Rickelmann 2
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
Photo Megalithicguy · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Rickelmann 2 is a Neolithic passage grave of the Emsland chamber type (Emsländische Kammer), Sprockhoff no. 893, in the municipality of Ankum, Landkreis Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was built between 3500 and 2800 BCE as a megalithic monument of the Funnel Beaker culture (Trichterbecherkultur, TBK) and is moderately well preserved.
It now measures about 17.0 m in length and 4.0 m in width, and the chamber, about 14.8 m long, is easy to recognise.
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
Rickelmann 2
The nearby grave Rickelmann 1 lies close by, and the monument is part of the Straße der Megalithkultur.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
The grave lies on the Archaeological Trail Giersfeld (Archäologischer Wanderweg Giersfeld) in the Fürstenauer Berge, north of Ueffeln near the road L 70, directly beside the car park. It is oriented north-east to south-west. The nearby grave Rickelmann 1 lies close by, and the monument is part of the Straße der Megalithkultur.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
Most of the supporting stones are preserved in situ. Seven capstones are still present, but they have fallen or are broken. Drill holes in one stone point to recent destruction.
Of the enclosure, which originally measured about 19 × 6.5 m, only a few stones survive at the east end and on the south side. Ernst Sprockhoff (1892–1967) assumed that the grave had originally had 10 yokes.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
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.
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
5 photographs, each with its author and licence
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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°29′22″ N, 7°52′39″ EFor a GPS or map app: 52.48944, 7.87750
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.
Rickelmann 13500–2800 BCE
Giersfeld3500–2800 BCE
Großsteingrab Reinecke3500–2800 BCE
Großsteingrab Meyer3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab Westerholte3500–2800 BCE
Großsteingrab Grumfeld West3500–2800 BCE
Großsteingrab Grumfeld Ost3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic tombGroßsteingrab im Büdenfeld3500–2800 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q35747828wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Großsteingrab Rickelmann II.JPGMegalithicguyCC BY-SA 4.0
- NLD Großsteingrab Rickelmann 2 01.jpgK. Gerken, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für DenkmalpflegeCC BY-SA 4.0
- NLD Großsteingrab Rickelmann 2 02.jpgK. Gerken, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für DenkmalpflegeCC BY-SA 4.0
- NLD Großsteingrab Rickelmann 2 03.jpgC. S. Fuchs, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für DenkmalpflegeCC BY-SA 4.0
- NLD Großsteingrab Rickelmann 2 04.jpgC. S. Fuchs, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für DenkmalpflegeCC BY-SA 4.0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Rickelmann 10.3 km SE
- Giersfeld0.3 km SE
- Großsteingrab Reinecke0.3 km NE
- Großsteingrab Meyer0.5 km NE
- Großsteingrab Westerholte0.7 km W
- Großsteingrab Grumfeld West0.7 km S
- Großsteingrab Grumfeld Ost0.8 km SE
- Großsteingrab im Büdenfeld2.9 km S
- Großsteingrab Wiemelsberger Steine4.5 km S
- Großsteingrab Lintern5.4 km S
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Rickelmann 2" (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): Rickelmann 2CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q35747828CC0