Great stone graves near Tankenhagen

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The megalithic graves near Tankenhagen were two megalithic tombs of the Neolithic funnel cup culture near Tankenhagen , a district of Dassow in the district of Northwest Mecklenburg ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ). They were described in 1871 by the forest auditor Max von Flotow , grave 1 was archaeologically examined by him . Both plants were destroyed in the following years.

location

The graves were located northeast of Tankenhagen in the Tankenhäger forest. They were located on a lane that cut through the forest from east to west in the 19th century and were not far from each other.

description

Grave 1

Grave 1 was an underground ancient dolmen . The east-west oriented burial chamber had an inner length of 3 feet (approx. 0.9 m) and a width of 2 feet (approx. 0.6 m). It consisted of four wall stones and a cap stone. In May 1871 the grave was examined; the capstone had been removed a few years earlier. The remains of a human skeleton were found at a depth of about 0.9 m. They were very badly preserved so that the location could not even be seen. Only the lower jaw and teeth were in good condition and allowed the age of death to be estimated at around 25 years. A second skeleton was about 0.3 m lower. It was slightly better preserved than the upper one and lay on the narrow western side with the head on the north and the legs on the south. The deceased was probably originally buried seated. On the left back of the head a small indentation and adhering to it was clay a small fragment of a arrowhead from flint discovered. The recess could therefore have been a healed gunshot wound. The skeletons were covered with small stones, between which charcoal was occasionally found. Grave goods could not be found. Only a flint arrowhead had been discovered prior to the excavation.

Grave 2

Grave 2 originally had a rectangular barren bed, parts of which were still preserved in 1871. On one long side were twelve stones in a row, four of which were larger than the others. At one end, a row of several stones joined a narrow side at a right angle. The dimensions and alignment of the giant bed are not recorded. In the center of the bed was a burial chamber 7 feet (about 2.1 m) long and 5 feet (about 1.5 m) wide. Further information on their appearance is not available, according to Ewald Schuldt it was probably a passage grave.

literature

  • Hünengrab von Prieschendorf (addendum to year II, p. 25, and IV, p. 20). In: Yearbook of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology. Volume 41, 1876, p. 163 ( 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, p. 3.
  • Robert Beltz : The Stone Age sites in Meklenburg. In: Yearbook of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology. Volume 64, 1899, pp. 81, 99 ( online ).
  • Robert Beltz: The prehistoric antiquities of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Complete list of the finds preserved in the Grand Ducal Museum in Schwerin. Text tape. Reimer, Berlin 1910, p. 98 ( online ).
  • Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch : Stone grave of Tankenhagen No. 1. In: Yearbook of the association for Mecklenburg history and antiquity. Volume 37, 1872, pp. 196-197 ( online ).
  • Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch: Stone grave of Tankenhagen No. 2. In: Yearbook of the association for Mecklenburg history and antiquity. Volume 37, 1872, pp. 197-198 ( online ).
  • Friedrich Schlie : The art and history monuments of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Volume 2. Schwerin 1899, p. 420 ( online ).
  • Ewald Schuldt : The Mecklenburg megalithic graves. Research on their architecture and function. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1972, p. 117.
  • Ernst Sprockhoff : Atlas of the megalithic tombs of Germany. Part 2: Mecklenburg - Brandenburg - Pomerania. Rudolf-Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1967, p. 6.