<< Our Photo Pages >> Großer Karlstein - Chambered Tomb in Germany in Lower Saxony, Bremen
Submitted by Martin_L on Tuesday, 19 January 2010 Page Views: 5477
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Großer Karlstein Alternative Name: Sprockhoff 909, Große Karlsteine, SchluppsteinCountry: Germany Land: Lower Saxony, Bremen Type: Chambered Tomb
Nearest Town: Osnabrück Nearest Village: Haste
Latitude: 52.316970N Longitude: 8.038030E
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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DrewParsons 43559959 would like to visit
CharcoalBurner89 visited on 10th Dec 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 The forest was extensively removed around the grave. The big Karlsteine are really impressive!
Traumrealistin visited on 20th Jul 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 This place and the close by small one are a union. The so called small one was formally a large one and was destroyed. I visited the place at sun down and they had a strong atmosphere to them.
johnstone visited on 10th Sep 2016 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Martin_L have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 3.67 Access: 4
Chambers' clear length is 8,5m, the width rises from 2,5m in the West to 3m in East.
Both long-sides have preserved 4 orthostats in situ. According to Sprockhoff's research two moved stones inside the chamber also were long-side orthostats. He assumed both long-sides originally had 5 orthostats, but this cannot be clarified without an excavation. While the large orthostat of the eastern narrow side is preserved almost in situ, the western narrow side is uncertain. Probably it was built of two ashlars now out of place. The larger one seems to be moved one meter to the West.
Only the upper half of chambers' orthostats are visible. The chamber is partly embedded into the ground consisting of small boulders in and around the chamber. This could be the removed dry-walling and/or the remains of the largely destroyed barrow/cairn.
Probably as a result of dry-wallings' removal and /or several historic “excavations” [2] only the westernmost capstone is still resting on two orthostats while all others have slipped off their southern supports. The westernmost capstone measures appr. 3,6m x 2,6m x 1,1m. The easternmost capstone is even larger: 4,2m x 2,3m x 0,9m [1].
The characteristic and unusual view of the chamber originates in the use of a locally quarried lime-stone from the nearby Piesberg. The Piesberg is the heighest “mountain” in the area of Osnabrück with 188m above sea level. Its eastern slopes are located 500m to the West of the site. The use of quarried material is extremely rare at megalithic Funnel Beaker sites in Denmark, Netherlands and Germany. The reasons are the lack of quarries in most of the regions inhabitated by the FBC (TBK) and the availability of glacial erratic boulders in prehistoric times. As a result the latter were used at nearly all Funnel Beaker tombs. The smoothened sides usually face towards the interior of the chambers or when used as barrow kerb stones towards barrows' exterior. In contrast the orthostats and capstones of the Karlsteine are more like ashlars.
Legend: According to a legend the chamber was covered by a single capstone that has been destroyed by Charlemagne to symbolize the victory of christianity over the pagan religion.
Reference:
[1] Sprockhoff, Schwieger (1927) in: Körner, G. (Ed.), Sprockhoff, E. Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands, Niedersachsen-Westfalen, Rudolf Habelt Verlag GmbH, Bonn 1975, p. 122f, Tafel 46, Altasblatt 139.
[2] Schlüter, W. in Vor- und frügeschichtliche Denkmäler, Das Osnabrücker Land III, Band 44, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1979, p. 19f.
(Site description submitted by Martin_L , January 2010)
Coordinates provided by RunaStera in 2005. Runastera wrote: A journey into megalithic and mystical Germany
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