Latest Fieldnotes

This is the northern of the two tombs. Since there are hardly any structures to be recognized by the underbrush, moss-grown and the strong vegetation growth, here is the description from the German Wikipedia:

This site is very similar to the other one (Holte-Lastrup 1). The burial chamber is northeast-southwest oriented and originally also had four pairs of wall stones on the long sides, two end stones and four capstones. According to Sprockhoffs reconstruction drawing it might also be a grand dolmee. In situ, only three wall stones of the northwestern and two of the southeastern long side are preserved. Inside the chamber are two broken into several fragments capstones.

Visited July 2018

This is the southern of the two tombs. Since there are hardly any structures to be recognized by the underbrush and the strong vegetation growth, here is the description from the German Wikipedia:

The tomb has an east-west oriented chamber, which is probably a grand dolmen. In its original condition, it is said to have possessed four pairs of wall stones on the long sides, one endstone each on the narrow sides and four capstones. When Ernst Sprockhoff documented the tomb in 1927, he found the western endstone, two adjoining wall stones of the north and three adjacent wall stones of the south side standing in situ. The western capstone is broken, but is still on the wall stones. The remaining three capstones are broken inside the chamber. A recent documentation has shown that the two eastern wall stones of the north side, which were assumed to be missing by Sprockhoff, are still present.

Visited July 2018

Both graves are badly damaged and hard to find. A visit is really worthwhile only if you have already visited all the other tombs in this area. In addition, you should visit the tombs rather in winter because of the strong growth of underbrush, a GPS device is absolutely necessary.

According to Wikipedia a third tomb originally located near these two sites was destroyed in the 19th century.

To find the two tombs, drive southward on the K267 from Lahden to Lastrup. About 1.8km behind Lahden turn left into Clemenskoppel and continue on this road for about 670m, until you come to junction and the fields end on the left side of the road. Park here and take the forest track, which goes in southeast direction. Walk for about 200m, both tombs are left of this track, opposite of a pond. Good luck!

Visited July 2018

Like Lahn 3 Herßum has the same kind of information board, is at least partially signposted, but it has become overgrown in the meantime, because nobody seems to care for the place anymore, which is a pity. Possibly because both sites are not part of the Route of Megalithic Culture or are a bit off the beaten track. Herßum is listed (No 19) in Mamoun Fansa’s book “Großsteingräber zwischen Weser und Ems” (ISBN 978-3-89995-626-9, 2009), so it seems that the tomb once had a greater significance.

I think the “official” signposted approach to reach the site is to drive from Holte-Lastrup on the L55 towards Herßum. After about 500m behind Holte-Lastrup turn left into Ahmsener Kirchweg, which turns northeast into a dirt road. Either drive or walk on this dirt road, first are fields left and right of the way, later forest is left hand of the way. After about 430m a signposted beaten track leads northwest into the forest, follow this track and you’ll reach the site in about 500m. I missed to turn left into Ahmsener Kirchweg and turned left the next possibility at a farm, turned left after additional 400m and arrived from the other direction.

The tomb is remarkably large and east-west oriented. The site is about 20 meters long and 7m wide, the burial chamber is about 15m long and varies from 2m in the middle to about 1.5m to both ends. Twelve capstones are still present, but all have sunk into the chamber or relocated. Only a few support stones are still in their original positions. The chamber was surrounded by an oval enclosure and lies on a small sandy elevation.

Visited July 2018

Although Lahn 3 is signposted from the road between Lahn and Wehm and although there is an information board, nobody seems to care about the site anymore. Nature demands the place back, which was occupied by the tomb for more than 5.000 years. The chamber (17.5 x 1.6 m) in an elongated mound is heavily destroyed, only single stones are preserved.

To find the site drive from Lahn to Wehn, turn left right before the forest (signposted). After about 120m a small forest track leads to the tomb, which is 80m into the wood.

Visited July 2018

taken from the information display:

The oldest and at the same time the most impressive monuments of Lower Saxony are the neolithic megalithic tombs. While today in Lower Saxony about 400 mostly only incompletely preserved tombs are known, the number of originally existing tombs was many times higher.

The extensive destruction is almost entirely due to human intervention in the last two centuries. For example, blocks of boulders, often weighing several tons, were used as building material completely or blasted for house foundations, walls, churches, roads, bridges, dykes, etc., and some were even negotiated in neighboring countries.

The scale of the destruction also illustrates the megalithic tomb Lahn (see Figures 1 and 2) of which there are only a few stones in their original position and a large part has disappeared. The rather large burial chamber, which lay in an elongated hill, had approximately 17.5 x 1.6 m internal dimensions after the reconstruction (Figure 2).

The predominantly ceramic funerary objects (cups, bowls and funnel cups, Figure 3) date the megalithic tombs into the funnel beaker culture (3500 – 2000 BC), in a later section (about 2300 – 2000 BC) of this Neolithic agricultural (single crown, emmer, dwarf wheat, barley) and cattle breeding (cattle, swine, goat, sheep) culture.

Settlement sites of the funnel beaker culture have not yet been fully investigated, but some house plans give hints to the residential buildings of that time. For example, in Wittenwater, district of Uelzen, the post pits of a 15,6 x 6 m house (Figure 4) were discovered, which was divided into several rooms and on the southern side of which a grain millstone was found and possibly a small (grain?) storage.

taken from the on site infromation board:

In the dune terrain, “Im großen Sande” is a pretty impressive megalithic tomb, which was built in a younger section of the Neolithic period (about 2300 to 1800 BC) and was used for generations.

From his blueprint, this megalithic tomb presents the typical “Emsland chambes” that are widespread in the area between the Dutch province of Drenthe in the west and the Weser in the east, which are very different from megalithic tombs in other regions: the burial chamber in east-west orientation is very long and consists of the juxtaposition of several components, the so-called yokes, each consisting of two opposing support stones and an overlying capstone. Here in Herßum there are 12 such yokes forming the 20-meter-long chamber. It is worth noting that the width of the chamber tapers from the middle to both ends: the clear width decreases from 2 meters in the middle to only 1.5 meters at the ends. Usually these chambers could be entered through a small corridor in the middle of the southern longitudinal wall, but no stones have survived from this passage. In a very narrow oval arch a stone enclosure surrounds the megalithic tomb, of which only 10 stones have been preserved. There are also a few stones missing from the existing 29 supporting stones; only a total of 6 stones are in their original place. All 12 capstones have slipped off the support stones and are inside the chamber. The absence of stones is due to explosions for the extraction of building materials in the 18th century and 19th century; in Herßum – it is said – such explosions took place in the years 1864/65. The megalithic tombs were used by a rural population over generations as burial places or ossuaries. The Neolithic people lived in village communities, where they lived in small ground-level post houses. Floor plans of such houses could be discovered during excavations in Heede and Groß Berßen. Cereals of this time were emmer, einkorn and barley. The grain stocks were stored in small storage tanks, which were probably raised to protect against vermin. Stone axes and hatchets were used for clearing forests and for woodworking. Their wooden stalks naturally did not survive in the soil. The pottery was thin-walled and well baked. As an ornament, geometric patterns had been inserted into the still unfired clay. Among the various shapes of vessels, the cup with high funnel-shaped edge is worth mentioning, which gave its name to the archaeological culture of that time: funnel beaker culture. Figure 1 shows vessels and stone axes and hatchets of this culture. In addition to agriculture and livestock, hunting continued to play a role. A variety of flint arrowheads, as shown in Figure 2, were attached to arrow shafts and were effective weapons, as shot tests have shown.

The megalithic tombs as a monumental grave architecture of this time are under the protection of the Lower Saxony Heritage Protection Law and must not be damaged.

Go to the end of the A846 at Ardbeg and go straight onto the minor road. Keep going until it ends as it heads north east. Jump over the gate and head north east, climbing slowly. After about a 1/4 mile Dun An Rubha Bhuide will be seen.

This is a tremendous fort with three lines of wall for defence and a natural harbour just to the north. Each wall is over 2m wide and on the outer, a gap which I stumbled through is probably the entrance. Like a lot of forts here, walls have been built to fill in natural defences.

Also there is, like a few other forts I visited, higher ground nearby i.e the direction I came from. So not much protection from the north, hence the walls.

But this is a beautiful place and its the end of the road (tarred).

Visited 30/7/2018.

In the forest area Fuhrenkamp, about 800m southwest of Oldendorfer Hünensteine three megalithic tombs are close together. However, all three are heavily destroyed, so that a visit is not worthwhile. Also, all three are hard to find because they are off the beaten path and you have to fight through the undergrowth to get to them. I strongly recommend to visit the tombs only with a GPS device.

Park at the B213 between Löningen and Lastrup, it is the same car park as for visting Oldendorfer Hünensteine . Walk southwest (towards Löningen) for about 275m, cross the B213 and then follow the wide forest path that leads north into the forest. After about 200m, the path forks for the first time, after 125m again, take the left path in each case. After additional 150m you have to look for noticeable hills in the woods to the right and left of the path.

During my visit, it started to rain heavily, mosquitoes came from everywhere, my pants were soaking wet due to the strong soil growth within a short time and to make matters worse, my cell phone reported that my car with all my valuables was not closed (which fortunately turned out as a false notification) and I couldn’t locked it remotely. Those are the moments where one wonders why one takes all the effort for three unremarkable megalithic tombs.

Visited July 2018

Fuhrenkamp 3 is better preserved than the other two tombs and lies south of them. Although this tomb is also heavily overgrown, one can still recognize that it must have been a chamber.

Visited July 2018

The tomb is only a few steps east of Fuhrenkamp 1. On a small hill, only four boulders are visible the remains of an approximately east-west oriented chamber.

Visited July 2018

The tomb is heavily destroyed, there are only single boulders which are lying on a hill around. Because of this finding Sprockhoff came to no clear reconstruction of the original appearance. Two burial chambers in a hill bank and an elongated burial chamber are possible.

Visited July 2018

Lahn 2 is a heavily damaged megalithic tomb. There are only 4 stones left, where the actual tomb is no longer recognizable. Two of them might be supporting stones, one is a capstone and the fourth can not be clearly assigned.

To find the tomb drive from Lahn to Wehm and turn left into the field track Ginsterweg, just before a farm. At the end of the farm you turn right from the road, between the farm and the field. Shortly before the next property the tomb lies left in the woods.

Visited July 2018

The only, if only in remnants survived megalithic tomb in Vress are the Plingenberger Steine. There are still 3 capstones (one of which is incomplete), six supporting stones and a stone of the enclosure. 1895 were probably still 15 supporting stones available. The burial chamber is oriented in northwest-southeast direction. The length has to be at least 10 meters at 2 meters width.

To get to the tomb drive from Peheim to Vrees and turn right into Gehlenberger Weg and proceed northwards. After about 2.5 km turn right into a small road and continue for another 160 m . You should notice a small information board on the right. The tomb lies 30m behind this board in the wood.

Visited July 2018

taken from the Route of Megalithic Culture information board:

This megalithic grave is a perfectly preserved treasure trove according to legend. Satan wanted to hide his treasures under the impressive capstones of this 6 x 1.5 metre chamber. Expert groups are puzzeld primarily by the enclosure because it is still undetermined whether it was rectangular or oval. But it differs distinctively from other sites in the area because of its size of 6 x 40 metres. It is said that the number of stones of this devilish monument changes constantly. However, this may easily checked by counting on site. And if one looks closely at least one inscription may be found – dated to the 20th century though.

Stüvenmühle 1 is the only surviving tomb of formerly five megalithic tombs in the district of Stüvenmühle. The tomb lies on the western edge of Visbek near the stream Aue in the garden of the residential building of the estate Stüvenmühle. It is therefore not open for the public.

When I visited the site, the owner just arrived so I asked for permission to visit the tomb. I got the permission, but was not allowed to take any pictures and had to leave my photo at the entrance. The owner accompanied me and meticulously made sure that I did not take pictures with my cell phone. She explained it to me in conversation that people kept appearing unasked in their garden, climbing over fences and damaging them. Therefore, they do not want images of the site on the internet to encourage even more people to visit the tomb.

All in all this is a nice tomb, probably only the burial chamber of a former Hunebed, the enclosure is completely missing. But please respect the wish of the landowner and ask for permission, before you visit the site.

Visited July 2018

To be honest during my visit 2018 there was not much to recognize of the megalithic tomb Bakenhus anymore, as the tomb is heavily overgrown in the meantime. During the planing of my visit I stumbled upon various images on various websites, were the tomb was show after some restoration / cleanup work 2007. It seems that since that no further maintenance work has been carried out, as the vegetation swallows the tomb now.

The tomb is nordwest-southeast oriented and spreads over 25m in a long, flat hill. Most of the support stones still seems to be present. To find the site drive from Ahlhorn on the B312 towards Wildeshausen. Right behind Ahlhorn turn left onto the K239 and drive northward for about 3.5 km. Turn right in the road Bakenhuser Esch and continue for about 165m. The tomb lies to the right in the wood, opposite of a riding facility.

It is a pity that evidently nobody cares about the tomb anymore.

Visited July 2018

Coflein has it down as a ring cairn, but Kerb cairn would be a better lable, should one be absolutely necessary. This monument has me standing on the firmest ground all day, not the actual ground, a possible ring cairn, some possible hut circles, a possible stone row and standing stone. This is definitely a cairn, it has kerb stones on the outside, standing stones protrude through its outer mound, ok,
it could be a ring cairn, but a cairn, it very much is.

In the middle is a rectangular depression with a stone in it’s side, it is the cist. The low mound that makes the ring has at least a dozen stones sticking up out of it, two of them are set side ways suggesting an entrance, all be it eight inches or so wide.
With kerb stones set into it’s circumference, a kerbed ring cairn. It could be a small embanked stone circle, with a later cist inserted. It’s better than I’m making out.

There is a lot of rocky clutter all around though making it a hard place to define, but I think I have it defined now.
The surroundings are pretty damn good. The lake sparkles in the late afternoon sun, and the mountains change colour with the passing of every cloud. Only the quarrying shenanigans gets on my nerves

The biggest most impressive hut circle here, and that’s saying something cause there’s dozens and dozens of them, some Roman, some Medieval but mostly they’re Iron age.
The circle is situated under the hillside quarry banks , I’m sure there’s a proper word for them, but seeing as they’re made by people who dig up and sell mountains i’m not going to learn it.
To be honest I’d gotten mixed up on what I was looking for here, I thought I was nearly done with only a kerb cairn to go, but it seems there was one last hut circle that needed a looking at, it was a stonker.
It wasn’t tucked away in some hilly fold, it wasn’t hiding under some outcrop, it was out in the open, on level ground where every one could see it, and they could see every one.
There is even a low hillock to stand upon and look over the circle to Moel Hebog.
The walls are, in places, a couple of feet in height, the entrance is to the north, facing the mountain.

Time has gotten away from me here like no where else, I’m now going to have to modify my plans for places elsewhere. For now, find that kerb cairn.

The east-west oriented trapezoidal eastern of the two tombs Ahlhorner Kellersteine 2 is located in a round hill of 14 m diameter. The chamber has a length of six meters. Their width decreases from 2.5 to 2.0 m. The two long sides of the chamber have four support stones. Of the formerly at least three capstones, one is still present in situ, the other was blown up and lies collapsed in the tomb.

Visited July 2018

The northwest-southeast-oriented western tomb Ahlhorner Kellersteine 1 is a trapezoidal tomb (type Emsland chamber) of eleven meters in length and a width of 3.0 to 2.3 meters. Of the once 17 support stones, 15 have been preserved, as well as all five capstones, but two of them have been dismembered. The largest capstone is 4.5 × 2.1 × 1 meter. On the south side the access to the chamber should have been located. From the original enclosure stones or the mound nothing is preserved.

Visited July 2018

West of Wildeshausen, south of the A1 autobahn there are three groups of 2 megalithic tombs each with the name affix “Kellersteine”, the Steinloger Kellersteine, the Holzhauser Kellersteine and the Ahlhorner Kellersteine described here.

You can reach the Ahlhorner Kellersteine if you continue on the Bride Path from the Visbeker Bräutigam for about 750m. You come to a crossroads at a field where two roads come from the left. Take the second one leading northeast and after 200m a sign points the way to the right to the two tombs, which are about 50m in the woods.

Visited July 2018

taken from the “Faszination Archäologie” information board:

“Ahlhorner Kellersteine”
Neolithic megalithic tomb
Dimensions Tomb I: 11 x 3 or 2 m, Tomb II; 6 x 2 or 2.5 m

The “Ahlhorner Kellersteine” have a relatively good state of preservation. The capstone of Tomb II was only blown up at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, his fragments can be considered as a memorial of wanton megalithic destruction. The term “Kellersteine” (cellar stones) is probably based on the folkloric misinterpretation of the tombs as a storage cellar for goods.

The legend of the miracle stone
(De Wunnersteen)
According to legend, one of the capstones originally bore the inscription “O wunnder, o wunner, wat ligg hier wohl unner?” (Oh wonder, oh wonder, what may lie down there?). After a long puzzling, it was said, the capstone had been raised. But you could find nothing, nothing except the inscription “Dat würd nu uck all hoge Tied, Dat ick mal keem upp de annere Siet!” (Now it’s about time that I get to the other side!)

Testimony of sedentary life
Megalithic tombs like the “Alhhorner Kellersteine” are considered the oldest surviving structures of northern Central Europe. Until the fourth millennium BC only hunters and gatherers lived in the Wildeshauser Geest. Only the “funnel beaker culture” (about 3500 – 2700 BC) settled down permanently.

They bred cattle, planted grain and lived in post constructions. Presumably, they believed in an otherworldly life and therefore built their deceased sometimes monumental graves of boulders. Those megalithic graves or megalithic tombs (Greek: mega = large, lithos = stone) were erected not for individuals, but for groups and used over many generations.

It took me a while to locate this possible stone row, even when I had I was rather doubtful that I had. Coflein says there are five stones and I only found four, they are in a line to be sure, there’s even space for a now missing stone. Still quite doubtful.

Contrastingly, I went almost straight to the little standing stone. It is definitely a standing stone, all be it a slightly diminutive example. Coflein also note its close to a field boundary and an enclosure. Thus perhaps casting some doubt as to it’s authenticity as a bronze age standing stone.

Coflein says.......A crescent shaped burnt mound with an opening adjacent to the nearby stream.Thoroughly covered in turf but made up from small stones less than 0.2m in size and visible in places. Reaching a maximum height of 0.5m above ground level the feature measures approx. 5m by 6m.

I say..... splendicular views all around, not a great site, to be sure, but it’s bronze age and obvious and it’s a good place to get your bearings from. I didnt know it at the time but from there you can see a kerb cairn with cist from here, below and closer to the lake.