Great stone graves near Burtevitz

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Great stone graves near Burtevitz Great stone graves near Preetz
View of the large stone graves 1, 3 and 4 near Burtevitz and the large stone grave Lancken-Granitz 4 (front group of trees)

View of the large stone graves 1, 3 and 4 near Burtevitz and the large stone grave Lancken-Granitz 4 (front group of trees)
Great stone graves near Burtevitz (Rügen)
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania relief location map.jpg
Burtevitz 1
Burtevitz 2
Burtevitz 3
Burtevitz 4
Great stone graves near Burtevitz
Coordinates Burtevitz 1 , Burtevitz 2 , Burtevitz 3 , Burtevitz 4
place Lancken-Granitz , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Germany
Emergence 3500 to 2800 BC Chr.
Sprockhoff no. 505-507

The megalithic graves near Burtevitz (also megalithic graves near Preetz ) were seven grave complexes of the Neolithic funnel cup culture in the vicinity of the district of Burtevitz belonging to Lancken-Granitz in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), of which only four still exist today. All graves are large dolmen . Three of these systems have the Sprockhoff numbers 505–507. In 1969 three graves were excavated under the direction of Ewald Schuldt and Erika Beltz .

location

The grave led by Sprockhoff as Preetz 1 and von Schuldt as Burtevitz 2 is on the western outskirts of Burtevitz, about 30 m west of the road. The other three graves are located 840 m north-west of this, close together. The middle one is grave 4. Grave 3 is 50 m south and grave 1 80 m east of it. The four large stone graves at Lancken-Granitz are only 120 m away to the northeast . There are several other large stone graves in the vicinity: The large stone grave Dummertevitz is 1 km southwest and the large stone grave Garftitz is 2 km northeast .

Research history

The systems are not yet recorded on the detailed register cards of the area around Lancken-Granitz, which were made between 1692 and 1709 in the course of the Swedish land survey of Western Pomerania . The graves were first described in 1829 by Friedrich von Hagenow , who was able to identify seven more complexes in Burtevitz. His research was published in 1904 by Rudolf Baier . The first detailed documentation was carried out by Ernst Sprockhoff , who measured three graves in 1931 and published them in his atlas of megalithic graves in Germany . Two of these graves and another, which was originally thought to be a burial mound , were the subject of excavations between July and November 1969 under the direction of Ewald Schuldt and Erika Beltz . The skeletal remains found were anthropologically examined by Hans Grimm and the results published in 1984. In 2010, as part of a joint research project between the Historical Institute of the University of Greifswald and the German Archaeological Institute, geomagnetic prospecting and field inspections took place in the vicinity of the large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz and Burtevitz . One of the aims of these was to determine the exact locations of the plants that were considered destroyed. This was followed by excavations that lasted until 2011 in the vicinity of two graves near Burtevitz and on the mound of one of the graves.

The graves were named and numbered differently by different authors. In the following, the system will be adopted by Schuldt.

Sprockhoff Owed Beier
Preetz 1 (507) Burtevitz 2 Burtevitz 3
Preetz 2 (506) Burtevitz 1 Burtevitz 2
Preetz 3 (505) Burtevitz 4 Burtevitz 1
- Burtevitz 3 Burtevitz 4

description

Grave 1

The Burtevitz 1 large stone grave

The grave was badly damaged in 1926 when the cap stones and the southeastern capstone were removed as building material for a road. Ernst Sprockhoff therefore found only an irregular pile of stones when he was taken in 1931. The mound was removed and the wall stones protruded 1 m from the ground. Sprockhoff reconstructed the grave as a large dolmen with originally three pairs of wall stones on the long sides, one end stone each on the narrow sides and three cap stones.

The excavation carried out in July 1969 confirmed Sprockhoff's assessment. A burial chamber with a length of 4 m and a width of 2.2 m was found, which still had three pairs of wall stones on the long sides and the north-western end stone. However, only a fragment of the south-eastern stone of the north-eastern long side was preserved. The spaces between the wall stones were lined with horizontally and vertically mounted dry stone masonry made of sandstone slabs. The chamber was filled with a 1 m thick layer of pebbles and sandy loam. Cross-edged arrowheads and ceramic shards were found in this layer. This was followed by the burial layer, which consisted of brown sand and was 30 cm thick. Most of the finds from the grave were made in this layer. These included human skeletal remains, ceramic vessels, a clay slide, 19 amber beads in the shape of a double ax and club, blowstones and hatchets made of flint (seven pieces), narrow chisels (two complete and one fragment), blades, scratches and arrowheads in triangular and cross- cutter shape. The chamber floor emerged beneath the burial layer and consisted of a stone plaster and a 10 cm thick layer of clay applied to it. The original height of the chamber was 1.5 m. A division of the chamber into quarters could not be determined, only a single inclined slab and a recess in the pavement in front of the middle wall stone on the north-western long side could serve as an indication. A striking feature was a stone slab that stood on the layer of clay and leaned against the north-western end stone. Their function remained unclear.

There were no more wall stones from the entrance area in the southeast. However, on the basis of footprints and threshold stones as well as small stone slabs, it could be reconstructed that it was constructed in the same way as the neighboring graves, i.e. with a small closing stone on the left and a porch on the right.

Hans Grimm was able to anthropologically evaluate the skeletal remains of four individuals. One of the buried was an adult man of advanced age (late Matura). The other three were a toddler, a child aged six or under (Infans I) and a child aged between seven and twelve (Infans II).

Grave 2

The complex has a north-east-south-west oriented burial chamber with a length of 4 m, a width of 2.5 m and a height of 1.5 m. It originally had three pairs of wall stones on the long sides, three cap stones, a large capstone at the southwest end and an entrance in the northeast. The exact state of preservation could only be determined by an excavation in October 1969. The capstones and the south-eastern wall stones were completely missing. The opposite wall stones have been moved slightly from their original position by being blown up. The capstone is still roughly in its original position, but it was broken into several parts when it was blown up. The dry masonry between the wall stones has only been largely preserved in its entirety on the western corner of the chamber. A threshold stone and a fragment of a wall stone are still preserved from the entrance area. The findings make it possible to assume an entrance situation that is largely identical to that of the neighboring graves. The floor was covered with a paving made of red sandstone slabs, which were covered with a thin layer of clay screed. Vertical panels on the south-eastern long wall indicate the division of the chamber into quarters. Above the screed, a flint chisel, two broad-lancet-shaped arrowheads as well as a cup and shards of another vessel were found, which come from a reburial of the individual grave culture . Numerous other ceramic shards were discovered beneath the screed, some of which actually formed a second pavement. Only a few remains of vessels and cross-edged arrowheads were found from the additions to the original funeral beaker period.

Grave 3

The Burtevitz 3 large stone grave

Grave 3 (without Sprockhoff number) initially gave the appearance of a Bronze Age burial mound. Schuldt decided to excavate it, as Bronze Age additions had also been found in the large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz. It was only during this excavation in November 1969 that the capstones of a megalithic burial chamber were discovered at a depth of 0.6 m.

The mound has a diameter of 12 m and reached a height of 2 m before the excavation. The border originally consisted of 18 stones, of which Schuldt found 13. The hill was sandy on its surface. At a depth of 0.25 m, a layer of small pebbles followed, followed by sand again. This was followed by a clay casing in the longitudinal direction of the burial chamber, which contained several layers of rolling stones at the level of the wall stones and stone slabs of different sizes at the level of the cap stones. The plates filled the gaps between the capstones.

The burial chamber is oriented northwest-southeast. It has a length of 3.7 m, a width of 1.8 m and a height of 1.3 m. It has three pairs of wall stones on the long sides, a normal-sized end stone on the northwest side and three cap stones. The gaps between the wall stones are filled with dry masonry. On the south-eastern narrow side there is a small, 0.6 m wide end stone that only takes up the left half of the wall and the entrance to the right. This has a single wall stone on the southwest side. Opposite are the corner stone on the north-east side of the chamber, which protrudes slightly outwards, followed by two stele-like panels, which apparently served as a holder for a door panel. The entrance has a cover plate made of red sandstone with a length of 0.8 m and a width of 0.5 m. In front of it are two blocks, which are also made of red sandstone. A vestibule, which consists of two wall panels and a cover panel, forms the transition to the chamber. Its width is 0.35 m. In the area of ​​the entrance and the porch, several ceramic vessels and a thick-necked gouge made of light gray flint were found.

During the excavation, the chamber was filled to the ceiling with sand that had been riddled with corpse fire. Ceramic shards that matched the shards from the entrance area were found about halfway up. After the backfill had been removed, a floor made of clay screed came to light, some of which had flamed red. Further ceramic shards, a flat ax made of flint and several slabs of red sandstone were found on the chamber floor. The latter had probably been torn out and originally served to divide the chamber into quarters. The clay screed was removed in the southern part of the chamber. Its thickness was determined to be 0.05 m and a pavement made of red sandstone slabs was found below it.

Schuldt explains the small number of items found by the fact that they are only remnants that were overlooked when clearing out the chamber for the last burial that took place here. Since the gouge found in the entrance area and therefore also regarded as waste is dated to the end of the Neolithic, the last burial may have taken place during the Bronze Age . A more precise dating is not possible, however, as only one vessel was found that bears a certain resemblance to vessels from the younger Bronze Age . However, Schuldt also considered a temporal proximity to the subsequent burials in the neighboring large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz possible, which date back to the earlier Bronze Age. According to Schuldt, the last burial was probably accompanied by a more pronounced hilltop, which gave the complex as a whole the appearance of a barrow.

Grave 4

The Burtevitz 4 large stone grave

The grave has a round mound with a diameter of 9 m and a height of 0.8 m. There is apparently no stone border; some stones lying at the foot of the hill are not sufficient evidence. The burial chamber is oriented northwest-southeast. They are about 4.5 m long and 2 m wide. In its original state, it should have had three pairs of wall stones on the long sides, two end stones and three cap stones. The southeast capstone is missing, the other two are still preserved in situ. The northwestern one has a length of 2.5 m, a width of 1.6 m and a thickness of 1.3 m. Of the wall stones, only the south-eastern end stone and the two corner stones of the south-western long wall can be recognized. The remaining stones could still be hidden in the ground. Sprockhoff found it difficult to see the north-western capstone when he took his picture. He assumed that it was a very small stone that only took up the left half of the narrow wall. This finding would fit the neighboring plants.

See also

literature

  • Rudolf Baier (Ed.): Prehistoric graves on Rügen and in New Western Pomerania. Friedrich von Hagenow's notes from the papers he left behind. Abel, Greifswald 1904.
  • Anja Behrens: Burtevitz, district of Rügen. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 2011. 2012, pp. 311–312.
  • Anja Behrens: New research results on the large stone graves of Rügen. In: Archeology in Germany. Issue 1/2012.
  • Anja Behrens: The complexity of megalithic graves on the island of Rügen. In: Martin Furholt, Martin Hinz, Doris Mischka, Gordon Noble, Deborah Olausson (eds.): Landscape, Histories and Societies in the Northern European Neolithic (= early monumentality and social differentiation. Volume 4). Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 2014, ISBN 978-3-7749-3882-3 , pp. 81-89 ( online ).
  • Anja Behrens, Sabrina Reichler: New excavation results on the building history of funnel-shaped large stone graves on Rügen. In: Martin Hinz, Johannes Müller (eds.): Settlement, trench works, large stone grave. Studies on society, economy and the environment of the funnel cup groups in northern Central Europe (= early monumentality and social differentiation. Volume 2). Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3774938137 , pp. 193-209 ( online ).
  • Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1. Wilkau-Haßlau 1991.
  • Erika Beltz: The large dolmen of Burtevitz, Rügen district. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 1971. 1972, pp. 85-114.
  • Iraj Emadodin, Anja Behrens, Andrey V. Mitusov, Hans-Rudolf Bork: Soil formation under and in the surrounding area of ​​a Neolithic burial mound: A case study on Burtevitz, Rügen, NE-Germany. 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 978-3774938137 , pp. 211-220 ( online ).
  • Hans Grimm : Anthropological remarks on the skeletal remains from some megalithic graves in the Mecklenburg districts of the GDR. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 1983. 1984, pp. 103-150.
  • Friedrich von Hagenow : Special chart of the island of Rügen. Designed according to the latest measurements using all existing land maps. Lithographic Institute of the General Staff, Berlin 1829.
  • Stefanie Klooss, Wiebke Kierleis: Charred plant remains from megalithic graves in the southeast of the island of Rügen. 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 978-3774938137 , pp. 221-226 ( online ).
  • Luise Lorenz: Ceramic lifetimes and the useful life of northeast German megalithic graves. 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 978-3774938137 , pp. 61-86 ( online ).
  • Jan Mende: Magic stones. Guide to archaeological sights in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 2nd edition, Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1672-X , p. 11.
  • Sabrina Reichler, Schanz: Burtevitz, district of Rügen. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 2010. 2011, pp. 279–280.
  • Ingrid Schmidt: megalithic grave and sacrificial stone. Soil monuments on the island of Rügen. 2nd ed., Hinstorff, Rostock 2011, ISBN 978-3-356-00917-0 , pp. 19-24.
  • Ewald Schuldt : Stone Age grave monuments on the island of Rügen. Museum of Prehistory and Early History, Schwerin 1971.
  • Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 1971. 1972, pp. 9-84.
  • Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 1971. 1972, pp. 115-124.
  • Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen called Goldbusch on the outskirts of Burtevitz, Rügen district. In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg. Yearbook 1971. 1972, pp. 125-132.
  • Ewald Schuldt: The Mecklenburg megalithic graves. Research on their architecture and function. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1972.
  • Ernst Sprockhoff : Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. Rudolf-Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1967, pp. 72-73.
  • Torsten Trebeß: Red sandstone in the grave construction of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in northeast Germany. In: Harald Meller, Christian Heinrich Wunderlich, Franziska Knoll (eds.): Red - Archeology shows its colors. 5th Central German Archaeological Day from October 4th to 6th, 2012 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle. Volume 10). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3944507019 , pp. 243–249 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Great stone graves near Burtevitz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ernst Sprockhoff: Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. P. 72.
  2. ^ The Megalithic Portal: Preetz-Burtevitz Steingrab 2
  3. ↑ The Megalithic Portal: Preetz-Burtevitz Steingrab 4
  4. ↑ GeoGREIF Geographical Collections - register cards of the land registry of Swedish Pomerania 1692-1709, signature AV 19
  5. ↑ GeoGREIF Geographical Collections - Register cards of the land registry of Swedish Pomerania 1692-1709, signature BIX 30
  6. ↑ Rudolf Baier (Ed.): Prehistoric graves on Rügen and in New Western Pomerania. Friedrich von Hagenow's notes from the papers he left behind. P. 11.
  7. ↑ Ernst Sprockhoff: Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. Pp. 72-73.
  8. ↑ a b c Erika Beltz: The large dolmen of Burtevitz, district of Rügen. P. 85.
  9. ↑ a b Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. P. 115.
  10. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen called Goldbusch on the outskirts of Burtevitz, Rügen district. P. 125.
  11. ↑ Hans Grimm: Anthropological remarks on the skeletal remains from some megalithic graves in the Mecklenburg districts of the GDR. Pp. 108-109.
  12. ^ Southeast Rügen megalithic landscape - ongoing work
  13. ↑ a b c d Ernst Sprockhoff: Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. P. 73.
  14. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen.
  15. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: Stone Age grave monuments on the island of Rügen.
  16. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Beier: The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest. Part 2, p. 7.
  17. ↑ Erika Beltz: The large dolmen of Burtevitz, Rügen district. Pp. 85-90.
  18. ↑ Hans Grimm: Anthropological remarks on the skeletal remains from some megalithic graves in the Mecklenburg districts of the GDR. P. 104.
  19. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen called Goldbusch on the outskirts of Burtevitz, Rügen district. Pp. 125-132.
  20. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. Pp. 115, 121 (Fig. 87).
  21. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. Pp. 115-118.
  22. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. P. 118.
  23. ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large dolmen in a hill with a stone circle from Burtevitz, Rügen district. Pp. 120-124.