Warringwood Chamber
The Chamber of Warringholz Steinburg in Schleswig-Holstein was built between 3600 and 3200 BC. BC as a megalithic system of the funnel beaker culture (TBK). The rectangular stone chamber is an extended dolmen with originally four bearing stones (orthostats) and four cap stones and was built on a sand dome about half a meter high, visible from afar from the adjacent lowland. Its interior measured 3.5 m in length and 1.2 m in width. As subsequent burials of a later period, additions of the individual grave culture were found in the chamber (2800 to 2300 BC; here: burial time ).
In the Older Nordic Bronze Age , a tree coffin burial was carried out next to the dolmen , which then led to the entire ensemble being overgrown with a height of 1.2 m and a diameter of 25.0 m. In the eastern part of this burial mound, two urn burials were also placed in period V of the Nordic Bronze Age.
Since the farmer wanted his field free, the system was implemented on the initiative of Günther Haseloff (1912–1990), who led the scientific investigation in Warringholz in 1938 , and set up on the Galgenberg in Itzehoe for viewing . The arrangement of the stones is based on the original.
construction
During the excavation it became apparent that the old burial chamber was severely disturbed several times in its 5000 year old history. Nevertheless, the remains that were found allow the interpretation that it is a large dolmen with four bearing stones and just as many cap stones. The bearing stones of the north longitudinal wall were complete. All orthostats were large boulders and originally stood close together in a row and with their smooth side inward. The straps on the narrow sides were also still in place. On the other hand, three of the four boulders were missing on the south side. Only one of the four cap stones remained. This is a cup stone that is now leaning against the narrow end at an angle.
The access to the chamber was presumably on the southwest side. No traces of walkway stones or traces of access could be found. The joints between the supporting stones had been sealed with an intermediate masonry made of many smaller stones, remains of which were found. On the outside, the chamber was surrounded by a stone packing. The original height of this stone mantle could not be determined because most of the pebbles had been removed. (Possibly they served as a welcome source of material for the stone wreath of the later tumulus.) But nowhere does it seem to have been higher than the bearing stones. The interior of the stone chamber was totally destroyed. The typical floor covering made of white-burned flint could unfortunately no longer be detected, as it was probably cleared out during subsequent burials.
About one meter southwest of the chamber, on the old surface, lay a stone about 0.6 m high with a bowl that did not belong to the chamber. It is valued as a "holy stone".
Finds
Surrounded by a mantle of field stones, surmounted by the four cap stones of the burial chamber and in a raised position above the adjacent lowland, the large dolmen of Warringholz offered the settlers and also the strangers who passed it an imposing, monumental sight. A landmark - appropriate to a place of burial and ancestor worship.
So it is not surprising that the large stone grave must have had an important local significance as a burial place and ritual place of ancestral commemoration for the surrounding settler communities for over 2000 years, as the evaluation of the finds shows:
- The creation of the grave complex dates back to the time of the funnel cup culture, namely to the time of the megalithic graves from ~ 3650 to 3200 BC. BC, because in front of the chamber was a thin-leaf flint ax with polished broad sides
- A thin-leaf flint ax was found south of the chamber . It was probably lost during a robbery excavation or during the clearing of the stone chamber for subsequent burials and will have been a grave object from the time of the original burials. It dates the beginning of the burial tradition to the megalithic burial period between 3600 and 3200 BC. Chr.
- Shards of a beaker with a curved basic shape and a drawn-in rim and a thick-necked flint ax were found under a capstone (large bowl stone). They are typical for the 1st period of the individual grave culture , namely for the subterranean time from 2800 BC. These finds show that the Cord Ceramists also used the burial site for subsequent burials, although they had developed completely different, new ideas about family, property and burial rites.
- In the older Bronze Age (period II, 1500 to 1300 BC), the place around the large dolmen was important for burial ceremonies: to the northwest of the stone grave, a body was buried in a tree coffin. The coffin was vaulted by a round hill, which was expanded several times, about 25 m in diameter and 1.2 m remaining height, which was surrounded by a stone wreath, which also covered the dolmen. In the eastern edge of the hill at the stone circle there were two chamber-like additions whose function could not be clarified.
- In the eastern part of the hill two urns in stone packings were found, one of which can be dated to period V (950 to 720 BC) of the Nordic Bronze Age.
The period in which the megalithic grave and the subsequently vaulted tumulus served the early settlers as a cemetery and place of remembrance of the dead is a good 2000 years and extends over various cultural levels.
Two cup stones
Two cup stones were found in connection with the megalithic complex. Cup stones are unworked stones on which there are cup-shaped depressions that were created naturally or that have been incorporated by human hands. The best-known bowl stone in Schleswig-Holstein is that of Bunsoh.
The bowls are round or oval bulges of varying depth. Tests have shown that they can be produced in a short time. Cup stones often also contain other engravings such as line patterns, hands, footprints or wheel crosses. The local large bowl stone shows line connections.
Cup stones cannot be assigned to a single cultural tradition. The first finds are known from the Paleolithic. They continue from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Therefore, no uniform interpretations for the manufacture and use of the bowls can be determined.
Despite various research approaches, it is still unclear for what purpose the bowls were sunk into the stones. The cultic extraction of rock flour is discussed from a practical point of view. The small hollows could also have been used to fill or deposit offerings. It is also conceivable to mark the positions of the stars and the position of the sun in order to be able to calculate and predict calendar events such as the seasons or the solstice. All these attempts at interpretation proved to be plausible in individual cases, but could not be generalized for all cup stones. That is why the cup stones remain a mysterious phenomenon of early history.
See also
literature
- Ekkehard Aner and Karl Kersten : The finds of the older Bronze Age of the Nordic district in Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, Volume 18, Steinburg district, edited by K. Kersten, ed. by K.-H. Willrodt with the assistance of H.-H. Stand, Neumünster 1993, p. 91.
- Günther Haseloff: A burial mound in Warringholz. In: Gustav Schwantes (ed.), Prehistory studies on both sides of the Lower Elbe, Hildesheim 1939, p. 100 ff.
- Jutta Roß: Megalithic graves in Schleswig-Holstein. Investigations into the structure of the tombs based on recent excavation findings . Kovač, Hamburg 1992, ISBN 3-86064-046-1 (Master's thesis Universität Hamburg 1987).
- Rüdiger Kelm: Large stone graves, giant beds and shell stones - traces of the Stone Age on the Dithmarscher Geest. Ed .: Steinzeitpark Ditmarschen, Albersdorf 2018, ISBN 978-3-00-059420-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rüdiger Kelm: Great stone graves . Ed .: Stone Age Park Dithmarschen. Albersdorf 2018, p. 11 .
- ↑ Günther Haseloff 1939, p. 101
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 55 ′ 47.8 " N , 9 ° 30 ′ 59.8" E