Stenhøj (Horsensfjord)
Stenhøj, excavated in 1978, is not far from Søvind on the slopes north of the Horsensfjord in East Jutland in Denmark . The chamber is located in an approximately 18.0 m long and 6.8 m wide barren bed , which was previously bordered by curbs. Originally there were around 15 stones on either side and five or six on the ends. Dry masonry made of sandstone slabs filled the spaces between the stones. It dates from the Neolithic Age around 3500–2800 BC. And is a megalithic system of the funnel beaker culture (TBK). The name is not uncommon in Denmark. Another Stenhøj is in Himmerland .
In the first phase of excavation, heavy stones, crushed flint and a charcoal-blackened filling with small stones were uncovered in the chamber . It contained late Bronze Age pottery shards from a subsequent burial and a flint dagger from a disturbed late Neolithic burial.
The polygonal chamber originally had five bearing stones. The stones at slight angles to each other enclosed a floor 2.6 m long and 1.7 m wide. The chamber opened to the south via a 0.6 m high threshold stone, on the outside of which two posts marked a 1.2 m long and 0.7 m wide corridor. One of the bearing stones in the corridor was in situ . Of the stones in the chamber, the stone at the entrance was in situ, another had fallen into the chamber. The fragments of two other stones were in place, while the fifth stone was missing. The fallen stone was in contact with the sub-floor. When he was raised, it turned out that the flooring was missing underneath. So the stone had fallen before the dolmen was first used. The approximately 1.7 m high chamber was probably covered with a large capstone , as is usual for polygonal dolms. The pitch was 1.0 m with no capstone.
By removing the secondary chamber filling, an intact floor made of thin stone slabs was exposed, which integrated the fallen post. In the middle of the floor there was a thin, 1.8 m long and 0.8 m wide red-brown stain on the floor, in the middle of which was the broken tip of a dagger. Under the slabs of the late Neolithic soil there was a 15–35 cm thick layer of mixed clay sand and two flint daggers. Underneath there was a floor made of smaller stones, between which there was a filling of crushed, burnt flint. To the west of the chamber, on a dry stone wall, was a crushed beaker with a funnel neck. In the filling above the floor there were three amber beads and 27 shards from five different pots.
See also
literature
- Karsten Kjer Michaelsen: Politikens bog om Danmarks oldtid (= Politikens håndbøger. ). Politiken, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 87-567-6458-8 .
Web links