Soest group

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Soest group is an archaeological term that describes a megalithic group of finds in the more eastern area of ​​the fertile Hellwegbörden . It is named after Soest , the core city of the Soest Börde . The Soest group lies in the border area of ​​the prehistoric western funnel cup culture and the eastern Wartberg culture . Their structures differ fundamentally from those of the northern German funnel cup culture. The Soest gallery graves accommodated up to 250 burials in their two to three meters wide, often 20 to 30 m long chambers. Access was the type Zyschen on the narrow side, the type Rimbeck but on the long side. A perforated door stone with a “ soul hole ” separates the access area from the burial chamber. Regional groups could be identified at a distance of around 30 km.

Gallery grave of Hiddingsen

There are five groups of graves found in the Soest group , namely the gallery grave of Hiddingsen , plus finds near Soest- Ostönnen , the collective grave necropolis of Erwitte- Schmerlecke I-III, then Anröchte - Uelde and finally Erwitte - Völlinghausen . The group is dated to around 3700 BC. Chr.

Research project, loach

The Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, the LWL-Archeologie für Westfalen, Olpe branch, and the University Medical Center of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen carried out a research project together. Starting point of this DFG sub-project Genesis and structure of the Hessian-Westphalian megalithic using the example of the Soest group as part of the project Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation. The collective burial necropolis of Schmerlecke near Erwitte is about the emergence and development of large Neolithic buildings and the first complex societies in northern Central Europe . An initial geological analysis of the Hiddingsen grave was carried out. Until then, there was only a 14C dating for the Soest group, namely for Ostönnen. It fits into the range of previously obtained data for the construction of gallery graves. The anthropological data compiled by Kerstin Schierhold show large gaps in the documentation, especially in the field of paleopathology . The exploration of the settlements and the importance of the monumental moat works nearby is still desiderate .

In Schmerlecke, the Soest group was found to be older than previously assumed. Some bones could be dated to around 3700 cal BC. This makes them the oldest evidence for the Soest group, the beginning of which was previously set at 3500/3400 cal BC.

Loach II is about 20 m long and 2.5 to 3 m wide, while about 2 m high. The grave field was much larger than assumed before the DFG research project . In addition, there was an eccentrically located double post ring with a diameter of 11 m. There was a four-post position in the middle. It is possible that offset post rings only originated from the Bronze Age , so that it is perhaps a two-phase system. 500 m to the northeast there could have been a larger courtyard, as well as 500 m to the north. There was also a previously unexplored trench.

The material of the processed limestone slabs does not occur in the region. The chamber floor is still 0.8 to 0.9 m below the floor level. In 2007 grave III was discovered, which is 24 m long and has a clear width of 4 to 4.5 m. Human bones and animal tooth pendants were found, mostly made of dog teeth, possibly also those of wolves, rarely of foxes and badgers, wild cats and martens. A canid canine tooth shows traces of a copper artifact . This makes it plausible for the first time that such jewelry was worn with copper. The lower jaws of foxes, which are regarded as amulets and apparently polished, are rare. The drywall technique made from small limestone slabs is also unusual. For the first time, it shows similarities with the previously unique collective grave of Völlinghausen. The ground was formed by reddish granitic splinters. Altogether there are over 700 pendants made from animal teeth from grave II and III. While such a large number of finds in such graves is unique, components of clothing made of amber and copper are rarely found. Both amber pendants represented a 1.3 cm diameter disc with a 4 mm hole; the better preserved amber came from the Baltic States . Copper can often be detected as a green discoloration on bones, but complete pieces such as an 8 cm long copper spiral were also found.

At the arrowheads the borderline between the said cultures is evident. While the trapezoidal arrow cutters ( cross cutter ) are associated with the funnel beaker culture, the triangular arrowheads were more likely to be traced back to contacts with the Wartberg culture. Artifacts from Maasfeuerstein probably came from Rijckholt , about 300 km to the west , in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten . In Grave III, blow lighters were also found, in some cases even with adhering tubers of marcasite . An ax blade of the Hanoverian type was probably more of an object of representation.

In general, ceramics are very rare in the Soester Group sites. It can only be found in the entrance areas, which were more of a communal sphere.

Only a few cereal grains have survived, and there are very few cultivated legumes.

literature

  • Kerstin Schierhold, Ralf Gleser, Michael Baales : On the genesis and structure of the Hessian-Westphalian megalithic using the example of the Soester group , in: Martin Hinz, Johannes Müller (ed.): Siedlung, Grabenwerk, Großsteingrab. Studies on society, economy and the environment of the funnel cup groups in northern Central Europe , Rudolf Habelt, 2012, pp. 411–429.
  • Susan Klingner, Michael Schultz: First results of the anthropological-paleopathological investigations of the buried in the gallery graves of Erwitte-Schmerlecke , in: Martin Hinz, Johannes Müller (ed.): Siedlung, Grabenwerk, Großsteingrab. Studies on society, economy and the environment of the funnel cup groups in northern Central Europe , Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 2012, pp. 431–444.
  • Ingo Pfeffer: A grave for a hundred people. The stone box in Soest-Hiddingsen , in: Norbert Wex (Hrsg.): Soester show places. Historical places reminiscent , commemorative publication for the 125th anniversary of the Association for History and Home Care Soest, Westfälische Verlagsbuchhandlung Mocker & Jahn, Soest 2006, pp. 326–332.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Cf. genesis and structure of the Hessian-Westphalian megalithic using the example of the Soest group DFG priority program 1400 "Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation".
  2. ↑ Schierhold et al., P. 423.

Web links