Large stone graves near Lancken-Granitz
| Large stone graves near Lancken-Granitz Large stone graves near Lancken | ||||
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 View from the south of the megalithic tombs |
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| Coordinates | Lancken-Granitz 1 , Lancken-Granitz 2 , Lancken-Granitz 3 , Lancken-Granitz 4 | |||
| place | Lancken-Granitz , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Germany | |||
| Emergence | 3500 to 2800 BC Chr. | |||
| Sprockhoff no. | 501-504 | |||
The megalithic graves near Lancken-Granitz (also known as megalithic graves near Lancken ) were eight graves from the Neolithic funnel cup culture in the vicinity of the municipality of Lancken-Granitz in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), of which only four still exist today. All graves are large dolmen . The systems obtained have the Sprockhoff numbers 501–504. In 1969 the four graves were excavated under the direction of Ewald Schuldt . Together with the neighboring megalithic graves near Burtevitz , the four complexes represent the largest megalithic grave complex on Rügen that has at least partially been preserved .
The individual systems are built in different construction methods. Graves 1 and 2 are built into elongated barren beds, while graves 3 and 4 are built into round mounds. The actual burial chambers, in turn, all have a very similar construction plan. Numerous grave goods were found in the chambers. These show that the systems were used continuously over long periods of time. In addition to additions from the funnel beaker culture (3500–2800 BC), the graves also contained artifacts from the end-Neolithic individual grave culture (2850–2250 BC) and the older Bronze Age (1800–1100 BC).
location
The megalithic graves are located 750 m southwest of Lancken-Granitz. Graves 1 to 3 are located close together in an east-west line. Grave 3 is the middle, grave 1 is 30 m to the west and grave 2 40 m to the east. Grave 4 is located 75 m southwest of this group. Only 120 m away, three of the four large stone graves near Burtevitz (Burtevitz 1, 3 and 4) are adjacent to the southwest . There are several other large stone graves in the vicinity: The fourth large stone grave at Burtevitz (Burtevitz 2) is 800 m southwest, the large stone grave Dummertevitz is 1.1 km southwest and the large stone grave Garftitz is 1.8 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 first description of the graves was made in 1829 by Friedrich von Hagenow , who was able to identify eight more complexes in Lancken-Granitz. His research was published in 1904 by Rudolf Baier . The first detailed documentation was carried out by Ernst Sprockhoff , who in 1931 measured the four remaining graves and published them in his Atlas of Germany's Megalithic Tombs . These facilities were the subject of excavations between July and November 1969 under the direction of Ewald Schuldt . 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.
The graves were named and numbered differently by different authors. In the following, the system will be adopted by Schuldt.
| Sprockhoff | Owed | Beier |
|---|---|---|
| Lancken 1 (504) | Lancken-Granitz 2 | Lancken-Granitz 4 |
| Lancken 2 (503) | Lancken-Granitz 3 | Lancken-Granitz 3 |
| Lancken 3 (502) | Lancken-Granitz 1st | Lancken-Granitz 2 |
| Lancken 4 (501) | Lancken-Granitz 4 | Lancken-Granitz 1st |
description
Grave 1
The complex has a rectangular, east-west oriented and sloping mound bed with a length of 20 m and a width of 7 m. Of the enclosure, 17 of the original 31 stones are still preserved, including the northeastern guard stone , which is 2.5 m high. The mound is long oval and flat.
The burial chamber, which is oriented at an angle to it, is located roughly in the middle of the megalithic bed. It has a length of 4.5 m, a width of 2.2 m and a height of 1.5 m. All wall and cap stones have been preserved. The chamber has three wall stones on the eastern long side and two larger ones on the western side. There is a single large capping stone on the north side. The chamber is covered by three cap stones. The gaps between the wall stones and between the cap stones are filled with dry stone masonry made of red sandstone . In the south of the chamber is the entrance, which was made exclusively from red sandstone slabs. The western half of the south side is covered by an end plate, the western half by a corridor with a length of almost 1 m, a width of 0.6 m and a height of 0.8 m. It has two pairs of wall panels and two cover panels, the outer very thick and the inner flat. The cavities between the wall panels and towards the end panel and the wall stones of the chamber are filled with dry masonry and plastered with clay. At the outer end of the corridor and inside, parallel to the end plate, threshold stones are attached.
At the beginning of the excavation, the chamber was filled to the ceiling. The top layer consisted of loamy sand, followed by thin loam baths and a layer of pebbles and red sandstone slabs. The floor of the chamber was paved with red sandstone slabs on which two layers of clay screed were applied, each three centimeters thick and separated from each other by red sandstone chippings . The screed showed severe damage, which can be attributed to the subsequent installation of vertical panels, with which the chamber was divided into quarters. Only one of these quarters on the western long wall was found in its original state. Due to the damage in the screed, however, it could be read that the chamber originally had three quarters on the west wall and one transversely on the north wall.
While the human bones originally laid here had largely disintegrated, various grave goods could still be found in the chamber. In the chamber there was a 35 cm by 17 cm large stone made of granite , which was probably used as a rubbing stone for sharpening axes, etc. There were also 30 amber beads (many of them in the shape of a double ax ), 55 cross-cutting arrowheads, a battle ax , a neck ridge ax , two thick-nosed hatchets, a flat hatchet, 15 blades and shards of several ceramic vessels, some of which were decorated with deep engravings and some without decoration. While many finds are from the time of the funnel cup, the battle ax comes from a late Neolithic burial. Other finds clearly show that the grave was used well into the older Bronze Age . These include a bronze needle with a rolled head, parts of a bronze chain and a bronze finger ring made of braided wire. Some undecorated vessels can also be attributed to the Bronze Age.
Grave 2
The easternmost grave of the group is the largest and is relatively well preserved. It has an east-west orientated megalithic bed with a length of 30 m, which is built on a hill that slopes steeply to the north. The enclosure originally consisted of 25 stones, 14 of which are still preserved.
The chamber of the large dolmen is located at the western end of the megalithic bed and is perpendicular to it, so it is oriented north-south. It has a length of 4.5 m, a width of 2.3 m and a height of 1.6 m. It has three pairs of wall stones on the long sides and a capping stone on the northern narrow side. Of the original three capstones, only the northern and central ones have survived. The spaces between the wall stones are filled with masonry made of red sandstone slabs.
The entrance is on the south side and has the same structure as grave 1. The western half of the narrow side is taken up by an end plate made of red sandstone with a width of 1.4 m and a thickness of 0.2 m. It was damaged when a tree growing on the grave had to be felled during the excavation. The eastern half is taken up by the corridor, which consists of two pairs of wall panels and two cover panels. He is 1 m long and 0.6 m wide, 0.7 m high but slightly lower than its counterpart in grave 1. In contrast to this, a door panel was here slate proved that even between the two wall plate pairs in situ was . A threshold stone was set in front and behind the door. Otherwise, the corridor only had a clay screed but no paving underneath. The outer part of the aisle and the outside of the adjoining end plate were packed with rolling stones. This pack had a clay coating at the bottom.
The chamber had a backfill reaching to the ceiling that was very similar to that of grave 1. At the top there was a layer of loamy sand that contained only a few pebbles. This was followed by a multi-layered pack of rolling stones and red sandstone slabs. Finally, very hard sandy loam followed. As in the corridor, no stone pavement could be found in the chamber, but only an earth screed almost 0.2 m thick. Vertical red sandstone slabs divided the chamber into six quarters, four of which are on the western and two on the eastern long side.
The grave goods found included 21 amber beads (the majority of them in the shape of a double ax), many stone tools ( flint blades , six axes, ten arrowheads in the shape of a lancet, 143 cross cutters - the largest number in a facility in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - a chisel and two axes made of rock, one of them double-edged) and shards of 22 vessels. The remains of a bronze chain and a bronze needle were found in a younger layer. The bones of the buried were gone and could only be seen as contours.
The grave goods and the condition of the grave are evidence of continuous use of the grave from the Neolithic to the older Bronze Age. After it was used for the last time, the grave was filled in, covered over and the access closed. The reason for this is not clear. Probably the rite performed by the people had changed. The housing estate may also have been abandoned.
Grave 3
A little west of grave 2, at a distance of only a few meters, there is another, but more heavily damaged, facility. The burial chamber is oriented northwest-southeast. It has a length of 3.6 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 and a capping stone on the north-western narrow side. The brickwork made of red sandstone slabs between the wall stones is only partially preserved. Of the original three capstones, only two have survived, which had fallen down inside the chamber before the excavation began. One of them was placed on the north end of the chamber after the excavation was over. It has a length of 2.1 m and a width of 2.0 m. The other was too short to find support on the wall stones and was therefore placed in front of the chamber.
The end plate on the south-eastern narrow side has a length of 1 m, a height of 0.8 m and a thickness of 0.1 m. Only remnants of the corridor have survived. It was constructed in the same way as the corridors of the neighboring graves. During the excavation, however, only a threshold stone, a cover plate on the northeast side and two fallen cover plates were found. The end slab was packed from the outside with red sandstone slabs and rolling stones and the base was encased in clay. The corridor was filled with loamy sand interspersed with numerous pebbles.
The burial chamber had a backfill that reached up to 0.4 m below the ceiling. In the upper area this consisted mainly of pebbles, in the lower areas of loamy sand, which was interspersed with flat stones near the chamber floor. The chamber was paved with slabs of slate on which a 3 cm thick layer of clay screed had been applied, which in some places had turned a red color from the action of fire. A division of the burial chamber into quarters could not be determined.
Very few grave goods were found. These include two amber beads, two flint axes, three transversely-edged arrowheads, ten blades and blade scratches, a Glättstein , a grindstone, a friction ball from granite and at least nine ceramic vessels, some of which were found still nearly undamaged. Clear indications of a continued use of the facility in the late Neolithic or the Bronze Age could not be found. The skeletons of the buried were completely gone.
Grave 4
A fourth grave is located southwest of graves 1 to 3. At first it was not immediately recognizable as such, as it was covered with earth on which thick bushes grew. The mound was round with a diameter of 10 m and a height of 0.7 m. After removing the vegetation and the sandy mound, interspersed with pebbles, a north-south oriented burial chamber with a length of 3.5 m and a width of 1.8 m was revealed. Its height is 1.4 m at the north end and 1.1 m at the south end. The outer walls of the long sides are made up of three large stones. On the northern narrow side there is a single large capping stone. Together with the central wall stone on the western long side, it was obtained from a single boulder that had been split in the middle. The ceiling originally consisted of three large capstones, of which only the southern and the middle one have survived. Remains in the form of numerous debris have been found from the north. The intermediate masonry in the gaps between the wall stones consists of layered red sandstone slabs and is well preserved. The gaps were also filled with red sandstone slabs on the eastern side of the wall stones.
During the excavation, a 2 m × 3 m area immediately in front of the south side of the chamber was also examined. In doing so, irregular red sandstone slabs, some of which were multilayered, were found on the original walking horizon. Cleared grave goods appeared between and under these plates, including shards of decorated ceramic vessels, several blades and a thick-nosed ax. When this cut was broadened and deepened, two lying blocks emerged, which may be the remains of the grave's enclosure.
Access to the chamber is through a vestibule from the south side. Its western half is occupied by a small capping stone. The corridor has two wall stones on the outside and two wall plates on the inside. Both pairs are covered with a small capstone each. The gaps in the wall stones and slabs, as well as the south-eastern wall stone of the chamber and the end stone, are filled with red sandstone masonry, as is the gap between the outer and inner cap stones. There is a threshold stone in the middle of the corridor. The corridor has a length of 1.2 m, a width of 0.6 m and a height of 0.65 m. Before the excavation, it was backfilled with sand, which was interspersed with larger pebbles.
Before the excavation, the burial chamber had a backfill that reached up to the ceiling. It consisted of sand in the upper part. A layer of sandy loam followed, interspersed with numerous stones. Most of the finds came from this layer. The chamber floor consists of a thin layer of crushed stone on which a layer of clay screed was applied, which in some places has a red color due to the action of fire. In a later construction phase, the chamber was divided into five quarters on the east side and in the middle by standing red sandstone slabs. In the southern part of the east side, these panels were torn out again during an even later phase of use in order to place additions.
Grave goods included narrow chisels, gouges , blades, thick-nosed axes and flat axes, cross-edged and lancet-shaped arrowheads, blades, amber beads, shards, vessels and a smoothing stone. There were also remains of human bones and skulls; they were mainly concentrated in the northeast part of the burial chamber. In this complex, too, the additions testify to continuous use up to the Bronze Age. Most of the vessels and large devices made of flint, as well as the amber beads in the shape of a double ax and the lanceolate arrowheads, can clearly be assigned to the funnel beaker culture. Two thick-nosed chisels and several amber pendants are associated with the end-Neolithic individual grave culture . A clay ladle and five bowl-like vessels date from the older Bronze Age.
Hans Grimm was able to anthropologically evaluate the skeletal remains of two individuals. From both of them only remains of the skull were preserved. One person was presumably a male adult; a more precise differentiation was not possible. The second individual was a child, presumably with a maximum age at death of six years (Infans I).
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, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ingeburg Nilius : The Neolithic in Mecklenburg at the time and with special consideration of the funnel beaker culture. Museum of Prehistory and Early History, Schwerin 1971.
- 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 Mecklenburg megalithic graves. Research on their architecture and function. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1972.
- Ernst Sprockhoff : The Nordic Megalithic Culture (= manual of the prehistory of Germany. Volume 3). De Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1938, p. 30.
- Ernst Sprockhoff: Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. Rudolf-Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1967, p. 72.
- 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 978-3-944507-01-9 , pp. 243–249 ( online ).
Web links
- grosssteingraeber.de: Lancken 1 , Lancken 2 , Lancken 3 , Lancken 4
- strahlen.org: Lancken 1 , Lancken 2 , Lancken 3 , Lancken 4
- The Megalithic Portal: Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 1 , Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 2 , Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 3 , Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 4
- KLEKs Online: Lancken-Granitz 1 , Lancken-Granitz 2 , Lancken-Granitz 3 , Lancken-Granitz 4
- historical-guide.eu: Lancken-Granitz / Burtevitz
- Megalithic landscape of Southeast Rügen - The complexity of Neolithic societies as reflected in landscape archaeological studies of a key region
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Ernst Sprockhoff: Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. P. 72.
- ↑ The Megalithic Portal: Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 1
- ↑ The Megalithic Portal: Lancken-Granitz Steingrab 4
- ↑ GeoGREIF Geographical Collections - register cards of the land registry of Swedish Pomerania 1692-1709, signature AV 19
- ↑ GeoGREIF Geographical Collections - Register cards of the land registry of Swedish Pomerania 1692-1709, signature BIX 30
- ↑ Rudolf Baier (Ed.): Prehistoric graves on Rügen and in New Western Pomerania. Friedrich von Hagenow's notes from the papers he left behind. P. 12.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 9 (with the wrong year).
- ^ A b Hans Grimm: Anthropological remarks on the skeletal remains from some megalithic graves in the Mecklenburg districts of the GDR. Pp. 108-109.
- ^ Southeast Rügen megalithic landscape - ongoing work
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: Stone Age grave monuments on the island of Rügen.
- ↑ 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. 9.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 10.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 10, 14-15.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 13.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 13, 15-31.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 32, 55 (Fig. 38).
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 38.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 32-34.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 34-36.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 36-37, 38-54.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 36.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 54-56, 57-59.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P.56.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. P. 57.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 59-64.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 64, 70.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 64, 71.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 64-66.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 66-70.
- ↑ Ewald Schuldt: The large stone graves of Lancken-Granitz on the island of Rügen. Pp. 71-83.
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