Menhir of Artern

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The Menhir von Artern , also called Menhir von Edersleben or Speckseite , was a prehistoric menhir near Artern in the Kyffhäuserkreis , Thuringia . It was destroyed in 1859.

location

The menhir was on the border between Edersleben and Riethnordhausen , about 600 paces (450 m) outside of Edersleben on the way to Borxleben . The Sachsengraben was nearby. The corridors bordering the stone were named "Am Lange Stein" and "Langensteinewende".

description

The stone was made of pebble quartz . It was 5 feet (1.58 m) high and 4.5 feet (1.30 m) wide. It had several trough-shaped and furrow-shaped depressions. In 1859 the menhir was destroyed in the course of the separation . Its remains were used as paving stones.

Finds from the area around the stone come from the band ceramics , the cord ceramic culture , the full bronze age and the Hallstatt period . Some graves, from which hatchets and iron objects originate, are significant findings .

The menhir in regional sagas

There are two legends about the menhir : On the one hand, it is said to be the memorial to a prince who fell in battle. Another legend tells of a giantess . This was traveling from north to south and carried a large side of bacon on its back, which was fastened with ropes. At Edersleben she stopped and tipped stones out of her shoes. These stones are said to have been used later by the farmers as field markers. Since the giantess had become too heavy with her burden, she invoked the gods to turn her to stone. They answered the giantess's request and turned the side of bacon to stone. The furrows should come from the impressions of the cords.

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. 72.
  • AA Bergner: Collected contributions to German antiquities. Some news about the Heidensteine. In: Saxon Association for the Research of patriotic antiquities in Leipzig (ed.): Contributions to German antiquity. Volume I, Leipzig 1876, pp. 115-116.
  • Chr. Keferstein: Views on Celtic antiquities, the Celts in general and especially in Germany. Volume I, Halle 1846, pp. 39, 42.
  • Horst Kirchner : The menhirs in Central Europe and the menhir thought (= Academy of Sciences and Literature. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class. Born 1955, No. 9). Wiesbaden 1955, p. 182.
  • Ms. Schmidt: The sagas of the Sangerhausen district. In: Messages from the Association for Natural Sciences in Sangerhausen. 1928, pp. 66-67.
  • Waldtraut Schrickel : Western European elements in the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part 1. Catalog Leipzig 1957, p. 26.