The Schalkholz Passage Grave, also known as Schalkholz-Vierth () is a

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

burial site Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period and of the

Funnelbeaker 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 V ...

in Vierth, a district of

Schalkholz Schalkholz is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north ...

in the province of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

or early

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, it was used for a

secondary burial The secondary burial (German: ''Nachbestattung'' or ''Sekundärbestattung''), or “double funeral”Duday, Henri, et al. ''The Archaeology of the Dead: Lectures in Archaeothanatology''. United Kingdom, Oxbow Books, 2009. (not to be confused with ...

site and was expanded upon. It has the

Sprockhoff number Ernst Sprockhoff (6 August 1892 – 1 October 1967) was a German prehistorian and inventor of the Sprockhoff numbering system for megalithic monuments in Germany. Life Sprockhoff was born on 6 August 1892 in Berlin. He started as a teacher before ...

139 and the site number LA 33 or Heide LA 5. The grave was archaeologically investigated in 1969 and 1970 and was afterwards moved to the nearby town of

Heide Heide (; Holsatian: ''Heid'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Dithmarschen. Population: 22,000. The German word ''Heide'' means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decide ...

. In 2021 it was moved back to Schalkholz.

References

* Duday, Henri, et al. The Archaeology of the Dead: Lectures in Archaeothanatology. United Kingdom, Oxbow Books, 2009. * Orschiedt, Jörg. "Secondary burial in the Magdalenian: the Brillenhöhle (Blaubeuren, southwest Germany)." PALEO. Revue d'archéologie préhistorique 14 (2002): 241-256. * Grünberg, J. M., et al. "Mesolithic burials—Rites, symbols and social organisation of early postglacial communities." Halle, Congresses of the State Museum for Prehistory (2016). * Haddow, Scott D., and Christopher J. Knüsel. "Skull retrieval and secondary burial practices in the Neolithic Near East: Recent insights from Çatalhöyük, Turkey." Bioarchaeology International 1.1/2 (2017): 52-71. * Redfern, Rebecca. "New evidence for Iron Age secondary burial practice and bone modification from Gussage All Saints and Maiden Castle (Dorset, England)." Oxford Journal of Archaeology 27.3 (2008): 281-301. * Weiss-Krejci, Estella. "Restless corpses:‘secondary burial’in the Babenberg and Habsburg dynasties." Antiquity 75.290 (2001): 769-780. * Tsu, Timothy Y. "Toothless ancestors, felicitous descendants: the rite of secondary burial in south Taiwan." Asian folklore studies (2000): 1-22. * Rendu, William, et al. "Evidence supporting an intentional Neandertal burial at La Chapelle-aux-Saints." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.1 (2014): 81-86. * Miles Douglass: ''Socio-Economic Aspects of Secondary Burial''. Oceania, Vol. 35. 1965. *

Märta Strömberg Märta Strömberg (1921 – 2012) was a Swedish archaeologist. Life and work Märta Strömberg was one of the first female archaeologists to enter the academic realm in Sweden. She began her career as a researcher at Lund University and stayed he ...

: ''Die Megalithgräber von Hagestad. Zur Problematik von Grabbauten und Grabriten''. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Vol. 8. Bonn and Lund, 1971. * Gowland, Rebecca, and Christopher Knusel. The social archaeology of funerary remains. Vol. 1. Oxbow Books, 2009. * Nilsson Stutz, L, Larsson, L. and Zagorska, I., 2013. The persistent presence of the dead: recent excavations at the hunter-gatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia). Antiquity, 87(338), pp. 1016-1029. {{refend

External links

Commons: Großsteingrab Schalkholz-Vierth
- collection of pictures, videos, and audio files * The Megalithic Portal
Original LocationLocation in Heide
* KuLaDig, Kultur.Landschaft.Digital
Großsteingrab Heide LA 5
* Megalithic Routes
Das Großsteingrab von Schalkholz-Vierth in Heide
Megalithic monuments in Germany

See also

References

External links