Konens Høj systems
Constructions of the Konens Høj type form groups / types which, in the Danish areas with later large stone graves, were mostly forerunners from around 3500 BC. Chr. Occurring megalithic systems are occupied. The hills known under the term " Konens Høj " ( German "Ehefrauen-Hügel" ) - named after the place where they were found at Stubbe Sø north of Ebeltoft in Djursland - have been predominantly (190: 35 ratio) on the Cimbrian Peninsula (Schleswig- Holstein and Jutland - and on Funen Øster Skerninge). There is information in Danish archives on at least 220 of these Neolithic sites. In several European countries they appear exclusively as long hills , have different names (e.g. Långhögar in Swedish ) and are differentiated based on a few constructional features .
The grounds were partially paved, sometimes bordered with palisades or wattle fences, which served to enclose the (about two meters high) mound ( Barkjær ). The wooden structures are often combined with trapezoidal, not very deep and mostly around 0.5 m wide trenches. The not very large early complexes were partly built with unmegalithic stone components and in the Satruper stage around 3650 BC. BC, which is followed by the Fuchsberg level of the funnel beaker culture (TBK), which marks the beginning of megalithic construction, is documented (Frøslev polde).
Research history
K. Thorvildson (1907–1987) was the first to establish variations of non-megalithic graves, such as tree coffin graves and stone-supported graves, in 1941. More than half of all earth graves are marked by a (usually) low mound as a grave superstructure. These earth graves should be related to the simple dolmens . On the basis of the additions, Thorvildson demonstrated the overlap between earth graves and dolmens. Later research showed that earth graves were built well into the megalithic TBK phase and developed into stone pack graves, which are still typical of the late TBK and were even found in the immediate vicinity of the megalithic complexes. When asked about the development of this grave shape, Becker noted in 1960, in contrast to E. Jørgensen in 1977, a development from simple earth graves to stone pack graves. This also includes houses of the dead , which are often found above stone packing graves. Most of the knowledge about these facilities, however, dates from the end of the 20th century.
Three early Neolithic types occur in Jutland and in Northern Germany:
- Wooden chamber graves of the "Troelstrup type"
- Stone frame and stone packing graves
- the type "Konens Høj" has the most elaborate grave construction
Type Konens Høj
The interpretation of the findings from “Konens Høj” is not clear. The most accepted variant of the interpretation of this grave building is that the construction had a tent-like appearance, with two heavy posts at the two ends of the long sides that support a horizontal beam on which the cover of the burial chamber rested. Three systems of this type, including one about 199 m long, were found near Flintbek in Schleswig-Holstein . Two parallel long hills near Ringsberg, but only rudimentarily preserved in height, could also be systems of this type.
Troelstrup type
Troelstrup is a subtype that is primarily common in North Jutland (near Skive). It is a box-shaped wooden chamber within a stone setting, the access to which was a narrow corridor. Troelstrup is an example of a long hill in which there was a change between dolmen and wood-earth constructions. The oldest grave 1 is a wood and earth construction. Grave 2 is a dolmen that was placed on the eastern narrow side of the wooden frame. Then the mound was expanded and in this grave 3 - again a wood-earth construction - was built. Tombs 4 and 5 are dolmens for which the hill was lengthened to 59 m. Graves 1 and 3 are the namesake systems of the Troelstrup type, of which there are these variants:
- Skibshøj: with stone chamber walls and a wooden cover
- Lindebjerg: a wooden chamber in a horseshoe-shaped enclosure
Cuxhaven-Gudendorf
Next to a destroyed megalithic complex there was a pit with a stone setting. The low-lying pavement was surrounded by granite slabs and pebbles up to a height of 40 cm like a wall. The wall is 3.85 m long and 1.20 m wide and rounded at the ends. The grave contained four cross-edged arrowheads , two flint axes and two clay vessels from different periods. The clay vessels and the unusual length of the stone setting point to a simultaneous double burial , whereby the dead (of which no traces were found) may have been buried lengthways one behind the other. The location also occupied in Bygholm Nørremark disappears almost completely in the megalithic phase (3500–2800 BC). There are counterparts in Denmark for the stone setting found under a megalithic complex.
See also
literature
- Wolf-Dieter Tempel : Flat graves of the funnel cup culture. In: Heinz Schirnig (Hrsg.): Großsteingräber in Niedersachsen (= publications of the prehistoric collections of the State Museum in Hanover. 24). Lax, Hildesheim 1979, ISBN 3-7848-1224-4 , pp. 111-116.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Systems of a similar type are particularly common in Poland under the designation "Niedźwiedź Type" - NTT, but are also represented in Central Germany and the Czech Republic.
- ^ Lennardt Brandstätter, Doris Mischka: In search of Neolithic long beds. A geophysical prospection near Ringsberg, Schleswig-Flensburg district. In: Archaeological News from Schleswig-Holstein. Vol. 17, 2011, ISSN 0942-9107 , pp. 36-38.