Großsteingrab Bülitz
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
Photo Eduard Krause (1847-1917), Otto Schoetensack (1850-1912) · Public domainSource file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Großsteingrab Bülitz is a megalithic tomb of the Neolithic Tiefstichkeramik culture near Bülitz, a district of the town of Bismark (Altmark) in the district of Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a great dolmen (Großdolmen) and is typologically dated to between 3500 and 2800 BCE.
It lies 900 m west of Bülitz on the 'Großer Trappenberg', directly on the boundary with Beesewege, and is listed as a cultural monument (Kulturdenkmal).
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Großsteingrab Bülitz
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Other megalithic tombs lie nearby: Beesewege about 1 km to the south-west, Hohenwulsch-Friedrichsfleiß 1.8 km to the north-north-east and Kläden 2.2 km to the south-east.
The chamber is oriented north-east to south-west and consists of twelve supporting stones and one capstone, of probably three originally.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb has a mound of earth within an enclosure, reaching a height of 0.9 m. The enclosure is largely destroyed; only six stones remain, spanning a width of 9.4 m. In 1843 Johann Friedrich Danneil found it in very good condition and described it as trapezoidal, 26.7 m long and between 8.8 m and 10.0 m wide, with particularly large guardian stones (Wächtersteine).
The chamber is oriented north-east to south-west and consists of twelve supporting stones and one capstone, of probably three originally. The capstone measures 3.5 m × 2.7 m × 1.3 m. Like the enclosure, the chamber is trapezoidal; it is 5.7 m long, between 1.7 m and 2.2 m wide and 0.7 m high.
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb was first described in 1843 by Johann Friedrich Danneil. In the 19th century it was bought, like the Kläden tomb, by the cathedral canon Alexander von Levetzow in order to save it from destruction. A sandstone tablet with a now weathered inscription, leaning against the north side of the tomb, bears witness to this.
In the 1890s Eduard Krause and Otto Schoetensack made a new survey of the megalithic tombs of the Altmark. In 2003-04 all surviving tombs of the Altmark were surveyed and measured again, as a joint project of the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, the Johann-Friedrich-Danneil-Museum Salzwedel and the association 'Junge Archäologen der Altmark'.
VisitingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
Since September 2020 the tomb has been a station on the archaeological trail 'Hünengräber-Rundweg Bismark'.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Megalithic tombs of the North European Plain
Across the plain from the Netherlands to Poland, the Funnel Beaker culture left thousands of megalithic tombs. Nordic megalith architecture emerged in northern Europe mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE. Counts have risen as surveys improved: Schleswig-Holstein now reports 3,212 megalithic monuments and 958 long mounds, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 5,991 megaliths (against 648 in 2010), and Lower Saxony 1,155. Altogether 11,162 megaliths are known in these three regions, and with Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt the figure for northern Germany rises to 11,648. Denmark has 5,001 registered monuments, the Netherlands 101, Sweden 639 and Poland 18. Johannes Müller has suggested that originally more than 75,000 megaliths were built.
Monuments are classed by type: simple dolmens, extended dolmens, passage graves, great dolmens, unchambered long barrows and stone cists. The oldest are the simple dolmens, which appeared around 3500 BCE and are found across almost the whole area of Nordic megalith architecture. Their entrances were built to be reopened. A megalithic entrance had to seal the tomb, yet allow the community to gain access to the interior again, even after a long time, to perform rituals.
In the Netherlands the hunebedden were built between 3470 and 3250 BCE and used until about 2760 BCE; 54 of the original 100 survive, 52 of them in Drenthe. Poland has only 18 registered monuments, and the long barrows in parts of Poland were typically earthen rather than megalithic.
Dating combines radiocarbon dates from bone and pottery. The tombs were used by later cultures too, so a single tomb can hold remains from different periods.
When visiting, look at how the capstones sit on the supporting stones, how the entrance is built, and the frame of kerbstones around the mound.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Nordic megalith architecture, Wikipedia: Megaliths in the Netherlands, Wikipedia: Funnel beaker culture, Wikipedia: Megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
4 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 3500–2800 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for megalithic tombs in Germany; this site has not been dated itself. German stone tombs (Grosssteingraber) belong to the Nordic megalith tradition which emerged predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
Germany
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 52°39′25″ N, 11°38′45″ EFor a GPS or map app: 52.65700, 11.64590
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Großsteingrab Beesewege3500–2800 BCEPhoto: Bekmann_Taf_1.jpg : Johann Christoph Bekmann, Bernhard Ludwig Bekmann · Public domain
- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Hohenwulsch-Friedrichsfleiß3500–2800 BCE
Großsteingräber bei Kläden3500–2800 BCEPhoto: Eduard Krause (1847-1917), Otto Schoetensack (1850-1912) · Public domain
Großsteingrab Steinfeld3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Schernikau3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Späningen3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Lindstedt3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Dolchau3500–2800 BCE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q1549599wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Großsteingrab Bülitz Krause Schoetensack Foto.jpgEduard Krause (1847-1917), Otto Schoetensack (1850-1912)Public domain
- Großsteingrab Bülitz 2022 01.jpgRonny UeckermannCC BY-SA 4.0
- Großsteingrab Bülitz 2022 02.jpgRonny UeckermannCC BY-SA 4.0
- Großsteingrab Bülitz Krause Schoetensack Foto 2.jpgEduard Krause (1847-1917), Otto Schoetensack (1850-1912)Public domain
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Großsteingrab Beesewege1.0 km SW
- Großsteingrab Hohenwulsch-Friedrichsfleiß1.7 km NE
- Großsteingräber bei Kläden2.2 km SE
- Großsteingrab Steinfeld5.4 km SE
- Großsteingrab Schernikau9.0 km E
- Großsteingrab Späningen9.9 km NW
- Großsteingrab Lindstedt12 km SW
- Großsteingrab Dolchau13 km NW
- Großsteingräber bei Bretsch21 km N
- Large Stone Tombs at Dewitz21 km N
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Großsteingrab Bülitz" (German), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (German): Großsteingrab BülitzCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q1549599CC0