Large stone graves near Ziepel
The large stone graves at Ziepel were five megalithic Neolithic graves near Ziepel in the district of Jerichower Land , Saxony-Anhalt . All of them were probably destroyed in the 18th or 19th century.
location
Grave 1 was between Ziepel and Büden , on the border with Schwienau . Grave 2 was not far from Ziepel at the Krugenden. A little further from here, in the middle of a field, was grave 3. A little further, grave 4 was on the border with Tryppehna , near an army road . Grave 5 was between Ziepel and Nedlitz on the border between the Ziepel brickworks and the Dodendorf field mark.
Research history
The facilities were documented for the first time by Joachim Gottwalt Abel , pastor in Möckern between 1755 and 1806 . He left only handwritten notes on this, which were published by Ernst Herms in 1928 . The graves themselves had already been completely cleared when Herms investigated.
description
Grave 1
Grave 1 had a north-south orientated megalithic bed and still had 21 stones at Abel's admission. Seven of these were particularly large in the middle. They were apparently part of a burial chamber. Abel interpreted a stone set slightly outward as a guardian stone . The complex was probably a large dolmen or a passage grave.
Grave 2
Grave 2 had a huge bed and still had 21 stones. A larger number had already disappeared, so that a more precise reconstruction of the original appearance of the facility was no longer possible.
Grave 3
Grave 3 had an east-west oriented barren bed that in Abel's time still had a clearly recognizable pile of hills. It still had 36 stones, the largest of which - probably a capstone - was 7 feet long and 7 feet wide . This was in the west of the plant. Further to the east there were two smaller stones that were probably also part of the burial chamber. Abel interpreted a stone shifted slightly to the north as a guardian stone.
Grave 4
Grave 4 had an east-west oriented barren bed with well recognizable mounds. It had a total of about 52 stones. The two land sides and the eastern narrow side of the enclosure were apparently still well preserved. On the western narrow side, however, almost all the stones had already been removed. Abel interpreted a stone at the south-western corner that was offset slightly to the south as a guardian stone. The burial chamber was located in the eastern part of the complex. This still had several wall stones and apparently several cap stones, all of which had already been blown up. Abel was told that it was caused by lightning . One of the fragments was still resting on two wall stones.
Grave 5
Grave 5 had a round or oval mound with a circumference of 43 paces (about 32 m) and a height of about 10 shoes (about 3.1 m). The mound was largely untouched when Abel took the picture, and a ditch was clearly visible around the mound. The dense vegetation of the area with willow and scrub prevented a more detailed investigation. Therefore, nothing is known about possible stone installations.
literature
- Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings and the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Volume 1). Wilkau-Haßlau 1991, p. 46.
- Ernst Herms : The megalithic graves of the district of Jerichow I. In: Festschrift of the Magdeburg Museum for Natural and Local History for the 10th Conference on Prehistory. Magdeburg 1928, pp. 253-254.
