<< Our Photo Pages >> Kleinenkneter Steine 2 - Passage Grave in Germany in Lower Saxony, Bremen
Submitted by Martin_L on Friday, 19 June 2009 Page Views: 5695
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Kleinenkneter Steine 2 Alternative Name: Große Steine II, Sprockhoff 958Country: Germany Land: Lower Saxony, Bremen Type: Passage Grave
Nearest Town: Wildeshausen Nearest Village: Kleinenkneten
Latitude: 52.862790N Longitude: 8.437221E
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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External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
CharcoalBurner89 visited on 18th Oct 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 The second megalithic grave is the first to pass on the way to the first. Confused me at first. But incredibly large grave complex!
Harald_Platta visited on 14th Dec 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
johnstone visited on 5th Sep 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
SolarMegalith visited on 1st Aug 2004 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
likecats visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
fornjotr DrewParsons Martin_L have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.4 Ambience: 4.2 Access: 4
This site is rather exceptional. Among the several thousand neolithic funnel-beaker sites in Northern Europe (esp. Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands) it is the only site where there are three passage-graves within a long-barrow enclosure. The only similar neolithic long-barrow is situated near Emmen (D43 Langgraf Emmen Schimmeres) in Drenthe, Netherlands and contains two passage-graves. Of course there are a few funnel-beaker sites, where megalithic long-barrows contain two, three or even four chambers, but in all these cases these tombs are 1- or 2 capstone chambers (dolmen or extended dolmen) not larger chambers as in this two cases. The site was excavated in 1934 and some restoration took place.
Remark: All numberings used in the following descriptions start in the West.
Enclosure:
The nearly completely preserved enclosure is orientated approximately SW-NE and measures 34 x 8m. At least 55 kerbstones are almost in situ. As usual the largest kerbstones are placed at the narrow sides. The long sides' width varies between 6m near the centre and 8m near both ends. The narrow sides probably are/were slightly rounded. Nevertheless the enclosure nowadays appears to be nearly rectangular (although this seems be a result of the partly reconstruction). Professor Sprockhoff assumed, that first there just were two passage graves (Passage grave 1 and 3) each with their own oval enclosure. Passage-grave 2 was built later between them and a joint enclosure was established.
Earthwork/Barrow:
Barrows' earthwork is largely removed.
Passage-grave 1:
Rectangular chamber built of 14 orthostats (1 on each narrow side, 6 one each long side), clear size approximately 8m x 1,8m. Lateral passage between orthostat NW3 and NW4, length 2,5m, built of 1 pair of orthostats and the adjacent pair of enclosure kerbstones. The chamber has 4 capstones. Capstone 2 was already blown into pieces, but the remaining fragments were reassembled.
Passage-grave 2:
Slightly trapezoid chamber built of 14 orthostats (1 on each narrow side, 6 one each long side), clear size approximately 5m x 1,5m. Lateral passage to the SE, length 3m, built of 2 pairs of orthostats between chamber-orthostats SE3 and SE4. Nowadays all 6 chamber-capstones are in situ, but this is a result of the reconstruction. When Sprockhoff et al. examined the site in the 1920s all capstones of this chamber were missing. Under excavation lots of grave goods were found in this chamber as it was less robbed than the other chambers.
Passage-grave 3:
Rectangular chamber built of 14 orthostats (1 on each narrow side, 6 one each long side), clear size approximately 7m x 1,8m. Lateral passage situated in the middle of the south-eastern long side, length 2,5m, built of 1 pair of orthostats and the adjacent pair of enclosure kerbstones. Only the impressive chamber-capstone 1 is preserved in situ, the other 5 capstones and the passage-capstone(s) are missing.
Remarks:
May 2009: During visit in May 2009 the site unfortunately was somewhat neglected and urgently needed some gardening. Several small trees were growing inside the enclosure and the chambers. Although the opening ceremony for the recently established “Strasse der Megalithkultur” (“Road of megalithic culture” a signposted road leading along several sites in the western part of Lower-Saxony) was held at this an the neighbouring site there obviously was not enough money to care for it
May 2010: Thanks to members of the local archaeological association "Förderverein Urgeschichtliches Zentrum Wildeshausen (UZW)" the site was perfectly gardened in 2010.
(Site description submitted by Martin_L , June 2009, update 2010, 2012)
References:
[1] Sprockhoff in: Körner, G. (Ed.), Sprockhoff, E. Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands, Niedersachsen-Westfalen, Rudolf Habelt Verlag GmbH, Bonn 1975, p. 65
[2] Rothmann, B. - www.steinzeugen.de (Excellent website covering megalithic tombs and barrows in the „Naturpark Wildeshauser Geest“, “Emsland” and other nearby regions)
RunaStera wrote in 2005:
An irregeluar shaped enclosure, 34m in length and 6 to 8m wide surrounding 3 burrial chambers. The stones of the middle chamber are proportionally smaller than those of the other two. Kleinenkneter Steine II, as well as Kleinenkneter Steine I, were excavated between 1934 and 1939. Over 10,000 pieces of pottery, some stone axes, amber beads and a small copper disc were found. This very impressive site (I made about 80 photos ;-) is located 4km south of the city of Wildeshausen in the county of Oldenburg (OL): 52° 51.77' N 008° 26.23' E
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