Types of megalithic systems in Mecklenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolmen and passage grave (with quarters)

The Megalithanlagentypen in Mecklenburg were last of Ewald Schuldt as part of a project to excavation of megaliths of the Neolithic erected, which was conducted from 1964 to 1972. It should enable a “subdivision and naming of the objects in the work area”. A structure was taken over from Ernst Sprockhoff , who in turn was based on an older Danish structure. Due to the administrative structure at that time - the study area was the districts of Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg - systems in Brandenburg and Western Pomerania were also examined.

Types

Urdolmen near Neu Gaarz ( Rerik )

Schuldt lists five types of megalithic systems:

  1. the Urdolmen
  2. the enlarged dolmen
  3. the large dolmen
  4. the passage grave
  5. the giant bed without a chamber

In addition, there are numerous stone boxes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , which Schuldt included in his research, but which, due to their small size, he did not count among the actual megalithic structures. Other researchers such as Hans-Jürgen Beier joined the demarcation and count the wall chambers, stone boxes and ancient dolmen to submegalithics .

Geographical distribution of the objects

The respective number of different grave types in the former Rostock district
The respective number of different grave types in the former Schwerin district
The respective number of different types of graves in the former Neubrandenburg district

As part of a joint venture between the Institute for Prehistory and Early History of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin and the Museum for Prehistory and Early History in Schwerin, between 1965 and 1970 a total of 106 of the 1145 verifiable megalithic graves were excavated and the graves found were documented and classified. The figures show the numbers of the different types for the three former GDR districts in the area of ​​the former state of Mecklenburg including Western Pomerania .

On the basis of the different distributions of the types, Schuldt later subdivided Mecklenburg into six Neolithic type landscapes:

A. Big beds without a chamber Southwest of the former Schwerin district
B. Passage grave Northwest of the former districts of Rostock and Schwerin
C. extended dolmens or rectangular dolmens Lake landscape of the former districts of Schwerin and Neubrandenburg
D. Large dolmen with anteroom Northeast of the former district of Neubrandenburg
E. Large dolmen with vestibule Ruegen island
F. Stone boxes Southeast of the former district of Neubrandenburg

In the regions, only the polygonal pole is not a focus. He is a Danish-Schleswig-Swedish appearance.

On the basis of the technical details, Schuldt concluded that the monuments were carried out under the “guidance of a specialist or groups of specialists” (construction crew theory).

Cultures

Ewald Schuldt assumes that the Mecklenburg megalithic systems were built by the supporters of the funnel cup culture (TBK). The oldest additions were unearthed in an Urdolmen near Barendorf ( Grevesmühlen district ), a collar bottle found was dated to the end of the Early Neolithic , whereby Ewald Schuldt assumes that the finding is a first burial.

Subsequent burials of the spherical amphora culture (KAK) were found in 43 graves, most of which were dated to the later Middle Neolithic . Since these finds and those of the funnel beaker culture are not clearly separated from each other in some graves , Schuldt deliberately does not speak of subsequent burials . The KAK can be found in an ancient dolmen, in two large chambers, in ten enlarged dolmens, in 12 passage graves and in 17 large dolmens.

Subsequent burials of the individual grave culture that took place in the late Neolithic can be found in two ancient dolmens, in five enlarged dolmens, in 12 large dolmens and seven passage graves. In addition, there were nine found complexes that can be assigned to the Havelländische Kultur (also known as the Elb-Havel Group).

Ewald Schuldt explains that the funnel beaker culture and the spherical amphora culture carried out the burials on the chamber hall or a secondary hall and filled the graves. He concludes from this that there were close connections between the builders of the megalithic complexes, the TBK and the members of the KAK. The burials of the individual grave culture, on the other hand, always took place in the upper part of the filling floor of the burial chamber and access to the complex was usually established by force from above. It was therefore a question of strangers who had no connection to the grave idea of ​​the builders of the megalithic complexes.

material

When developing an architecture that corresponded to the meaning of the cult complexes in terms of building material and design, only the raw materials of the ice age deposits were available to the master builders of the megalithic complexes. The systems were created through their selection and processing. Difficulties in the distribution of the raw materials in terms of their quality and quantity had to be overcome.

Construction crew theory

According to Friedrich Laux , different "building traditions" and "building schools" are behind this dissemination. On the basis of the technical details, Ewald Schuldt concluded as early as 1972 that the monuments were carried out under the “guidance of a specialist or groups of specialists”. A religious movement was suspected early on behind these graves (JK Wächter 1841, p. 9). Similar to Christianity in only 2000 years, this could split into different sects in the course of more than 8000 years (VG Childe 1947, p. 46). The characteristics of the systems could then be determined locally, whereby one does not exclude the other.

See also

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1. Wilkau-Haßlau 1991.
  • Ingeburg Nilius: The Neolithic in Mecklenburg at the time and with special consideration of the funnel beaker culture. Museum of Prehistory and Early History, Schwerin 1971.
  • Ewald Schuldt : The Mecklenburg megalithic graves. Research on their architecture and function . Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1972 ( contributions to the prehistory and early history of the districts of Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg . 6, ISSN  0138-4279 ).
  • Märta Strömberg : The megalithic tombs of Hagestad. On the problem of grave structures and grave rites . Habelt, Bonn 1971, ISBN 3-7749-0195-3 ( Acta Archaeologica Lundensia . Series in 8 °. No. 9).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schuldt 1972, page 13
  2. ↑ Ernst Sprockhoff : Die nordische Megalithkultur , 1938, quoted in Schuldt 1972, page 10
  3. ↑ Schuldt 1972, p. 31
  4. ↑ Beier 1991, pp. 14-15
  5. ↑ Schuldt 1972, page 14
  6. ↑ Schuldt 1972, p. 106
  7. ↑ ... made it possible to establish that the monuments were erected under the guidance of specialists or groups of specialists. E. Schuldt 1972, p. 106
  8. ↑ Schuldt 1972, page 71.
  9. ↑ Schuldt 1972, p. 89
  10. ↑ Otto Gehl in Ewald Schuldt 1972, page 114
  11. ↑ “If you also come across stone chambers in a very small geographical area, the matching structural elements, e.g. B. similarly manufactured threshold stones have, yes z. Sometimes they are almost identical in size, then one is inclined to think of construction crews who wandered around in the individual partial landscapes and carried out their assignments. Their job is likely to have included the procurement of the selected building material as well as the processing of the boulders themselves ”. And: Since the construction of such chambers with the inwardly inclined wall stones requires a certain knowledge of statics, you can always count on a responsible builder who was responsible for the management.
  12. ↑ ... made it possible to establish that the monuments were erected under the guidance of specialists or groups of specialists. E. Schuldt 1972, p. 106