Megalithic systems in Poland
Due to the current state of research , the megalithic systems in Poland can only be shown in outline at the moment. As megalithic be there only those structures referred to, which - in Neolithic using large - time erratic blocks of the carriers of the Beaker culture v (TBK) 3500-2800. Were erected. In contrast to the rest of the megalithic area, systems made of plate material are not included. In reality, however, almost every megalithic shape has its equivalents formed from smaller stone formats (stones that are at least 1 m long are called megaliths). Nevertheless, in Poland even objects made of large flat stones are not counted as megalithic. Neolithic monuments are an expression of the ideology of Neolithic societies, their formation and function depend on social development. There are no menhirs from this period in Poland.
Occurrence
The megalithic complexes are located in three spatially separated zones:
Of the types common in Nordic megalithic architecture, the chamberless giant beds and stone boxes are particularly common (especially in Pomerania) . The finds are made up of artefacts from the funnel cup (TBK) and spherical amphora cultures (KAK) ( megalithic site from Złotowo ). However, the state of research is not such that a clear assignment between builder and subsequent user would have to be made.
Great stone graves
Large stone graves with chambers that can be compared with those of the north-western TBK groups are rare in Poland. They are mainly found on the ground moraines and were built by people from the TBK and reused by those from the KAK. Some structures of the large dolmen type, which are found in large numbers west of the Oder, were found in Kamień Pomorski (Cammin or Kammin) in Pomerania, 70 km from the Oder. However, only the megalithic complex from Złotowo and grave 1 from Borkowo remained.
Passage graves
Most of the few Polish passage graves are in trapezoidal enclosures and are concentrated in northern Kujawy . They are covered with mounds of stone and earth and are attributed to the KAK, which in its area of distribution west of the Oder became known through the construction of stone boxes . A passage grave could also be the severely disturbed "point 27" on the cemetery of Łupawa (place and river) in Pomerania. So far only the facilities of "Strzelce Dolne" (German Lower Strelitz, in the Voivodeship of Bydgoszcz), where two passage graves can be found in an enclosure, and Kierzkowo (German: Kerschkow, in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship) have been examined.
Dolmen
The best known of the giant beds in Poland is the 24.5 m long long bed 5 from Łupawa (Sprockhoff No. 591). Inside the only partially preserved border (trapezoidal?) Were two chambers with remains of corpse fire. A chamber is made up of four erratic blocks and a capstone. The second chamber, made of four stone slabs, is covered by a fifth. The two chambers are connected by a U-shaped stone setting. In the front part in front of the edging of the objects there is a round stone setting. The TBK grave goods are concentrated in the chambers. The borders of the giant beds in Poland reach lengths of 130 m, widths up to 15 m and heights up to 3 m. A dolmen of this kind, with a triangular edging typical of "Kujaw tombs" in Poland, but completely untypical for Sweden, is the dolmen of Skabersjö in Skåne .
Stone boxes
Stone boxes in Poland are always hilly systems of various sizes sunk into the earth. The largest are six meters long and are in the north of Kujawia and East Prussia . But they are more widespread, mostly individually, but sometimes also in small groups. In Pomerania they are also found together with giant beds without a chamber. In Poland they are assigned to the KAK, which is known west of the Oder exclusively for its late stone boxes.
Big beds without a chamber
The chamberless giant beds. east of the Oder often have triangular borders and have long been known as the "Kujavic grave". The rest of the design differs somewhat in the above areas of distribution. Pomeranian borders have transverse zone separations. In the western part of Pomerania there were once more than 200 of these systems, which were concentrated in particular around Pyrzyce (German district of Pyritz ) (150). In Kujawien and in the Kulmer Land there are still around 100 barren beds, the characteristic element of which is the bend in one of the long sides of the enclosure. There is often an opening in the front that symbolizes access. There are references to wooden structures that could be reached through this access. Since GV Childe (1949) there has been the assumption that Kujawian megalithic beds depict the houses of the Brześć Kujawski (Brest), a group of the Lengyel culture that was located at the Vistula knee. However, with the later discovery of the hut-like wooden fixtures, this thesis loses its weight.
Pseudo-systems
Box-like and passage grave-like pseudo-installations can be found primarily in Kujawia. They too lie within a trapezoidal enclosure and are covered by mounds of earth. However, they were probably covered with beams and a stone pavement because they lack the cap stones. Examples are the facilities in Świerczynek-Wieś (Włocławek Voivodeship).
See also
literature
- Waldemar Chmielewski: Zagadnienie grobowców kujawskich w świetle ostatnich badań . WMA, Lódź 1952.
- Dobrochna Jankowska: Megalithic and Kujavic tombs. In: Karl W. Beinhauer et al. (Ed.): Studies on megalithics. State of research and ethnoarchaeological perspectives (contributions to prehistory and early history of Central Europe; Vol. 21). Verlag Beier & Beran, Weisbach 1999, pp. 215-226, ISBN 3-930036-36-3 .
- Konrad Jażdżewski: The relationship between Kujavian barrows in Poland and megalithic tombs in northern Germany, Denmark and western European countries . In: Glyn E. Daniel, Poul Kjærum (Ed.): Megalithic Graves and Ritual. Papers presented at the III. Atlantic Colloquium, Moesgård 1969 (Jutland Archaeological Society Publications; Vol. 11). Nordisk Forlag, Copenhagen 1973, ISBN 87-00-08861-7 .
- Magdalena S. Midgley : The Monumental Cemeteries of Prehistoric Europe . Tempus Press, Stroud 2005, ISBN 07524-2567-6 (reprinted from London 1981 edition).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ J. Müller In: Varia neolithica VI 2009 p. 15
- ↑ State Museum for Natural History and Prehistory Oldenburg (ed.) JA Artymowski: On Pre- and Early History of Poland In: Antiquities from Poland p. 11
- ↑ Dobrochna Jankowska Megalithic and Kujawic Tombs , In KW Beinhauer (Ed.): Studies on Megalithic , 1999, ISBN 3-930036-36-3 , p. 219 - The peculiarity of Poland as a "megalithic province" does not exist in the Kanner tombs, but in chamberless forms