Ramp box
Ramp boxes are a combination of platy and megalithic elements from prehistoric times. They are trapezoidal or rectangular stone chambers with the eponymous access from the narrowest or one of the two narrow sides. In terms of size, they are on average behind the megalithic systems . It resembles gallery graves , is considered submegalithic and was built for individual burials.
Ulrich Fischer (1915-2005) is one of the facilities Lißdorf, Burgenlandkreis, Dornburg / Saale , in the Saale-Holzland, Brachstedt / High, Langeneichstädt / Upper Eichstädt and Schkopau all in Saalekreis , Halle-Nietleben, city district hall and Schortewitz 2 in Zörbig to this group. The type of the Langeneichstädt facility cannot be determined, but its wall decoration can be connected to the Halle-Nietleben ramp box. Hans-Jürgen Beier expands the group of ramp boxes with the plants Calbe 3, Salzlandkreis , Dölauer Heide Hügel 6 and 35, Halle , Morl 1, Saalekreis and Polleben 1, district of Mansfeld-Südharz. The stone box from Langeneichenstädt / Niedereichstädt can perhaps be counted as part of the group due to its construction and despite its inventory of spherical amphorae, so that in the 1980s at least 12 ramp boxes or ramp box-like systems were known.
distribution
With a few exceptions, the ramp boxes are located along the Saale from their confluence with the Elbe (Calbe 3) to (Dornburg / Wilsdorf) . Their orientation varies greatly. Six north-south and two northeast-southwest-facing systems can be compared to four east-west-facing ones. The ramp box was covered by a mound of earth that was surrounded by a stone wreath in Polleben 1. Seven chambers were laid out at ground level. The trapezoidal shape dominates the chamber floor plan. Only three chambers are rectangular. With chamber lengths between two and four meters, the ramp boxes are well behind the megalithic buildings. Except for Polleben 1 and Hill 35 of Halle, Dölauer Heide, the chambers were made of stone slabs. The Polleben grave had walls made of dry stone and was counted by U. Fischer to the wall chambers . The construction method shows that this group has a strong influence, but the trapezoidal shape, the small size and the number of only six buried individuals connect the Pollebener installation with the ramp boxes. In the hill 35 of Halle, Dölauer Heide, on the other hand, was a wooden chamber with a stone-lined entrance. Such a construction is reminiscent of the plank chambers and especially the grave of Ditfurt 1, in the Harz district. In the case of ramp boxes, the transitions to other grave types are fluid.
A paved flooring was only discovered in Polleben 1. Schortewitz 2 and Brachstedt / Hohen had a screed covering. For the chambers Halle, Dölauer Heide, Hügel 6 and Halle-Nietleben, a wooden floor can be expected. In Niedereichstädt, the buried woman was allegedly lying on a wooden plank. Wooden floors are likely to have been laid out more often; Unfortunately, the preservation conditions rarely allow proof. One access is known for nine systems. In the Schkopau, Polleben 1 and Morl 1 systems, such a system may originally have existed. In Schkopau and Polleben 1, perhaps due to a lack of observation, an entrance structure was not found and a square opening about 0.5 m in size was closed.
Finds
Information about burials is available from 11 ramp boxes. In Schortewitz 2, a single burial could be observed while skeletal remains of several individuals were in the other chambers. In Lißdorf and Polleben 1, the buried are given. Thus the ramp box also served as a collective grave. In terms of number, however, it lags significantly behind burials in wall chambers, which is probably due to the small size. Most of the time, the skeletal remains were found lying in a mess. In Halle-Nietleben, the only two-part chamber of this group, there was a layer of bone near the entrance, while a stool was presumably buried in every corner in the back. With this type of grave, burial rituals such as those found in wall chambers, megalithic and sunken stone chambers have to be expected. In Brachstedt / Hohen, Calbe 3, Halle-Nietleben and Schortewitz 2, slight traces of fire were found. The burning of fires may have been associated with burial custom.
The inventories of the Calbe 3, Halle-Nietleben, Morl 1, Polleben 1, Schkopau and Schortewitz 2 complexes, which were still undisturbed when they were found, demonstrate the wealth of gifts from this group. Pure Bernburger and once pure Walternienburger material appear four times . In Polleben 1, Walternienburger and Bernburger forms lay together. Hill 35 from Halle, Dölauer Heide, can be assigned to the horizon of the Walternienburg-Bernburg culture (3200 to 2800 BC), while from the plants Brachstedt / Hohen, Dornburg / Wilsdorf, Halle, Dölauer Heide, Hügel 6 and Lißdorf, culture-determining additions are not known. Grave construction and the information about the burials justify the connection of these facilities with the Walternienburg-Bernburg cultural area. The interior decorated chamber of Hügel 6, Halle, Dölauer Heide, however, remains controversial in its cultural position. It can certainly be made of ceramic cord. In contrast, the ramp box from Langeneichstädt / Niedereichstädt produced ceramics from the spherical amphora culture (KAK). U. Fischer accepts a ball amphora reburial in a Walternienburg-Bernburger box. However, this cannot be proven. In the inventories of the ramp boxes, Bernburg ceramics dominate overall; it is mostly connected to the north-south oriented graves. In the findings of Schortewitz 2, as in the grave Heiligenthal 1 , Mansfeld-Südharz district, an incipient social differentiation of society appears to be emerging. The elaborate grave construction and the extremely rich furnishings of both graves are unique for this period of the Neolithic of the Middle Elbe-Saale area.
See also
literature
- Hans-Jürgen Beier : The grave and burial customs of the Walternienburg and Bernburg culture (= Neolithic studies. 3 = Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Scientific articles. 1984, 30 = Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Scientific articles . Series L: Pre- and Protohistoric Articles. 19, ISSN 0441-621X ). Science journalism department of the Martin Luther University, Halle (Saale) 1984.