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Added February 2, 1998. Updated February 14, 2006, 15:47 - 6 GMT.

The Oldest Wagon Tracks

The oldest preserved wagon tracks known, have been discovered below a megalithic tomb at Flintbek in North Germany. The tracks were made during the last construction phase of the tomb, when the megalithic chamber (extended-dolmen) was built. It is thought that a single axle vehicle was moved back and forth as clay from the pit for the chamber construction was removed. The tomb was built during the Funnel Beaker Culture's Early Neolithic II phase. Consequently, the tracks (which were sealed by the mound that covered the chamber) should date sometime between 3600 - 3400 cal BC. Ancient carts and corduroy roads made of wooden planks have also been reported from the Federsee in South Germany.

References, Credits, Links

Baldia, M. O.

1994        Megalithic Tombs and Interregional Communication. Paper presented at the international symposium: Megaliths and Social Geography, 13-17 May, 1994, Falköping, Sweden.

 

1996        From dolmen to passage- and gallery-grave: An interregional construction analysis.

 Paper delivered 25 June 1995 at the conference on Megalithic tombs: Their Context and Construction. Kalundborg, Denmark. (Revised 1996, minor revisions 1997)

 

Hoika, J.

1998        Trade and Communication within the Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB) of the Baltic Region.

 

Zich, Bernd

1992        Ausgrabungen auf dem stein- und bronzezeitlichen Grabhügelfeld von Flintbek, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde. Ein Vorbericht. Archäologische Nachrichten aus Schleswig-Holstein, 3:6-21.

 

1994a      Die Ausgrabungen chronisch gefährdeter Hügelgräber der Stein- und Bronzezeit in Flintbek, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde: Ein Vorbericht. Offa, 49/50, 1992/93, Wachholtz, Neumünster, Schleswig-Holstein, 1994:15-31.

 

1995a      Drei Jahrtausende Siedlungsverlauf und Landausbau. Archäologie in Deutschland, 2:6-11.


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