Megalithic tomb in Germany reconstructed
After more than 10 years of excavation, investigation and study, the megaliths of the Neolithic tomb on Ksterberg hill near the city of Haldensleben in central Germany, have been reconstructed as they stood when they were first built 5,500 years ago.The region of Saxony-Anhalt has the largest concentration of megalithic tombs in Central Europe, and the Haldensleben forest has the greatest number of them. The Ksterberg megalithic tomb is located in a field southwest of the town of Haldensleben. Archaeological excavations in 2010, 2012 and 2013 revealed new insights into its construction and usage over the millennia, how it was originally designed and how it was changed by the hands of humans and of time.To begin with, the Ksterberg tomb had a burial chamber 36 feet long oriented east-west. It was topped by seven capstones and 19 orthostats (upright stones). The gaps between the orthostats were filled with dry stone masonry, as was the floor of the burial chamber. The tomb was encircled by 16 megaliths six-and-a-half feet apart from each other forming an enclosure about 53 feet long and 17 feet wide. The gaps between the large stones were also filled with the same dry stone masonry as the orthostats and burial chamber. The builders leveled a small hill that was in front of the tomb and used the earth to mound the tomb up to the level of the capstones.This tomb was used for more than 2,000 years, with burials added to the chamber through the entrance in the middle of the south side of the mound complex. Then, about 3,000 years ago during the transition period from the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age, the tomb was drastically altered. The mound was partially removed and the 16 megaliths of the enclosure were removed. There is evidence that the tomb was used even after the modification. The last traces of active use date to the pre-Roman Iron Age (600-200 B.C.).Armed with this detailed information about the pre-historic monument, the city of Haldensleben worked with archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt, volunteers and heavy machinery to rearrange the fallen stones in a partial reconstruction of their original positions. A giant earth mover and crane raised the wall stones and capstones to their original locations. Dry stone walls were rebuilt by hand. The burial chamber was filled with gravel and the entrance sealed with stones.The reconstructed Ksterberg megalithic tomb was inaugurated on April 27th and is now a key stop in the 25-mile Four Million Years of Human History circular route about Haldensleben and the 50-mile bicycle path. It has also been added to the European Route of Megalithic Culture project that links together dozens of megalithic tombs in Germany, Denmark, England, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweiden. The project is a platform for museums, heritage organizations and archaeological parks to present these tombs to tourists as the great topographical and cultural landmarks that our ancient ancestors considered them to be for thousands of years.
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