Goldbusch

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Goldbusch Goldbusch Altensien.JPG
Goldbusch

The Goldbusch is a great dolmen (German : Großdolmen), a type prehistoric grave site, that lies between Altensien and Moritzdorf on the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen. The megalithic tomb with Sprockhoff No. 508 was built between 3500 and 2800 B. C. in the New Stone Age as a megalithic site of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK).

Great dolmen type of dolmen

The great dolmen or grand dolmen is a type of megalithic site of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) that occurs in Nordic megalith architecture, primarily in the east of what is now German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and which has two different types of entrance. Neolithic monuments are features of the culture and ideology of Neolithic communities. Their evolution and function act as indicators of social development. The type of site, called Stordysse in Danish, does not follow the criteria listed below. In Germany, dolmens with three or more capstones are described as great dolmens and are divided into:

German language West Germanic language

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

Baltic Sea A sea in Northern Europe bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands

The Baltic Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, northeast Germany, Poland, Russia and the North and Central European Plain.

Contents

According to Ingrid Schmidt, "Neolithic monuments are an expression of the culture and ideology of New Stone Age communities. Their creation and function are features of social development". [1]

An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and does not necessarily relate to real groups of humans in the past. The concept of archaeological culture is fundamental to culture-historical archaeology.

Construction

The burial chamber has two side walls each formed from three large supporting stones. On these supporting uprights there were originally two capstones, only one of which has survived. On surviving capstone, 27 shallow depressions, so-called cup marks (German: Schälchen for "little bowls") may be seen. The burial chamber, which is oriented in an east-west direction, was originally completely covered by an earth mound and only accessible via a narrow passage at one end. The passage, which points to the southwest, is made of red sandstone slabs. The opposite end of the chamber to the entrance is formed by a single large stone. At comparable burial sites there is often a trapezoidal frame of individual standing stones surrounding the whole site, known as a Hünenbett. This is missing at Goldbusch, although there may have been one initially. The chamber was probably originally buried under an earth mound covered in turn with boulders.

Megalith Large stone used to build a structure or monument

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. The word megalithic describes structures made of such large stones without the use of mortar or concrete, representing periods of prehistory characterised by such constructions. For later periods, the word monolith, with an overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used.

The Buntsandstein or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsandstein predominantly consists of sandstone layers of the Lower Triassic series and is one of three characteristic Triassic units, together with the Muschelkalk and Keuper that form the Germanic Trias Supergroup.

Boulder natural rock fragment (larger than 200 mm in diameter according to ISO 14688)

In geology, a boulder is a rock fragment with size greater than 25.6 centimetres (10.1 in) in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In common usage, a boulder is too large for a person to move. Smaller boulders are usually just called rocks or stones. The word boulder is short for boulder stone, from Middle English bulderston or Swedish bullersten.

History

The grave site was constructed in the New Stone Age by the agricultural peoples of the Funnelbeaker culture and used for several centuries. The dead would have been laid out for extended periods outdoors. The bones were laid down together with the grave goods in the chamber. In the local area around the Goldbusch tomb was a large number of similar sites. On the Hagenow Map of 1829, forty three megalithic tombs are shown within and area little more than two kilometres long between Altensien and Seedorf. Of these, only the Goldbusch site, which is close to the shore of Lake Sellin has partly survived.

Funnelbeaker culture archaeological culture

The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of local neolithic and mesolithic techno-complexes between the lower Elbe and middle Vistula rivers, introducing farming and husbandry as a major source of food to the pottery-using hunter-gatherers north of this line. It was preceded by Lengyel-influenced Stroke-ornamented ware culture (STK) groups/Late Lengyel and Baden-Boleráz in the southeast, Rössen groups in the southwest and the Ertebølle-Ellerbek groups in the north.

Selliner See (Rügen) is a lake in the Vorpommern-Rügen district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. At an elevation of 0 m, its surface area is 1.38 km².

Results of the excavation

In 1969, an excavation of the Goldbusch tomb was carried out, led by Ewald Schuldt. The burial chamber was, at that time, already badly damaged. It was found that the supporting stones of the chamber were not sunk into the ground, but just rested on the surface and were fixed with stone wedges and clay, indicating a late construction, since the uprights of the early tombs were sunk deep into the ground. The capstone had slipped down into the grave chamber. Only remnants of the original grave goods were found. As well as flint arrowheads, six axes of the same material, a gouge, various shards of pottery and two decorated pottery jars were found.

Flint Cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white or brown in colour, and often has a glassy or waxy appearance. A thin layer on the outside of the nodules is usually different in colour, typically white and rough in texture. From a petrological point of view, "flint" refers specifically to the form of chert which occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Similarly, "common chert" occurs in limestone.

Axe tool or weapon

An axe is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, or helve.

See also

Literature

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

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References

  1. J. Müller In: Varia neolithica VI 2009 p. 15

Coordinates: 54°21′33″N13°40′54″E / 54.359066°N 13.681675°E / 54.359066; 13.681675