Siddernhausen Passage Grave View all content for Siddernhausen

taken from the on-site information board: At this place a megalithic tomb has been rebuilt, the remains of which were excavated in 1977 in the middle of a field on the "Steinberg" - 500 m north of the current location. Its destruction probably took place in the 17th or 18th century when the disturbing stones in the field were sunk into the ground. Furthermore, a significant part of the former building structure was lost through the removal of the stones. The excavation findings showed that the burial chamber originally consisted of 20-40 supporting stones and about 8 capstones. It had a side access so that this grave can be described as a "passage grave". The free spaces between the supporting and capstones were firmly closed with dry masonry. The entire facility was probably originally covered by a mound of earth (see reconstruction drawing). Megalithic tombs were built around 4000 years ago (2400 to 1800 BC) in the early stone age. Their distribution extends along the coastal areas of Western Europe. According to current knowledge, they are graves of a sedentary farming population from the younger Stone Age. These sites probably served as a burial place for several generations. The dead were laid on the floor of the burial chamber and equipped with their traditional jewellery, clay pots and devices for everyday use for survival after death.

Posted by Nucleus 21st December 2019ce

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