Guardian stones
Guardian stones are exclusively used in pairs boulders at the corners of rectangular and trapezoidal hunebeds the Funnel Beaker Culture ( TBK ). Individual stones that were placed near the Belgian, Breton and Corsican megalithic hot " Menhir indicateur ".
They are found mainly in Scandinavia, in Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony (Salon grave ), Saxony -Anhalt ( Drebenstedt, Leetze, winter field) and occasionally in Holstein ( hunebeds "Age Hau "). It is strikingly large blocks that form the cornerstones of the giant bed or ante -like protruding from the phalanx and give the narrow sides of the borders a monumental appearance.
Guardian stones are typical for trapezoidal hunebeds than rectangular. In Germany you will find the most impressive surviving examples of the trapezoidal systems of Dwasieden, Dummertevitz and Nobbin on the island of Rügen.
- When Großdolmen of Dwasieden are at the wider end guard stones of 3.3 and 3.5 m height and the narrow those of 1.4 and 1.6 m.
- At the wide end of the trapezoidal bed of Nobbin guardian stones stand of 25 t of 3.3 and 3.4 m in height and a weight. The narrow end has a height of 1.5 m and weigh about six tons.
On the Mecklenburg mainland only a block on Hunebeds Kritzow, district Parchim reached such a height. The guard stones of plants in the Altmark reach up to 2.8 m height.
In some installations, you set the guardian stones so that the corner stones protrude obliquely from the phalanx. So at Urdolmen of Mrs. Mark, Parchim and the passage grave of Mellen, district Prignitz. At the passage grave of Naschendorf, Northwest Mecklenburg district all blocks of the narrow sides are concave set up so that the corners emerge. This form also shows the wider narrow side of the trapezoidal bed of Kruckow, Alt- district Demmin.
Completely detached from the phalanx of the enclosure are the guardians of stones on a number of rectangular hunebeds. The blocks are set up as ante -like extension of the long sides. Other guards stones do not occur or little from the mounts. Examples are the beds of Grevesmühlen Barendorf, Circle Northwest Mecklenburg, Barkvieren, district of Rostock and Mankmoos, district of North West Mecklenburg.
Studies on the guard stones of Dwasieden, Lancken -Granitz 1 and Nobbin revealed that the guards were not isolated stones erected by the other blocks of the mounts. Their bases located on the same level with the other stones of the enclosure and there exist / existed compounds in the form of dry stone walls to the adjoining blocks. Although it laid emphasis on particularly high guard stones, boulders came mostly only for the establishment, which had a strong footprint and thus guarantee stability (self- statics) offered. This need is reflected in a guard stone of Dwasiedener system that has no statically favorable base and knocked over how the 40 bowl show on the top.
A variant of the guard stone idea are those narrow sides of long beds, in which tower over all ( four or five ) are almost equal high stones, the height of the stones on the long sides many times, as in the Visbeker systems ( Visbeker bride and groom) is the case.
Importance
The most Nobbiner Hunebeds exposed down to virgin soil area between the guard stones yielded no evidence of a special use of the forecourt. It is striking that on the narrow sides of many megalithic large quantities of flint were found discounts, seem to have been produced on the spot, there were accumulations, in which a portion of the deductions from the same ancestral core. Such observations were also on the " guardians " of Dwasieden and Lancken -Granitz. Most impressive are the many haircuts that came to light on several clusters at the lithic blocks of the enclosure of the extended dolmen 2 of Serrahn, Circle Neustrelitz. They lay together so that their production must be carried out without a doubt the find site. Reductions in large numbers were found, however, even on a capstone of the passage tomb 1 of Gnewitz, district of Bad Doberan. None of the reductions is retouched, so they make impact waste dar. With a purpose of the Guardian Stones have to do it indirectly.