Jordhøj and Ormhøj

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The closely adjacent passage graves Jordhøj and Ormhøj (also Ormehøj) are located between the villages of Voldstedlund and Katbjerg, about 100 m north of the road from Mariager to Hobro , near Kongehøjen near Voldstedlund in the Danish Mariagerfjord municipality in high mounds of earth. They were built around 5,200 years ago in the middle of the Neolithic by the carriers of the funnel beaker culture (TBK). The passage grave is a form of Neolithic megalithic systems , which consists of a chamber and a structurally separated, lateral passage. This form is primarily found in Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia, as well as occasionally in France and the Netherlands.

Scheme of passage grave (cross-section) 1 = support stone, 2 = cap stone, 3 = mound, 4 = seal, 5 = wedge stones, 6 = access, 7 = threshold stone. 8 = floor slabs, 9 = sub-floor depots, 10 = intermediate masonry 11 = curb stones

Neolithic monuments are an expression of the culture and ideology of Neolithic societies. Their origin and function are considered to be the hallmarks of social development.

Jordhøj

( 56 ° 38 ′ 6.8 ″  N , 9 ° 54 ′ 37.7 ″  E )

Jordhøj seen from the road

The east of the two hills, the Jordhøj (earth mound), contains a typical Jutland passage grave . It has an oval or polygonal chamber built from seven megalithic boulders , the gaps between which are filled with intermediate masonry. The chamber was covered with two cap stones. In the southeast, a corridor about six meters long with threshold stones at both ends leads into the chamber. The passage has a narrow entry opening and widens slightly like a funnel towards the chamber. The passage grave was dug up twice. The first time in 1890 by the National Museum when the chamber was found untouched. Carved wooden planks, stone knives and pots from the last burials lay on the floor. In the 1960s the Moesgård Prehistoric Museum excavated the area in front of and on both sides of the entrance. Before the access, the remains of two or more suspected evacuations were found. Many shards that were found in front of and behind the curbs of the hill on both sides of the entrance belong to more than 50 ornate vessels that were deposited on the curbs over the years, presumably in connection with rituals or burials.

As with other passage graves, the Jordhøj was also a collective grave, the history of which has been determined fairly well by the excavation. The 14C dating of a piece of birch bark found between the slabs of drywall indicates that the passage grave was around 3200 BC. Was built. The chamber was used for the next 200 to 300 years. The users were people who belonged to the funnel cup culture, which is characterized, among other things, by the use of a funnel-shaped container. The funnel beaker culture ended in 2800 BC. And the passage grave remained unused in the following centuries. The curb ring crumbled and was covered by earth from the hill. The grave was used again for burials after the Cord Ceramists cleared out the old contents. The entrance was closed at the end with a stone slab and only reopened about 4,000 years later, during the excavation of 1890.

During the dagger era , the dead were buried in wooden coffins with flint daggers as grave goods . In connection with these burials, the mound was probably enlarged and a second ring of smaller curbs was added on the outside.

The way in which the mound was listed made it impermeable to water, which is why the conservation conditions for organic materials (wood and birch bark) were particularly good. Organic materials have rarely been found in such good condition after 5,000 years. The stone construction of the chamber and passage was covered with a layer of stone over which a mound of plagues was built. The curb circle was covered with a wreath of white burned flint around the base . Much of the flint can still be seen in the ground around Jordhøj. A model of the Jordhøj can be seen in the Mariager Museum.

Ormehøj or Ormhøj

Ormhøj seen from the road
Ormhøj with ancillary chamber - left in the diagram

( 56 ° 38 '6.5 "  N , 9 ° 54' 30.4"  O ) Ormhøj German worm hill. If you don't want to crawl through the narrow, long corridor into Jordhøj, you can take a look at the nearby Ormehøj (worm hill). Since he no longer has any cap stones, one can see into the chamber from above. It is also oval and has 10 bearing stones. Your access is on the east side. He only kept his capstones on the inner part. Opposite the passage in the rear wall there is a relatively large side chamber , (Danish: Bikammer) consisting of three supporting stones and a cap stone. Such chambers are extremely rare. There are only 30 of the 500 or so preserved passage graves in Denmark.

See also

literature

  • Karen Marie Christensen: Archaeological sites and monuments in the mariager area. Århus Amt - Erhvervsafdelningen, Højbjerg 1994, ISBN 87-90099-08-7 .
  • Poul Kjaerum: Jaettestuen Jordhøj. In: KUML. Årbog for Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab. 1969 (1970), ISSN  0454-6245 , pp. 9-66, (also Separatum).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johannes Müller : Neolithic Monuments and Neolithic Societies. In: Hans-Jürgen Beier , Erich Claßen, Thomas Doppler, Britta Ramminger (eds.): Varia neolithica VI. Neolithic Monuments and Neolithic Societies. Contributions from the meeting of the Neolithic Working Group during the annual meeting of the North-West German Association for Ancient Research in Schleswig, 9. – 10. October 2007 (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 56). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-941171-28-2 , pp. 7-16, here p. 15.

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