Hut of the dead

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In German prehistory research, buildings that were used for burials are called huts for the dead .

The term was coined in 1928 by Hans Reinerth (1900–1990) for the string ceramic Swiss “houses of the dead” from Sarmenstorf . He assumed that the burial structures mimicked the houses (or huts) of the living.

Shack for the dead and wall chamber grave

Neolithic

Floor plan of the death hut in Benzingerode from the Bernburg culture

In the funnel cup culture (TBK), huts for the dead were built in the Bernburg culture , among others . They are common between the Weser and Saale , especially in Thuringia . Hans-Jürgen Beier describes the huts of the dead in the Bernburg culture as pseudomegalithic. He equates the sunken "Central German Wall Chamber" with the Hessian-Westphalian gallery complexes and sees it as a megalithic imitation. To this genus it counts next to the complex of Odagsen , district Northeim about a dozen other plants. He differentiates between wall chambers and drywall systems. Huts for the dead are also known from Denmark. Here is particularly Vroue Hede in I + II Jutland to name where stone graves (Dan. Stendyngegravene) and Erdgräber in rows and dead cabins together with a passage grave happen (Jørgensen 1977).

distribution

Until the beginning of the 1970s, findings were mainly from the area of ​​the Walternienburg-Bernburg culture , i.e. from Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt . Nine specimens were recognized in Lower Saxony , where huts for the dead are widespread up to the leash . This situation changed due to new discoveries. These include the wood chamber of the Wartberg culture (WBK) of Warburg II, Höxter district in Westphalia , the wall chamber of Remlingen in the Wolfenbüttel district , the Obernjesa burial house and the burial houses near Großenrode and Odagsen in the Northeim district in southern Lower Saxony. The latter is to be parallelized with the end phase of TBK due to the C14 dating of the bones. During the construction of the national highway 6 to the district Benzingerode , Harz district , managed to (a dead hut in outstanding details to investigate and document see: dead hut Benzingerode ).

Dating

In 2010 and 2011, three North German collective graves (Calden II, Grossenrode II and Odagsen I) samples of teeth, temporal bones and jaws were taken from individuals and compared with the previous chronology (about 3300-3000 cal BC. ) compared. It turned out that the new data indicate an earlier start of burials (around 3500 BC).

Grave goods

Ceramics , including clay drums, can be found in the huts of the dead .

construction

The systems were mostly built from split planks. They have a partly multi-layered stone paving on which additions and skeletal remains were found. Some systems were covered with stone packings. Most of the huts consist of a gable roof extending from the bottom of the pit. The roof made of logs or split planks was ultimately covered with a mound of earth. The entrance was on the narrow side, which completed the building at right angles.

Bronze age

The early Bronze Age burial house in Leubingen in a princely grave of the Aunjetitz culture is well known . It was so well preserved that it could be dendro- dated. In Poland, during the Bronze Age ( Trzciniec culture ), houses of the dead in burial mounds were common. The burial hut from Borchen-Etteln (Paderborn district) consisted of oak planks leaning against one another like a tent, which covered a single burial. The construction was burned and then covered with a mound. From Undenheim (Mainz-Bingen district), a young woman's hut for the dead is known from the time of the Urnfield , which contained rich gifts.

Iron age

Hallstatt period four-post constructions in Württemberg grave mounds, z. B. Weilimdorf and Böblingen were also interpreted as houses of the dead.

literature

  • A. Bach, H.-J. Barthel, W. Gall: Neolithic death hut near Gotha-Siebleben . In: Alt-Thüringen 22/23 . 1987, pp. 55-61
  • Günter Behm-Blancke: Thuringia's rope-ceramic burial hut, its relationship to grave construction of related cultures and to Neolithic housing . In: Old Thuringia 1 . 1953/54.
  • Hans-Jürgen Beier: The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest . In: Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1 . 1991.
  • Ulrich Dirks: Hidden for 5000 years. Excavations of a Neolithic death hut near Remlingen in the Wolfenbüttel district . Oldenburg 1999.
  • R. Feustel, H. Ullrich: Huts of the dead of the neolithic Walternienburger group . In: Alt-Thüringen 7 1964/65 . 1965, pp. 105-203.
  • W. Gall, A. Bach, H.-J. Barthel: Neolithic death hut near Wandersleben . In: Old Thuringia 18 . 1983, pp. 7-31.
  • Klaus Günther: The collective grave necropolis Warburg I-IV . 1997. ISBN 3-8053-2451-0 .
  • Elke Heege: The houses of the dead. Neolithic collective graves in the Northeim district . Guide to the prehistory and early history of Lower Saxony 16. Laux, Hildesheim 1989.
  • Erik Jørgensen: Hagebrogård, Vroue Hede, Koldkur. Neolithic burial grounds from northwest Jutland . Akademisk Forlag, Copenhagen 1977.
  • H. Lies: A Bronze Age dead hill near Menz, Kr. Burg. Part 1: Younger Stone Age to Older Bronze Age . In: Jahresschr. Medium Pre. 39 . 1955, pp. 115-162.
  • W. Löhlein: House of the dead - burial chamber - cremation place. For the interpretation of four-post floor plans from burial mounds in northern Württemberg . In: Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 28 , 1998, pp. 513-522.
  • Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ B. Berthold et al.: Die Totenhütte von Benzingerode. Archeology and anthropology . Arch. Saxony-Anhalt, Sonderbd. 7 (Halle / Saale 2008)
  2. ↑ In the more recent literature, the term “house of the dead” is used for the Neolithic complexes in order to distinguish this stately structural form from smaller - mostly underground wooden structures of later times.
  3. ^ Lothar Zotz , Silesian barrows of the Middle Bronze Age with burial houses, Prehistoric Journal 27, 1936, 196-211
  4. ↑ Detert Zylmann : A burial place of the urn field culture of Undenheim, district of Mainz-Bingen . In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 82 , 1987, pp. 199–210
  5. ^ W. Löhlein: House of the Dead - burial chamber - cremation place. For the interpretation of four-post floor plans from burial mounds in northern Württemberg . In: Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 28 , 1998, pp. 513-522

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