Nucleus
Süpplingenburg was a burial site of the Neolithic funnel beaker culture between Süpplingenburg and Emmerstedt in Lower Saxony. Today it is located on the edge of the Sandteich in Süpplingenburg.
It is believed that the tomb consisted of five pairs of support stones. 12 stone blocks (from 14) were translocated in 1982 to the current location. A faithful reconstruction of the site was no longer possible because of their disarrangement at the place where the tomb was found.
The tomb is quite easy to visit, drive on the L644 from Süpplingenburg towards Emmerstedt. At the village you’ll pass a football field and a pond (Sandteich) on your right. There is a field track right after the pond, you leave your car there. The tomb is on the edge of the small wood between the field track and the pond, just 100m to walk.
Visited April 2019
taken from the information board:
Stones of a megalithic grave
A megalithic tomb on the Hühnenkamp, ??around 3500 BC
The stones at the Sandteich (sandy pond) of Süpplingenburg were excavated in 1977 and 1978 on a field, about 1km northeast of Süpplingenburg. The field name “Hühnenkamp” had the memory of a former megalithic tomb preserved. The stones were relocated and buried in the Middle Ages or in the modern era, since they interfered with the cultivating of the field. Only in 1976, when the plow came upon them again, the remains of the tomb were documented under the direction of the then district archaeologist H. Rötting. Of the 14 found stone blocks from the local tuber quartzite, 12 were moved to the current location. The present arrangement indicates a chamber with 5 pairs of support stones. A reconstruction of the original burial chamber was not possible due to the strong displacement of the stones.
An ornate pottery vessel from the Stone Age funnel beaker culture, a stone ax and several flint bricks salvaged during the excavation are the remainder of the former grave goods. They give an indication of the construction time around 3500 before Chr.
What is a megalithic tomb?
The monumental tombs of large stone blocks were common burial places of a large family or clan. They were sacred places where in rituals communion with the deceased was cultivated. The construction of the monuments meant a tremendous achievement for the whole settlement community.
A megalithic tomb consisted of the burial chamber and a mound that had been poured over it. This could be bounded by an outer stone enclosure.
The megalithic tomb as a traditional place
The megalithic tomb of Süpplingenburg has obviously been considered a sacred place during later periods. For example, five urns from the 3rd century AD have been found in the margins of the mound that was once piled above the chamber. They prove that Germanic settlers buried their dead in the vicinity and in the protection of the old monument.
Megalithic tombs between Dorm and Elm
Field names such as “am Hühnen” (Hühne = giant) or finds of tuber quartzite blocks on the Petersberg at the Süpplingen cemetery speak for the presence of other megalithic tombs in the vicinity of the village. Between Groß Steinum and Helmstedt once stood many of these monuments and shaped the landscape visible from afar. The Lübbensteine in Helmstedt are today the only preserved megalithic tombs in the original location in the district of Helmstedt.
You can inform yourself about the construction of monuments with the simple technical tools of the Stone Age, on the archeological trail “construction site megalithic tomb” in Groß Steinum.
Zoom of the last remaining capstone
Visited April 2019
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 04/2019
The reconstructed megaltihic tomb of Groß Steinum 1 is located east of the road from Groß Steinum to Beienrode. The chamber of the passage grave was built in 1960 at the current location of 16 stones, which were uncovered in 1951 at 200 meters away in a field. The long chamber is formed by twelve support stones and roofed by four powerful capstones (one weighs ten tons) of lignite quartzites.
Drive from Groß Steinum on the K12 towards Beienrode and taken the second field track to your right. There is a sign and a small parking lot. Walk from here towards the forest. Turn right and walk along the edge of the forest for about 300m and you’ll reach the site.
Visited April 2019
taken from the information board:
Megalithic tomb at the Dorm
Relocated and reconstructed monument, around 3500 BC
A village and its name
Powerful stone blocks from lignite quartzite such as the Wippstein in the cemetery, the Bockshornklippe above the village and the Kirchberg characterize the village of Groß Steinum. Several megalithic tombs from the Stone Age have been excavated on its boundaries. All sorts of stories tell of giants who have designed the landscape around the village with stones. Also, a giant king at the dorm is to be buried under a large stone.
A megalithic tomb near Groß Steinum
The stones of the reconstructed megalithic tomb were excavated in 1950 and 1951 200m southwest of the current location on a field. The archeological investigation by the then regional archaeologist Dr. Alfred Tode released 17 stones of a stone grave, including a capstone weighing 200 hundredweight. The stones were, however, very much shifted. Since they bothered plowing, they had been rearranged or buried again and again in modern times. Numerous scattered human bones and some potsherds were traces of the funerals from around 3500 BC.
A megalithic tomb is moving
In the cold February of 1952, the stones of the studied tomb were moved from the field to the edge of the Dorm. It was an early attempt at experimental archeology. With hard-frozen ground and lightly thickened snow cover, the locals moved the boulders on a sledge with hoists, heavy ropes, and log rolls. This was then pulled by a team of oxen to the edge of the forest. The experiment proved that it was possible to transport the stones with simple technical aids.
Reconstruction of the megalithic tomb
In 1960, the megalithic tomb was rebuilt. The excavator reconstructed a burial chamber with four capstones, 5 pairs of support stones on the long sides, 2 end stones and an entrance on one long side. Due to the strongly disturbed position of the stones of the Groß Steinum tomb a safe reconstruction was not possible. Therefore, the excavator based his reconstruction largely on the well-preserved northern grave of Lübbensteine in Helmstedt.
Megalithic tombs between Elm and Dorm
The Lübbensteine near Helmstedt are today the only megalithic tombs in the district of Helmstedt preserved at the original location. Through excavations, historical sources and field names it is known that once stood between Groß Steinum and Helmstedt a large number of such monuments, which shaped the landscape visible from afar.
Reminds me of a rattlesnake
Visited April 2019
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 04/2019
Nordsteimke was discovered in 1968 by a farmer plowing his field and excavated in 1969 by the archaeologist Franz Niquet. The grave was reconstructed in 1975 built in the village at the school center, but relocated due to expansion work in 2008 to the outskirts, where it can be visited today. However, since no final excavation report has ever been submitted and, in addition, steel and concrete were used in the reconstruction, the reconstruction can not be considered as true to the original. However, dolmens in eastern Lower Saxony are a rather rare form of a megalithic tomb.
The tomb is located in the southern part of Nordsteimke, a district of Wolfsburg, in the Steinbeker Straße next to a cycle path.
Visited April 2019
In the northwest of Großenrode you can visit a reconstruction of Großenrode I.
To get to the reconstruction, drive from Großenrode on the K425 towards Moringen. About 350m after you leave the village there is a small parking lot on the right side of the road next to a sign (“Totenhütte”).
Visited April 2019
Results of the excavations at Großenrode I (in German)
Excavated in 1988, Großenrode I represents a grave type distributed mainly in east Central Germany (“Mauerkammergrab”). One key feature of this type is a construction consisting of wood and dry stone walls. The building up of the county road 425 led between 1988 and 1990 to several emergency excavations (for the results see links below). At the southern end of Großenrode an original stone of the tomb, a replica of a stone with soul hole and an information board was set up.
Visited April 2019
According to the information board the right stone is the only remain of Großenrode I, the left stone with the soul-hole is only a replica.
Visited April 2019
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 04/2019
taken from the information board:
When Christianity finally found its way into the area of ??Salzwedel and took root, churches were to be built in the two villages of Jeggeleben and Winterfeld. When the two communities had agreed with a competent and busy church architect on the costs, he gave the construction of the church of Jeggeleben his journeyman and the church to Winterfeld his apprentice. Both the journeyman and the apprentice understood their craft and immediately began to build in sacred competition, according to their master’s commission, each of them animated by the desire to do their best and most beautifully execute their church. The apprentice had a clever mind and far exceeded the journeyman in the construction. So it could not fail that the Winterfeld church received a much more beautiful appearance than that of Jeggeleben, and the church tower to Winterfeld soon surpassed that of Jeggeleben by a considerable amount.
When the journeyman saw to Jeggeleben at his work the beautiful church tower of Winterfeld, and he had to hear how people could not sufficiently praise the apprentice because of his church architecture, the envy stirred in him, and he threw a grim hatred on him young master builder to Winterfeld. The evil thoughts were halfway to action: When one morning the journeyman again saw the towering Winterfeld church tower, he could no longer restrain himself, but he reached for the large blocks of granite which he still wanted to obstruct, and hurled them furiously high in the air in the direction of the church of Winterfeld, in order to smash it and, if possible, to crush the apprentice whom he hated. The journeyman possessed enormous physical strength, and so it was not difficult for him to throw away the big stones.
When the apprentice saw the first stone from Jeggeleben approaching the church he had built, he could easily imagine by whose hand and in what way he had thrown it. For his part, he was not lazy either, and at once began to throw stones, as those of his structure were left, and selected the little ones he could lift and throw. Thus a fierce stone battle arose between the journeyman and the apprentice, and large and small granite stones rushed, hurled with force and fury, meeting each other through the air. If the apprentice was also considerably overrun to the journeyman in the art of church construction, the journeyman was far superior to the apprentice in terms of physical strength and thus also in the skid of the stones. The apprentice’s stones flew well in the direction of the Jeggeleber church, but they fell down a long way before the village.
On the other hand, the large stones thrown by the journeyman’s massive fists flew all the way to Winterfeld; but fortunately they did not meet the church and the apprentice, but rather did not fall far from the church, in the garden of the local parish. In the parish garden of Winterfeld, the large granite blocks are still united to the Hunebed today as a beautiful monument from ancient times. Many parishioners have already played on the Hunebed stones and will still play there; because that ever a pastor will destroy the monument, is probably not to be feared.
Winterfeld is a rectangular passage grave consisting of six pairs of support stones and an trapezoidal enclosure. The current state of preservation is good, a part of the enclosure is missing, as capstones. The tomb was excavated and reconstructed several times. The enclosure is northeast-southwest orientated, the reconstructed length was at least 54 m, preserved length is still more than 26 m, width between 5.5 and at least 7.3 m. The rectangular chamber is northeast-southwest orientated and is located in the southwest part of the enclosure. It is about 7.4 m long and and 1.6 – 1,7 m wide. The reconstructed chamber consists of fourteen Support stones and one capstone. The capstone measures about 2.2 m x 1.4 m x 0.4 m.
The tomb is located in the middle of Winterfeld, east of the church, in the parish garden. It is reached by a path that starts at the square next to the voluntary fire brigade and runs along behind the fire station. Look for an information board, leave it on your left hand and look for an iron gate behind the fire brigade building. The gate is secured with a split pin and can be opened at any time to enter the parish garden and to reach the tomb.
Visited March 2019
