Schalkenburg

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Schalkenburg
The Schalkenburg, view from the south

The Schalkenburg, view from the south

Data
place Quenstedt
Construction year Neolithic , Bronze Age , Iron Age
Coordinates 51 ° 41 '24.4 "  N , 11 ° 26' 35.7"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 41 '24.4 "  N , 11 ° 26' 35.7"  E
Schalkenburg (Saxony-Anhalt)
Schalkenburg
Plan of the Schalkenburg

Plan of the Schalkenburg

The Schalkenburg near Quenstedt in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz in Saxony-Anhalt is a multi-period archaeological site with an almost completely archaeologically examined inner area. In this area, a Neolithic circular moat , a settlement of the Bernburg culture , as well as a Late Bronze to Elder Iron Age and a Late Hallstatt Age hill settlement or castle complex was excavated.

Geographical location

The Geländesporn called Schalkenburg is located in the northeastern Harz foreland about 1 km southwest of the Quenstedt town center and rises 214.6  m above sea level. NN . The Geländesporn Schalkenburg is embedded in the landscape of the Vorharz. Surrounded by a Auelehmebene that of the coming from the southeast A influx Hengstbach is crossed, the spur with steep slopes to the east, south and west clearly stands out from the stream. To the north, the sparsely tree-lined plateau is bordered by a 2 m thick edge of the terrain from the adjoining plateau. In this area runs the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age rampart, which is the ruin of at least two fortification walls.

History and description

The State Museum for Prehistory in Halle / Saale carried out an archaeological research excavation on the Schalkenburg from 1967 to 1986 under the direction of Hermann Behrens and Erhard Schröter. The almost complete excavation of the terrain spur provided the first evidence of a Neolithic circular moat system before the introduction of aerial archaeological prospection in the area of ​​the former GDR . The system was assigned to the ceramics culture . On the spur, parallel to each other, lay five slightly oval post rings with three gate lanes. The rings are about 5.5 to 6 m apart. The inner ring measures 35 by 44 m, while the largest dimension of the outer ring is 95 m. On the 4th ring (counted from the inside) there are two apsidal extensions. The door openings are also, as with other similar systems as astronomical , draw attention interpreted -auxiliary. The excavators interpret the roundabout as a cult building. Neolithic groups of graves from the Baalberg culture and cord ceramics have been identified.

Numerous settlement pits and house floor plans indicate that the mountain spur was densely populated during the Bernburg culture . In the early Bronze Age ( Aunjetitz culture ) a small group of graves with rich furnishings was created. Individual finds from this era were found in more recent findings. It was not a settlement site in the form of a hilltop settlement during the early Bronze Age. Extensive construction work and a dense population intensity can only be proven again for the late Bronze Age / early Iron Age . A hilltop settlement with a settlement period of at least 300 years and two fortification phases, during the late Bronze Age and during the late Hallstatt period , was found. Numerous settlement pits, house plans, hearths, two hoard finds with numerous ornamental bronzes, as well as a ceramic deposit and numerous other finds were found.

literature

A complete publication of the site is currently being processed. So far, individual contributions have been published in specialist journals and edited volumes. a .:

  • Hermann Behrens , Erhard Schröter : Early Bronze Age graves from the Schalkenburg near Quenstedt. In: Contributions to prehistory and early history. Volume 1, 1981, pp. 169-183.
  • Hermann Behrens, Erhard Schröter: Settlements and graves of the funnel cup culture and cord ceramics near Halle (Saale). Results of excavations (= publications of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 34). German Science Publishing House, Berlin 1980.
  • Dieter Kaufmann : The excavations on the “Schalkenburg” near Quenstedt, Ldkr. Mansfelder Land (Saxony-Anhalt), and the palisade ring system. In: International Archeology - Studia honoraria. Volume 21, Rahden 2004, pp. 395-410.
  • Erhard Schröter: The “Schalkenburg” near Quenstedt, Hettstedt district, an early Neolithic roundabout. In: Friedrich Schlette and Dieter Kaufmann (eds.): Religion and cult in prehistoric and early historical times. Berlin 1989, pp. 193-200.
  • Erhard Schröter: A Neolithic cult site on the Schalkenburg near Quenstedt. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 73, 1990, pp. 267-270.
  • Sandra Sosnowski : New insights into the construction and reconstruction of the circular palisade on the "Schalkenburg" near Quenstedt, district of Mansfeld-Südharz. In: Harald Meller , François Bertemes (Hrsg.): Neolithic circular moats in Europe (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 8). Halle (Saale) 2012, pp. 121–134.
  • Sandra Sosnowski: The polycultural Quenstedt site, hall “Schalkenburg”, Ldkr. Mansfeld-Südharz. New results on settlement structure and sequence. In: Archeology in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 7, 2014, pp. 55-69.
  • Sandra Sosnowski: The fortified settlement "Schalkenburg" near Quenstedt District Mansfeld-Südharz. A place of discovery in the area of ​​tension between the large Late Bronze to Early Iron Age cultural complexes in the north-eastern Harz foreland. In: Thomas Doppler , Britta Ramminger , Dirk Schimmelpfennig (eds.): Borders and border areas? Examples from the Neolithic and Bronze Age (= focus on the Neolithic. Volume 2). Loogh 2011, pp. 113-130.
  • Thomas Weber : Quenstedt, Ldkr. Mansfelder Land. In: Siegfried Fröhlich (Ed.): From the prehistory of Saxony-Anhalt. State Museum for Prehistory Halle (Saale), Halle (Saale) 1995, ISBN 3-910010-13-X , No. 20-21.

Web links

Commons : Schalkenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Burkard Steinücken, Archaeoastronomical Investigation of the Neolithic Round Palisade on the Schalkenburg ( Memento from April 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)