized that the people were biologically the same as people today. "They were Homo sapiens sapiens," she said. "If you met one on a tram, you wouldn't notice the difference." Excavation manager Susanne Friedrich said remains of post holes showed the sites of eight houses, the largest nearly 30 metres long. --SP 0011 Local Time 2111 GMT
