Great stone graves near Bretsch

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Great stone graves near Bretsch Sleeping Beauty Tomb (Tomb 2)
Great stone grave Bretsch 1

Great stone grave Bretsch 1
Great stone graves near Bretsch (Saxony-Anhalt)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates Bretsch 1 , Bretsch 2 , Bretsch 3
place Altmärkische Höhe , Saxony-Anhalt , Germany
Emergence 3700 to 3350 BC Chr.

The megalithic graves near Bretsch are a group of originally probably eight megalithic grave complexes from the Neolithic deep-engraving ceramic culture near Bretsch , a district of the Altmärkische Höhe community in the Stendal district , Saxony-Anhalt . Today only three graves remain. The remaining facilities were destroyed in the 19th century.

location

The preserved graves 1 and 2 are about 1 km east of Bretsch. Grave 1 is located immediately south of the road to Drüsedau , grave 3 300 m west-northwest in the field. Grave 3 is a little further away, about 2 km northeast of the town and 1.4 kn north of grave 1.

No precise description of the location of the destroyed graves KS 38 and KS 39 is available. Grave KS 40 was 1000 paces (approx. 750 m) south of Bretsch in the field "beyond the mill flood". Grave KS 41 was in the same field "a few hundred paces down from the village" and grave KS 42 was also on this field in the parish plan.

To the west of graves 1 and 2 were the large stone graves near Dewitz , which were destroyed in the 19th century .

Research history

Depiction of the grave Bretsch 1 in the historical description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg (1751)

The graves were first mentioned by Johann Christoph Bekmann in his Historical Description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg , published in 1751 . Bekmann named five graves "in front of the village of Bretschen, half a mile above Seehausen to Arendsee ". This probably meant a group of graves east or north-east of Bretsch. In 1843, Johann Friedrich Danneil carried out the first systematic survey of all the large stone graves in the Altmark . To the east and north-east of Bretsch he found only the three graves that still exist today; the other two graves had probably already been destroyed in the meantime. Danneil was also able to find three other graves south of Bretsch. At the beginning of the 1890s, Eduard Krause and Otto Schoetensack carried out a new survey of the old market stone graves. They found that the graves south of Bretsch had now also been destroyed. In 2003-04, all remaining large stone graves in the Altmark were recorded and measured as a joint project of the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology of Saxony-Anhalt , the Johann Friedrich Danneil Museum in Salzwedel and the association “Young Archaeologists of the Altmark”.

There are different numbers for the graves. For the graves that have been preserved, the site numbers are used in the following, for those that have been destroyed the number with which Krause and Schoetensack provided them.

official no. Danneil (1843) Krause /
Schoetensack (1893) 		Beier (1991) Remarks
Fpl. 1 D 14 KS 35 1 receive
Fpl. 2 D 15 KS 36 2 receive
Fpl. 3 D 16 KS 37 3 receive
- - KS 38 4th destroyed
- - KS 39 5 destroyed
- D 17 KS 40 6th destroyed
- D 18 KS 41 7th destroyed
- D 19 KS 42 8th destroyed

description

The preserved graves

Grave 1

Ground plan of the Bretsch 1 grave according to Krause / Schoetensack
Middle: amphora of the younger deep engraving ceramics, probably from grave 1; Johann Friedrich Danneil Museum , Salzwedel

According to Hartmut Bock , Barbara Fritsch and Lothar Mittag, grave 1 belongs to the large dolmen type , while Hans-Jürgen Beier classifies it as large dolmen or passage grave . The burial mound has now melted heavily. It has a length of 37.0 m, a width of 14.8 m and a height of 1.0 m. The grave border is oriented northeast-southwest and was probably originally rectangular. It still consists of at least 31 stones, some of which are no longer in their original position. The border is 25.0 m long and 7.5 m wide.

The burial chamber is oriented northeast-southwest and is located in the center of the enclosure. Today it still consists of eleven wall stones and five cap stones. Of the latter three are completely preserved, one is broken and one lies north outside the enclosure. Further cap stones are missing today. The two largest cap stones measure 2.7 m × 1.4 m × 0.9 m or 2.0 m × 1.5 m × 1.0 m. The capstone lying outside the border has two bowls . The northeast capstone has a cylindrical depression, which is probably a planned blast hole. The chamber is rectangular and has internal dimensions 6.1 m × 1.7 m.

A completely preserved amphora of the younger deep engraving ceramics and an unspecified "war wedge", which were mentioned by Johann Friedrich Danneil in 1838 , may come from the grave . The two finds from Danneil are no longer mentioned in later publications on this grave.

Grave 2

Ground plan of the Bretsch 2 grave according to Krause / Schoetensack

Grave 2 is popularly referred to as "Sleeping Beauty Grave" and, according to Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch and Lothar Mittag, also belongs to the large dolmen type, while Hans-Jürgen Beier classifies it as large dolmen or passage grave. The burial mound is oval. It has a length of 25.0 m, a width of 16.0 m and a height of 0.6 m. The grave border is oriented north-north-east-south-south-west and consists of 23 stones. It is rectangular, 13.5 m long and 7.0 m wide. The burial chamber is oriented north-northeast-south-southwest and is located in the center of the enclosure. It still consists of eight of the original ten wall stones and four cap stones, two of which still rest on the wall stones, another is north of the chamber. The overlying cap stones measure 1.9 m × 1.6 m × 0.7 m or 1.9 m × 1.0 m × 0.7 m. The southern capstone and the capstone outside the chamber have small bowls. The chamber is rectangular and has the internal dimensions 5.0 m × 1.0 m, its height is 0.6 m. Neolithic flint artefacts as well as Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age ceramic shards were found in the vicinity of the grave .

Grave 3

Ground plan of the Bretsch 3 grave according to Krause / Schoetensack

Grave 3 also belongs to the large dolmen type. The burial mound is elongated. It has a length of 37.0 m, a width of 13.0 m and a height of 0.7 m. The grave border is oriented northeast-southwest and still consists of 38 stones, eight of which are still upright, some more were blown up. The burial chamber is oriented northeast-southwest. It originally consisted of twelve wall stones, all of which were still standing upright, and probably five cap stones, four of which have survived. One of the capstones still rests on the wall stones, a second is only preserved as a fragment and has fallen into the chamber, the other two lie in a displaced position to the east outside the enclosure. The capstone on top measures 2.7 m × at least 1.0 m × 0.9 m, the two dragged stones measure 2.5 m × 2.5 m × 0.8 m and 2.3 m × 1.3 m × at least 0.5 m. The overlying and one of the dragged capstones have numerous bowls. The chamber is trapezoidal. It has a length of 6.0 m and a width of 1.5 to 1.8 m.

According to reports by Johann Friedrich Danneil, the grave was first examined by Johann Joachim Winckelmann in the 1740s . However, there are no known records of this research by Winckelmann himself. The first more precisely documented excavation was carried out in 1936 in the northeast part of the burial chamber. A multi-layer filling of the chamber floor was found. The top layer consisted of loose sand, the second was hard and concrete containing ceramic fragments, and the third consisted of granite - crus , the fourth of a porous mass, the burnt with coal and bone fragments was mixed. The bottom layer consisted of broken plaster that had been applied before the wall stones were erected. The shards could be assigned to deep-engraving ceramics and a presumed reburial of the Schönfeld culture .

The destroyed graves

Grave KS 38

The grave was not described in detail by Bekmann. All that can be deduced from his remarks is that it had a giant bed that surrounded a burial chamber.

Grave KS 39

The grave was not described in detail by Bekmann. All that can be deduced from his remarks is that it had a giant bed that surrounded a burial chamber.

Grave KS 40

According to Danneil, the complex consisted of a burial chamber with a length of 4.7 m and a width of 4.4 m, which had two cap stones. However, his measurements probably refer to an enclosure, since otherwise the chamber would have been extraordinarily wide. According to Beier, it was probably an enlarged dolmen or a large dolmen.

Grave KS 41

The plant had a giant bed with a length of 7.5 m and a width of 5 m. Danneil did not mention a stone enclosure. The burial chamber was quite large and consisted of exceptionally large wall stones. The cap stones were already missing from Danneil's investigation. There are no separate dimensions for the chamber. According to Beier, it was probably a large dolmen or a passage grave.

Grave KS 42

When Danneil's investigation, the complex had already been largely destroyed and the dimensions and the original appearance of the grave could no longer be determined.

More finds

Krause and Schoetensack list several devices that were found in the large stone graves near Bretsch without it being noted which of the graves they came from. These devices are seven flint - axes and a narrow chisel made of white rock. One ax is now in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) , the remaining pieces are in the Johann Friedrich Danneil Museum in Salzwedel . Krause and Schoetensack name another flint ax, two small chisels and an ax made of rock that were found in Bretsch, but it is unclear whether they come from large stone graves. These pieces are in Halle today.

See also

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest . Beier and Beran, Wilkau-Haßlau 1991, pp. 54–55 ( Contributions to the Prehistory and Early History of Central Europe 1, ZDB -ID 916540-x ), (Simultaneously: Halle, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 1991: Die megalithischen , submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs in the five new East German federal states (formerly GDR) ).
  • Johann Christoph Bekmann , Bernhard Ludwig Bekmann : Historical description of the Chur and Mark Brandenburg according to their origin, inhabitants, natural characteristics, waters, landscapes, towns, clerical donors, etc. [...]. Vol. 1, Berlin 1751, p. 354 ( online version ).
  • Hartmut Bock , Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Great stone graves of the Altmark . State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt and State Museum for Prehistory, Halle (Saale) 2006, ISBN 3-939414-03-4 , pp. 54–63.
  • Johann Friedrich Danneil : tombstones from pre-Christian times; Division of the various grave monuments from pagan times in the Altmark . In: First annual report of the Altmark Association for Patriotic History and Industry . 1838, p. 46 ( PDF; 4.6 MB ).
  • Johann Friedrich Danneil: Special evidence of the barrows in the Altmark . In: Sixth annual report of the Altmark Association for Patriotic History and Industry . 1843, pp. 96-97 ( PDF; 5.5 MB ).
  • E. Haetge: Osterburg district (= The art monuments of the province of Saxony. Volume 4). Burg 1938, pp. 71, 263–264.
  • Hans-Ulrich Kelch: Mysterious pans. In: Hartmut Bock (Ed.): Cities - Villages - Friedhöfe. Archeology in the Altmark 2: From the High Middle Ages to the modern age (= contributions to the cultural history of the Altmark and its peripheral areas, Volume 8). Oschersleben 2002, ISBN 3-935358-36-9 , pp. 458-469.
  • Eduard Krause , Otto Schoetensack : The megalithic graves (stone chamber graves) of Germany . I .: Altmark . In: Journal of Ethnology . Vol. 25, 1893, pp. 139-141 / No. 35–37, Plates VI / 35–37, VII / 35–37, IX / 35 ( PDF; 39.0 MB ).
  • Friedrich Lüth : Salzmünde, Walternienburg, Bernburg. Typological and chronological studies of the Eneolithic in Central Germany. Dissertation, Hamburg 1988 (Microfiche 1997), pp. 31-32.
  • Nils Niklasson : Studies on the Walternienburg-Bernburger culture. Part I. Halle (Saale) 1925, p. 1 ( online ).
  • Joachim Preuss : The Altmark group of deep engraving ceramics (= publications of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 33). Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1980, pp. 102-103.
  • Britta Schulze-Thulin : Large stone graves and menhirs. Saxony-Anhalt • Thuringia • Saxony . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2007, ISBN 978-3-89812-428-7 , p. 36.
  • Günter Wetzel : The Schönfelder Gruppe (= publications of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle. Volume 31). Halle (Saale) 1979, p. 122.

Web links

Commons : Great stone graves near Bretsch  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, pp. 54, 57, 60.
  2. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, p. 11.
  3. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, p. 54.
  4. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, pp. 54-56.
  5. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, p. 57.
  6. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, p. 60.
  7. ↑ Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark. 2006, pp. 61-62.