Menhir from Rothenschirmbach
The menhir of Rothenschirmbach was a menhir near Rothenschirmbach , a district of Lutherstadt Eisleben in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz in Saxony-Anhalt .
Location and description
The stone was discovered in 2005 near Rothenschirmbach during the excavation of a settlement of the late Neolithic bell - cup culture in the associated cemetery. It served there as a cover for the grave of a man around 20-30 years old. It was an earth grave without additions with a wooden recess that had been covered with earth so that the stone could not damage the burial. The stone was placed lying over the burial. Use as an above-ground grave marker could be excluded. The stone was stolen after the excavation, its whereabouts are unknown.
The menhir was made of tertiary quartzite . Its height was 155 cm, the width 55 cm. It weighed about 400 kg and was shaped like an irregular plate that tapered to a point at the top. It had several breaklines. Artificial treatments could not be found.
literature
- Johannes Groht : Menhirs in Germany. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-943904-18-5 , pp. 458–459.
- Ulrich Müller: The children of Rothenschirmbach. In: Harald Meller (ed.): Archeology in the fast lane. Excavations on the A38 (= archeology in Saxony-Anhalt. Special volume 5). Halle (Saale) 2006, p. 103ff.
- Ralf Schwarz: Menhirs and decorated stone chamber tombs. In: Harald Meller (ed.): Early and Middle Neolithic (= catalogs for the permanent exhibition in the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 2). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology, Halle (Saale) 2013.