Missunde Passage Grave View all content for Missunde

taken from the on-site information board Wikinger-Friesen-Weg: Megalithic Tomb and Funnel Beaker Culture Who were the builders of the megalithic tombs? Was it tough powerhouses or well-organized village communities? Thanks to the finds in large stone graves that have been archaeologically examined, research can now answer many questions. Often ceramic shards were found in the burial sites, which could be put together to so-called "funnel beakers". The archaeologists recognized the funnel beakers as the main form and called the people from now on the "Funnel Beaker Culture". These people were the first in northern Germany to settle down and earn their living from farming and raising livestock. They were the first farmers in our country. During the finds of many funnel beakers which were dated between 4100 and 2800 BC the megalithic tombs were only built in the short span between about 3500 to 3000 BC - exactly at the time of the first farmers. With ox power and craftsmanship, our ancestors were able to create the huge grave monuments. The grave constructions ranged from simple, closed systems for individual people to grave chambers with separate passages for up to over one hundred people. The megalithic tomb of Missunde was built as an accessible "passage grave" on a hilltop in the immediate vicinity of the Schlei. The inside of the grave could be reached via the corridor in order to undertake possible subsequent burials. Probably only the skeletons were brought in after the corpse decayed outside of the large stone grave. Subdivisions by vertical stone slabs served to separate selected bone material. One knows graves in which skulls, shoulder blades or long bones were deposited separately from one another. Initially there were numerous megalithc tombs in the area around Missunde. Here is one of the few that have been preserved.

Posted by Nucleus 22nd August 2020ce

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