Børnehøj
The Børnehøj ( German "Children's Hill" ) is located on Børnehøjen (street) in the northeast of Roskilde , on the Danish island of Zealand . It is a megalithic system of the funnel beaker culture (TBK) and dates from the Neolithic around 3500–2800 BC. The passage grave is a type of Neolithic megalithic system, which consists of a chamber and a structurally separated, lateral passage. This form is primarily found in Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia, as well as occasionally in France and the Netherlands.
The Børnehøj was excavated in 1887 by Vilhelm Boye (1837-1996), who found fragments of more than 30 vessels in the chambers. The shards were scattered and some that matched were far apart. Neolithic monuments are an expression of the culture and ideology of Neolithic societies. Their origin and function are considered to be the hallmarks of social development.
description
The passage grave is a double passage grave ( Danish : Dobbelt or Tvillingejættestue ). The two north-west-south-east oriented chambers with separate entrances have two common dividing stones. This double form occurs more often in North Zealand and North Jutland. The common partitions, which are evidence of uniform planning and simultaneous performance, are not so common in Jutland , where passage graves with side chambers also occur ( passage graves from Snæbum ). Instead, the chambers are independent of one another, but coordinated with one another, in the same hill.
Apart from the stones of the chamber separation, the western, smaller system has eight and the eastern, larger nine bearing stones. The cap stones of both chambers are missing. The axes of most of the double chambers form an obtuse angle and thus adapt to the round hill. At Børnehøj the axes form an obtuse angle close to 180 °. The Klekkende Høj on Møn is the only example where the chamber and passage axes are at right angles to each other and form straight lines.
Both corridors are missing the outer bearing and cap stones and both have a locking device between the last and penultimate pair of bearing stones. From the western passage, in which the remains of a second locking device can also be seen, seven bearing stones and two middle cap stones have been preserved. Eight bearing stones and three cap stones have been preserved from the eastern corridor.
Finds
During the excavation of the eastern passage grave, Vilhelm Christian Boye (1837-1896) found, apart from the ceramics, human bones, which in most cases were almost pulverized and, according to Boyes , were exposed to fire . Some amber pearls did not appear to have been in contact with fire. The other grave goods - including some made of flint - showed traces of fire. In the access to the plant a skeleton and its offerings (were a chisel , some deductions and eight shards) survived. The contents of the western chamber were very similar to the findings in the eastern. This applies to both the burials and some of the grave goods.
The stone box
After the excavation, the farmer discovered a stone box in the mound . Boye returned to Børnehøj to dig up the box in the northwest corner of the hill. In the box was burnt human skeletal material from the end of the Neolithic. Centuries after it was used by the funnel beaker culture, the hill had been used again for a burial.
conservation
The problem with Børnehøj and other facilities is the lack of cap stones in the chamber, which exposes the facilities to the elements. Major restorations took place in 1978/79 and 2003.
See also
literature
- Karsten Kjer Michaelsen: Politikens bog om Danmarks oldtid (= Politikens håndbøger. ). Politiken, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 87-567-6458-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Johannes Müller : Neolithic Monuments and Neolithic Societies. In: Hans-Jürgen Beier , Erich Claßen, Thomas Doppler, Britta Ramminger (eds.): Varia neolithica VI. Neolithic Monuments and Neolithic Societies. Contributions from the meeting of the Neolithic Working Group during the annual meeting of the North-West German Association for Ancient Research in Schleswig, 9. – 10. October 2007 (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 56). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-941171-28-2 , pp. 7-16, here p. 15.
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 39 ′ 42.4 " N , 12 ° 6 ′ 37.4" E