Added
Figures
to
Megalithic Tombs and Interregional Communication
By
Maximilian
O. Baldia
Southern
Methodist University
Paper presented at the international symposium:
Megaliths and Social Geography, 13-17 May, 1994,
Figure 1. Location of
all tombs. The coordinates are based on the German (1:25000) topographic map
numbering system, which has been expanded to provide an equal area projection
for the entire research area. The data consists of megalithic chambers and
gallery-graves, cists, mounds with and without megalithic enclosure and
chamber, as well as large stones, with or without drill marks (cup marked
stones) and portholes, that may indicate megalithic tombs. For
Figure 2. Length and width of all chamber types (database as of 1993). Overall, chambers (first) become longer and (later) also wider through time. A mild split in density appears in chambers of ca. 7 m in length. This split is caused by the Nordic tendency to build polygonal to round chamber forms and the tendency in the Saxonian and Hercynian Zone to build long rectilinear chambers. The continuous distribution also implies an autochthonous evolution from primeval dolmen to passage- and gallery-grave.
Figure 3. Traditional Thiessen diagram - a method also known as Voroni or Dirichlet tessellation - was used to analyze the location of 4089 tombs. The underlying assumption is that individual tombs, or tomb clusters, function as central places. The polygons are assumed to define the boundaries of tribal territories. The coordinates are based on the German (1:25000) topographic map numbering system, which has been expanded to provide an equal area projection for the entire research area.
Figure 4. Tentative model for the primary lines of interregional communication based on a spatial analysis of the tomb density of 4712 sites. The data consists of megalithic chambers and gallery-graves, cists, mounds with and without megalithic enclosure and chamber, as well as large stones, with or without drill marks (cup stones) and portholes, that may indicate megalithic tombs. The coordinates are based on the German (1:25000) topographic map numbering system, which has been expanded to provide an equal area projection for the entire research area.
Figure 5. Megalithic tomb distribution in
Figure 6. Megalithic tomb distribution in
Figure 7. Model of the Falbygden communication network (Map and tomb location after Bägerfeldt 1993:212).
Figure 8. Geography of the Bohuslän and Falbygden area. Even today the roads from the West Coast and Skåne are literally funneled into the Falbygden area around Falköping by the two largest lakes in Sweden, while only a few roads lead through the marshy lake district to the north northeast. Hjo is almost directly opposite Alvastra. From Hjo Route 194 and 49 lead via Axvall to Skara and from there via Route 184 to Lindköping. From Lindköping secondary roads lead in the direction of Kållansö. Alternatively, a network of secondary roads accomplishes the same from Hjo via Falköping.
Figure
9. Sea route between southern
Figure 10. Megalithic tomb distribution on the
Figure 11. Part of
the 20-30 m wide Neolithic road flanked by four dolmen
in long-mounds, Grundoldendorf-Bliedersdorf, Kr. Staade,
Figure 12. Segment of Early Neolithic megalithic tomb alignment in the northern part of the Everstorfer Forst near Barendorf, Kr. Grevesmühlen (Tombs after Schuldt 1972: 11 Fig. 1). Heavy italic numbers inside long-mounds refer to the possible order of their construction. (Location of A41 is approximated.)
Figure 13. Primeval dolmen location near probable ford on the
Figure
14. Sequential construction of extended dolmen along
the model of the Early Neolithic road on the
Figure 15.
Establishment of a second ford in conjunction with the model
of the Neolithic road network near the
Figure 16. Model of Neolithic roads in the
Figure 17. Location of passage-graves (dots) at Karleby, Väster Götland (after Sjögren) with superimposed hypothetical roads. Dark stippled lines = probable lines of communication, light stippled line = possible line of communication. Note that the possible way, leading east from the Ålleberg, down the extremely steep slop is unlikely to have been used for wheeled transport.
Figure 18. Historical road near Häggum, lined by large stones and tombs, Falbygden as recorded in the 1790's (after Olsbo 1986 Fig. 16).
Figure 19. Location of the megalithic tombs in Falbygden, Väster Götland ( Kælas 1981, after Hyenstrand 1979 with polygons removed and the addition of one tomb near Karleby after Englund and Sjögren 1994).
Figure 20. Orientation of 786 chamber entrances. Mean = 152.001,° Median = 156.000.°
Figure
21. Model of gallery-grave communication network (map after
Kappel 1979). The Schortewitz tomb has been moved west of the
Figure 22. Box-and-Whiskers graph of nineteen C14 dates of German gallery-graves and masonry chambers, including the Dutch proto-gallery-grave of Stein, based on Beier 1991a:183a List 24. (The original standard deviations have not been evaluated.) The median is the horizontal line, which splits the ordered dates in half. The top and bottom of the central box, termed inner hinges or fences, mark the halfway point of the remaining halves of the data. The Hspread, which is comparable to the interquartile range or midrange, is the absolute value of the difference of the values between the two hinges. The inner fences are ±1.5 Hspread, the outer ±3Hspread (Wilkinson 1992:189-203). The dates within the box (inner fences) indicate the most likely building period of the tombs. The vertical lines or whiskers mark less likely dates. The oldest date of 2830±60 b.c., belonging to Stein, is indicated by the outer fence (uppermost hinge). Although it seems unlikely that this date applies to the actual construction of the tomb, this cannot be ruled out entirely. This contrast with the youngest date of 1920±100 b.c. stemming from charcoal found at Etteln. The date is marked by an asterisk, indicating an outside value that is quite likely the result of later activity, unrelated to the original construction and use of the gallery-graves.
Figure
23.
