Sacrificial stone
The so-called sacrificial stones , specially shaped or worked stones, were often associated with a bloody sacrificial cult of the Germanic tribes , especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries , for which there is no evidence. In archeology, terms like grooved stone or cup stone are known. Folklore reports on "superstitious practices" of the rural population.
The "blood grooves" of most stones are probably of natural origin. The sacrificial stone (Melzingen) , Krs. Uelzen, remains as an investigated cult site of this category . It is located a little away from the neighboring excavated living space in a now damp place in the field. The phosphate content of the soil around the Melzinger Stein is increased, but this does not necessarily have to be due to blood.
The sometimes huge specimens from Börger ( Emsland ) and Tirslund ( Jutland ) are also considered cult or sacrificial stones.
- Sacrificial stones
Melzingen
Sacrificial stone 2, "Bowl stone" in the "Old Grove" of the Leistrup forest
Horkenstein in Hattingen
Natural monument Alte Taufe im Deister
Quoltitz
Hardehausen
Jaanikivi, sacrificial stone in Estonia.
In Germany, monoliths in Lower Saxony , Westphalia and Lippe in particular are known as sacrificial stones:
- Old baptism in the Deister
- Sacrificial stone from Börger, Emsland
- Grambergen Sacrifice Stone, Bissendorf
- Heidenopferstein , Bad Kissingen
- Matthiesings Sacrificial Stone ( District Osnabrück )
- Oetzendorfer Sacrificial Stone ( Uelzen District )
- Large stone grave Marienborn 1 (called sacrificial stone in the Marienborn forest )
- Sacrificial stone from Plumbohm near Dannenberg
- Sacrificial stone near Hardehausen
- Hollen sacrificial stone
- Quoltitz (Ruegen)
- Sacrificial stone in the fir trees
- Sacrificial stone in the Stubbenkammer Rügen
- Sacrificial stone at Riesenkamp ( Wedel )
- Sacrificial stone in deserts
- Sacrificial stone I and sacrificial stone II in the Leistrup forest near Detmold , district of Diestelbruch
- Horkenstein in Hattingen, formerly in Bochum
- Sacrificial stone on the Eisenberg im Knüll
Some of them are likely to be the remains of a destroyed barrow . A largely intact barrow in the Wildeshauser Geest is also popularly known as the sacrificial stone.
Well over 100 sacrificial stones have been registered in Finland, most of which are in Häme . They are preferably found nearby or on Iron Age burial grounds and are considered to be associated with the cult of death.
literature
- Edvard Hammarstedt: Swedish sacrificial stones (Älvkvarnar).
- Ingrid Schmidt: megalithic grave and sacrificial stone. Soil monuments on the island of Rügen . Hinstorff, Rostock 2001. ISBN 3-356-00917-6 .
- Detlef Schünemann: New grooved stones from the lower Aller. For the interpretation of the groove and gutter stones. Perspective and tasks . In: The customer . NF 38, 1987, ISSN 0342-0736 , pp. 73-99.