Denghoog
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Denghoog is a
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...
dating from around 3000 BC on the northern edge of
Wenningstedt-Braderup Wenningstedt-Braderup (Söl'ring: Woningstair-Brääderep, da, Venningsted-Brarup) is a municipality and seaside resort on the island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located north of the town of W ...
on the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
island of
Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...
. The name Denghoog derives from the
Söl'ring Sylt Frisian, or ''Söl'ring'', is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Sylt in the German region of North Frisia. ''Söl'ring'' refers to the ''Söl'ring'' Frisian word for Sylt, ''Söl''. Together with the Ferin ...
''Deng'' (
Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...
) and ''Hoog'' (Hill).


Design and construction

Denghoog is an artificial hill created in the 4th millennium BC on top of a
passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...
. The hill today has a height of around 3.5 metres and a diameter at the base of around 32 metres. The internal chamber is ellipsoid, measuring about 5 metres by 3 metres. Its roof is supported by twelve large boulders. The space between them is covered by dry stone walls made up of so-called ''Zwickelsteine''. Three huge boulders, weighing around 20 metric tons each, form the roof of about 75 cm thickness. These stones are
glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundre ...
s, carried here in the ice age from Scandinavia. The spaces between the roof stones are also filled with dry stone walling. A layer of firm blue clay, brought here from the eastern side of the island, mixed with stone fragments almost completely waterproofs the roof. Above this is a layer of yellow sand, covered by a final layer of humus. A passage of six metres length and a height of one metre leads into the chamber. Several other stone blocks were found scattered around the base of the hill. These have been interpreted as the remains of a stone circle on top of the hill.


Excavation history

The hill was first opened for archaeological research in 1868 by Ferdinand Wibel, a professor of geology. He found an undisturbed grave chamber that was divided in three sections. The eastern section was divided off by two rows of upright tiles, rising around 25 cm above the floor. The floor of the section was meticulously tiled with stone covered by a layer of small stone fragments. The western and north-western sections featured a substantial number of slab-like stones, some of which were arranged in a semi-circle. The floor of the chamber was covered by a roughly 20 cm deep layer of gray (on top) and yellow (below) sand in which were found some burial objects, remains of an unburned body and a cow's tooth. Remains of other burials were found strewn all over the chamber. Wibel found a complete pottery jar and shards of 24 other vessels,11 of which could be reassembled or completed. The largest of these, a ''Schultergefäss'' has a height of 38 cm and a diameter of 31 cm. Other burial objects included stone tools (hatchets, chisels, 20 flint blades, a pyrite bulb for making fire and two circular holed discs with a diameter of 10 to 12 cm (''Scheibenkeulen''). There were also six
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In ...
beads (one of them
labrys ''Labrys'' ( gr, , lábrus) is, according to Plutarch (''Quaestiones Graecae'' 2.302a), the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe. In Greek it was called (''pélekus''). The Ancient Greek plural of ''labrys'' is ''labryes'' (). Etymology P ...
-shaped) and fragments of a seventh bead. All of these findings are today exhibited at the ''Archäologisches Landesmuseum'' in ''Schloss Gottorf'', in
Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
. Copies of the major pieces are in the ''Sylter Heimatmuseum'' at
Keitum Keitum (Danish: ''Kejtum'', North Frisian: ''Kairem'') is a village on the North Sea island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Today, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the '' Gemeinde Sylt''. Etymology It is unclea ...
. Although Wibel exactly documented the location of the findings, there is no clear information on the layering of the individual items. It can thus only be assumed that a number of people were buried in the tomb over a longer period of time. In the past a specific period of the Neolithicum was referred to in Germany as the ''Denhoog Stufe'', named after this monument. In 1982, a new excavation was conducted by Prof. J. Reichstein of the ''Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein''. This involved examining the surroundings, remeasuring the site, creating a contour level map as well as to-scale floorplans of chamber and passage. It was discovered that the chamber had been surrounded by tiles made from
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
or
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
, assembled like a shingle roof. Two worked stones were found that had served as door wings for the passage, a rarity for this type of tomb. It was also noted that no trace could be found of
screed Screed has three meanings in building construction: # A flat board (screed board, floating screed) or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and to "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface ...
made from burned
flint stone Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tool ...
, usually a standard feature of megalithic tomb chambers. Outside the tomb, excavations revealed a set of stones that were arrayed in a funnel-shape oriented towards the passage entry. Next to it were slightly dug-in deposits of clay shards, covered by fist- to head-sized boulders. The richly ornamented pottery resembled those discovered earlier by Wibel. After the excavation was finished, the passage was restored and some of the stones forming the funnel reerected in their original position. By its shape and ornamentation, the pottery found inside the tomb indicates a date between 3200 and 3000 BC. It is likely that the Denghoog served as a burial site for a family or clan over a period spanning several generations. Archaeologist Maria Wunderlich identified four individual periods of use of the site: In the initial phase (circa 3200 to 3100 BC) a first burial took place inside the chamber, with two axes, amber and pottery. Small pits were dug next to the passage and small offerings deposited therein. The majority of burials likely took place in the second phase (3100 to 3000 BC), as indicated by numerous findings of funnelbeaker pottery and amber beads. Smashed pottery was deposited outside the structure. The third phase (3000 to 2950 BC) saw the most intensive use of the external area, with various pieces of pottery placed outside (at least six) and two within the chamber. During the fourth and final phase (2950 to 2800 BC) burials likely continued in the chamber but by that time the pits had been filled up. No further deposits took place in the entry area. Deposits of pottery and probable associated rites thus took place outside the structure over a period of around ten generations. The number of deposited vessels (at least 86) indicates more than eight deposits per generation. Inside the chamber another 23 vessels indicate a further two or three per generation. This indicates an average of one burial per decade. The larger number of deposits in the exterior area (three times the number inside the chamber) points to an institutionalized form of ancestor worship.


Today

The property was purchased in 1928 by ''Sölring Foriining'' and has been accessible to the public since that date.


Historic descriptions

Mr. W.G. Black described it as follows:— :''"There is some confusion as to King Finn's dwelling. As doctors differ, we may be allowed to claim that it was the Denghoog, close to Wenningstedt, if only because we descended into that remarkable dwelling. Externally merely a swelling green mound, like so many others in Sylt, entrance is gained by a trap-door in the roof, and descending a steep ladder, one finds himself in a subterranean chamber, some seventeen by ten feet in size [], the walls of which are twelve huge blocks of Swedish granite;[Pg 72] the height of the roof varies from five feet to six feet []. The original entrance appears to have been a long narrow passage, long and about two feet wide and high. This mound was examined by a Hamburg professor in 1868, who found remains of a fireplace, bones of a small man, some clay urns, and stone weapons. Later, a Kiel professor is said to have carried off all he found therein to Kiel Museum, and so far we have not been able to trace the published accounts of his investigations.'' Mr. Christian Jensen, of Oevenum,
Föhr Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest No ...
, gave this account of Denghoog: :''"The sketches of the Denhoog which I enclose iz., the Ground Plan and Sectional Vieware from the drawings of Professor Wibel, who conducted the excavation of it in 1868. From his and C.P. Hansen's observations I contribute the following statements: Originally, the mound was higher, but in 1868 it had the form of a truncated cone, 4½ mètres ay in height. As may be seen from the picture, it slopes away to the south above the original passage into the mound, which the dweller made use of as his entrance; so that the extent is very considerable. The present entrance, as may be seen from the view of the interior, was made from above, at the north side, directly opposite the original entrance.... Dr. Wibel says: 'At the south side of the chamber is the doorway for ingress and egress, with the passage itself leading from it. This passage, which was 6 metres 9 feet 8 inchesin length, was lined with upright blocks of granite and gneiss, with a roofing and floor made of flagstones of the same kinds of stone. It was opened up all the way to the mouth of the passage. This he outer orificelay close to the extremity of the earth and near the floor of the mound, was closed with earth only, not with a stone, and measured about 1 metre feet 3.4 inchesin height, and in breadth. On account of these dimensions ... one g 73can only creep through with difficulty, and for that reason the plan does not show with accuracy the position of the wall-slabs, and their number is merely conjectured to be nine."'' Immediately after the excavation of 17–19 September 1868, C.P. Hansen wrote as follows:— :''"'There are in the island of Sylt hillocks of ancient origin, for the most part pagan burying-places, but some of which may have served as the dwelling-places of a primitive people. One such hillock has just been opened at Wenningstedt. The interior was found to be a chamber, long, in breadth, and from 5 to 6 feet .5 to 1.8 min height, with a covered passage about long, trending southward. The walls of this underground room were composed of twelve large granite blocks, regularly arranged; the roof consisted of three still larger slabs of the same kind of rock; the stones which formed the passage were smaller. At one corner of the floor of the cellar there was a well-defined fireplace, and near it were urns and flint implements; in the opposite corner there were many bones lying, apparently unburned, probably those of the last dweller in the cavern.'"'' :''"... On the floor of the chamber, three separate divisions were distinctly visible, of which one, situated on the east side, showed traces of having been a fireplace. Professor Wibel found several fragments of human bones, which evidently belonged only to one individual, as no portion was duplicated; also a few animals' bones. There was an extraordinary number of fragments of pottery, belonging to about 24 different urns, of which 11 could be put together. Their form and ornamentation were both fine and varied, an interesting witness to the ceramics of the grey past.... Among the stone implements found were a great many flint-knives; two stone hatchets, two chisels, and a gouge, all of g 74flint, and a disc of porphyry were also obtained. Several mineral substances, quartzite, rubble-stones, gravel, ochre, a sinter-heap — these are less interesting than the seven amber beads which, with some charcoal, completes the list of objects found. Referring to former investigations of galleried mounds angbauten which seem to have been used in some cases as burying-places, in others as dwellings, Dr. Wibel observes, in answer to the question resulting from his discovery, as to whether the Denghoog ought to be regarded as a sepulchre or as a dwelling, that, as Nilsson has already said, all gallery-mounds were originally dwellings, and occasionally became utilised as tombs. In the case of the Denghoog, this fact is demonstrated by the fireplace, the scattered potsherds, the amber beads, &c."''"Der Denghoog bei Wenningstedt" in the ''Beilage zu Nr. 146 der Flensburger Nachrichten'', June 25, 1893


References


Further reading

* Christiane Hinrichsen: ''Das Neolithikum auf den Nordfriesischen Inseln'' (= ''Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie.'' Band 133). Habelt, Bonn 2006, . * K. Kersten: ''Der Denghoog von Wenningstedt''. In: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Hrsg.): ''Führer zu vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Denkmälern''. Volume 9: ''Schleswig, Haithabu, Sylt''. von Zabern, Mainz 1978, , pp. 209–225, 232–234, 238–241. * K. Kersten, P. LaBaume: ''Vorgeschichte der nordfriesischen Inseln. Die nordfriesischen Inseln Amrum, Föhr und Sylt (Kreis Südtondern)'' (= ''Die vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Denkmäler und Funde in Schleswig-Holstein.'' Band 4). Wachholtz, Neumünster 1958, p. 614–618. * A. Lenzing: ''Gerichtslinden und Thingplätze in Deutschland''. Verlag Langewiesche, Königstein i. T. 2005, . * E. Sprockhoff: ''Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands - Schleswig-Hostein''. Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1966, p. 2. * Hermann Schmidt: ''Der Denghoog in Wenningstedt auf Sylt.'' In: Nordfriesischer Verein (Hrsg.): ''„Sie reden heute noch“. Kulturstätten aus der Vergangenheit Nordfrieslands in der Obhut des Nordfriesischen Vereins.'' Husum 1975, p. 9–14
PDF; 0,7 MB
. * Ferdinand Wibel: ''Der Gangbau des Denghoogs bei Wenningstedt auf Sylt.'' (= ''29. Bericht der Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburgischen Gesellschaft für die Sammlung und Erhaltung vaterländischer Alterthümer''). Maack's, Kiel 1869
Online
. * Maria Wunderlich: ''Der Denghoog LA 85 bei Wenningstedt auf Sylt im Kontext der trichterbecherzeitlichen Gesellschaften auf den Nordfriesischen Inseln.'' In: ''Denghoog - Großeibstadt - Rastorf. Studien zu neolithischen Gräbern und Häusern'' (= ''Frühe Monumentalität und soziale Differenzierung.'' Band 5). Habelt, Bonn 2014, , p. 9–158
Online
.


External links


Söl’ring Foriining e.V. website

Flyer on (pre-)historic monuments on Sylt
{{coord, 54, 56, 25.50, N, 8, 19, 45.00, E, region:DE-SH_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC 1868 archaeological discoveries Funnelbeaker culture Sylt Nordfriesland Prehistoric sites in Germany Passage graves