Gallery graves of Schmerlecke

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Floor plans of galleries using the example of three systems from the Warburg necropolis

The gallery graves of Schmerlecke are located west of Erwitte in the Soester Börde , in the Soest district in North Rhine-Westphalia . The plants belong to the so-called " Soester Group " in the loess-rich Börde. The galleries of Hiddingsen, Ostönnen, Schmerlecke (three systems), Uelde and Völlinghausen are assigned to it. The discovery story of the site begins in 1880. The third facility was discovered recently.

In Schmerlecke there are three gallery graves in the middle of the field on the L 856 (formerly Bundesstrasse 1 ) . They were built in the Neolithic from large, non-local limestone slabs . The two galleries II and III, which have been excavated since 2009, are around 20.0 and 25.0 meters long and over four meters wide. The systems are partially damaged by modern plows. The gallery graves are between 3500 BC. BC and 2800 BC Was built and used by the carriers of the funnel beaker culture (TBK).

Compared to the tombs of the TBK at the same time in northern Germany, the dead in Schmerlecke were given few additions. But the excavators brought perforated animal teeth and halves of wild animal mandibles, in small numbers also amber and copper jewelry, arrowheads and flint blades , rock tools such as axes and hatchets and bone tools such as chisels and awls.

Pieces of bones from a Neolithic grave

The ongoing excavation shows that the human skeletal remains have been preserved exceptionally well, especially in grave II. Based on the skulls and skull fragments, at least 23 individuals can be provisionally identified in the first half of the grave. 70 to 150 people were buried in such facilities. These are so-called collective graves that have been opened repeatedly for new burials over generations. 28,000 finds were recovered from the large stone graves from the late Neolithic; predominantly these are bone finds.

See also

literature

  • Eva Cichy, Kerstin Schierhold: From collective to individual burials - the district trenches of Erwitte-Schmerlecke. In: Archeology in Westphalia-Lippe. 2011 (2012), pp. 52-56 ( online ).
  • Susan Klingner, Michael Schultz: First results of the anthropological-paleopathological investigations of the buried in the gallery graves of Erwitte-Schmerlecke. In: Martin Hinz, Johannes Müller (eds.): Settlement, trench works, large stone grave. Studies on the society, economy and environment of the funnel cup groups in northern Central Europe (= early monumentality and social differentiation. Volume 2). Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-7749-3813-7 , pp. 431-441.
  • Christian Meyer, Kerstin Schierhold : Got the dog - animal tooth jewelry from the graves of Erwitte-Schmerlecke. In: Archeology in Westphalia-Lippe. 2012 (2013), pp. 41-44 ( online ).
  • Kerstin Schierhold: Studies on the Hessian-Westphalian megalithic. Research status and perspectives in a European context (= Münster contributions to prehistoric and early historical archeology. Volume 6). Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 2012, ISBN 978-3-89646-284-8 .
  • Kerstin Schierhold et al .: Houses for the dead - the late Neolithic gallery graves in Erwitte-Schmerlecke. In: Archeology in Westphalia-Lippe. 2010 (2011), pp. 35-38 ( online ).
  • Kerstin Schierhold, Ralf Gleser, Michael Baales: On the genesis and structure of the Hessian-Westphalian megalithic using the example of the Soest group. In: Martin Hinz, Johannes Müller (eds.): Settlement, trench works, large stone grave. Studies on the society, economy and environment of the funnel cup groups in northern Central Europe (= early monumentality and social differentiation. Volume 2). Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-7749-3813-7 , pp. 411-430.
  • Kerstin Schierhold, Norbert Reuther: Early funeral rites - conclusion of the excavations in Erwitte-Schmerlecke. In: Archeology in Westphalia-Lippe. 2013 (2014), pp. 59-62 ( online ).
  • Waldtraut Schrickel : Western European elements in the Neolithic grave construction of Central Germany and the gallery graves of West Germany and their inventories . (Vol. 2: Catalog of the Central German graves with Western European elements and the gallery graves of Western Germany ). 2 volumes. Habelt, Bonn 1966.
  • Burkard Steinücken: Examination of the gallery graves of Soest-Hiddingsen and Beckum-Dalmer for astronomical abnormalities . ( PDF )

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 35 ′ 44.5 "  N , 8 ° 14 ′ 13.6"  E