Large stone graves near Körbelitz

Large stone graves near Körbelitz High stone (grave 1)
	The large stone grave Körbelitz
Coordinates	Körbelitz 1 , Körbelitz 2 , Körbelitz 3
place	Möser , Saxony-Anhalt , Germany
Emergence	3500 to 2800 BC Chr.

The megalithic tombs at Körbelitz were originally at least three megalithic grave sites of Neolithic Old-deep stab ceramic culture close Körbelitz , a district of the unified community Moser in Jerichower Land district in Saxony-Anhalt . Only one of these still exists today. The remaining facilities were destroyed in the 18th or 19th century. The preserved grave is also known as the "high stone".

Research history

The facilities were documented for the first time by Joachim Gottwalt Abel , who was pastor in Möckern between 1755 and 1806 . He left only handwritten notes on this, which were published by Ernst Herms in 1928 . Two graves had already been completely removed when Herms investigated. Abel also mentions a single large stone on the Pohl mill near Körbelitz. It can no longer be determined today whether this belonged to a former large stone grave. The field name "Die Langen hinter Steins", attested on a measuring table sheet , also indicates another grave.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the still-preserved grave was to be moved to the village of Körbelitz and converted into a war memorial , but this could be prevented. Today it forms the central motif of Körbelitz's coat of arms. On July 1, 1956, the grave was placed under protection as a ground monument . An archaeological dig has not yet taken place.

location

According to Abel, the graves were all to the west of a path that originally led directly from Körbelitz to Büden . The preserved grave is located southeast of Körbelitz, at the southeast end of an orchard, directly on the municipality border with Möckern. Grave 2 was northwest of this on a hill. Grave 3 was southeast of grave 1, roughly at the intersection of the former roads from Körbelitz to Büden and from Woltersdorf to Pietzpuhl . It was already located in today's municipality of Möckern or in the area of the Peckritz desert .

description

The preserved grave 1

The appearance of the tomb has not changed significantly since Abel's first description. A huge bed cannot be made out. The burial chamber is oriented east-northeast-west-southwest and has a width of 1.25 m and a height of 0.8 m. Two wall stones are still preserved on the northern long side, one wall stone on the southern long side, the western end stone and a cap stone, which rests with its smooth side on three wall stones (three-point support). The eastern part of the chamber has not been preserved, so its original length and the exact type of grave can no longer be determined. The capstone has several bowls on its upper side . It has a circumference of 5.8 m, a length of 2 m and a width of 1.4 m. The total height of the grave is 1.8 m.

The destroyed grave 2

When Abel took the picture, grave 2 had an east-west orientated barren bed, at the eastern end of which 14 stones were still preserved, but these did not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the exact appearance of the complex.

The destroyed grave 3

According to Abel, the complex consisted of a total of 48 stones. It had an east-west oriented barren bed, on the southern long side of which a row of 17 stones was preserved. On the north long side there was a row of 13 stones and a few rods away another, perhaps a guardian stone . The burial chamber was in the eastern part of the megalithic bed. Here Abel counted twelve wall stones. There was a broad stone at each end of the chamber, and further west there were three more stones. These five stones may have been fallen and / or carried capstones. The type of grave can no longer be precisely determined, but due to the size of the burial chamber it must have been either a large dolmen or a passage grave .

The stone at the Pohl mill

The stone was oval and, according to Abel, had a circumference of 42 feet (about 13 m), a length of 20 feet (about 6 m) and a width of 8 feet (about 2.4 m). The surface of the stone had numerous depressions, which in popular belief were interpreted as the handprints of giants .

The large stone grave Körbelitz in regional legends

A regional legend tells of two giants who came to Körbelitz and built castles there. At first they lived in harmony, but fell out because a giantess came into town and they both wanted to marry her. The two giants holed up in their castles and pelted each other with boulders. Eventually one of the giants was fatally hit. Then the others regretted it and he built a grave for his friend from the boulders.

Large stone grave in the local coat of arms of Körbelitz
Drawing from 1928
Great stone grave

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, p. 45 ( Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1, ZDB -ID 916540-x ), (At the same time: Halle, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 1991: Die megalithischen, submegalithischen and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs in the five new East German federal states (formerly GDR) ).
Ulrich Fischer : The Stone Age graves in the Saale region. Studies on Neolithic and Early Bronze Age grave and burial forms in Saxony-Thuringia . Verlag Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin 1957, p. 270.
Ernst Herms: The megalithic graves of the Jerichow I district . In: Festschrift of the Magdeburg Museum for Natural History and Local History for the 10th Conference on Prehistory , Magdeburg 1928, p. 256.
Britta Schulze-Thulin : Large stone graves and menhirs. Saxony-Anhalt • Thuringia • Saxony . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2007, ISBN 978-3-89812-428-7 , p. 62