A Culture Route of the Council of Europe Megalithic Routes Karlssteine, Osnabrück (D) Karlssteine, Osnabrück (D) Passage grave Ekornavallen (SE) 4 5 Megalithic culture: A reminder of our common European cultural heritage Ladies and Gentlemen, The phenomenon of megalithic cultures can be found right across the European This remarkable aim would have been unthinkable without the tireless efforts of continent and in the majority of the 28 member states of the European Union. volunteers and dedicated individuals. I am deeply honoured to be patron of These cultural places, many more than 5.000 years old, reveal a common back - “Megalithic Routes e.V.”, which can help us grow closer together as Europeans. ground and serve as a reminder of our common European cultural heritage. It is I am convinced that only by knowing our common European past, we Europeans our responsibility as Europeans to guard these megalithic monuments and to may know who we are and may decide where we want to go in the future. teach the characteristics and purposes of these megalith-building cultures in order to frame this part of our history for future generations. With my best wishes, In order to raise awareness of megalithic cultures, the project “Megalithic Routes e.V.” was brought into being. The intention behind the initiative is to not only ex - plore and protect the monuments, but also to rediscover the touristic value of the findings. This idea to develop a cultural path that runs through megalithic sites in several European countries is the only one of its kind, and is of immeasurable Dr. Hans-Gert Poettering value. It is therefore for good reason that the Council of Europe rewarded this President of the European Parliament ret. Megalithic Routes is under the auspices of Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering project by officially adding it to the “Cultural Routes of the European Council”. Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 4 5 Contents Megalithic Europe 8 Megalithic Routes: Pathways to Europe’s earliest architecture 10 Astronomy and cosmology 12 Tourism offers 14 Presenting of the Megalithic Routes regions 16-37 Hunebeds in Drenthe, The Netherlands 16 The Hunebedcentrum: Follow the tracks of the hunebed builders in the Netherlands 17 The Hondsrug Geopark: The Hondsrug region Ice Age landscape in the Netherlands 18 The “Straße der Megalithkultur” in northwest Germany 20 The Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf, Germany 24 Danish megaliths 26 The first Geopark in Denmark 28 Museum Odsherred: A part of Museum West Zealand, Denmark 29 Megaliths on the Island of Møn, Denmark 30 Megaliths in the region of Falbygden, Sweden 32 The Falbygdens Museum and Megalithic Routes around Falköping, Sweden 34 Ekehagens Forntidsby: An archaeological open air museum in Sweden 35 Long barrows and stone circles in southern England 36 Imprint 6 39 7 Stockholm Edinburgh Dublin North Sea Copenhagen Baltic Sea Oder Megalithic Europe London Hamburg Big stones – literally mega-liths – were widely used by prehistoric communities Dolmens with great heavy capstones, some decorated with cup-marks, covering Amsterdam to build monuments, burial places, and sanctuaries. Many survive as enduring closed chambers are widespread around the Baltic coastlands. Along the Atlantic Berlin Atlantic Ocean and fascinating features in our modern landscapes. seaboard the portal dolmens have capstones lifted high into the air like stones Elbe Brussels that float in the sky. Larger monuments with segmented chambers are common Rhine The earliest known megalithic structure is at Göbekli Tepe (Turkey) where dec- in both areas, the deposition of burials being structured by the form of the cham - orated T-shaped pillars up to 6m tall were erected c. 9000 BC within a walled bers which were probably opened at intervals on auspicious occasions. Paris Prague sanctuary. By 5000 BC the tradition of raising great stone pillars was also prac- Danube Loire ticed in Brittany (France) where they are locally known as menhirs: one at Er Grah Most widespread across northwest Europe are the passage graves (Ganggrab) near Carnac stood 21m tall, weighed 280 tonnes, and was decorated with the with one or more centrally placed chamber that was easily accessible via a narrow Vienna image of an axe. Similar pillars of greater or lesser size were set up in many parts stone-edged passage leading though the mound. Some, for example Gavrinis Munich Bern of Europe over the succeeding millennia, some shaped to resemble human forms. (France) and Newgrange (Ireland), are richly decorated with dazzling arrays of carved motifs. In the TRB cultures of the Netherlands, north Germany, and Bordeaux Lyon Megalithic tombs, mainly built between 5000 BC and 2000 BC, represent the southern Scandinavia, passage graves usually contain rich deposits of flint axes, Milan oldest surviving indigenous architecture of northwest Europe. Round mounds are pottery, and personal ornaments associated, where they survive, with carefully Zagreb Toulouse most common in the west, long mounds in the east, reflections of contemporary deposited collections of human remains. Bologna houses for the living whose forms were copied to provide ‘houses for the dead’. Ebro Marseilles Many regional styles can be seen, but in all areas building materials were care - As well as tombs and menhirs, the megalithic tradition also includes alignments, fully chosen and attention was paid to the colour and texture of the stones used circles, and rectangles such as can be seen in Brittany, Ireland, Wales, England, Tagus at significant places in the chamber and around the mound. Careful excavation Scotland, and parts of southern Scandinavia. These date mainly to the period Lisbon Madrid Barcelona shows that some monuments were periodically remodelled, as at Flintbek 4000 BC to 2000 BC, the most internationally famous being Stonehenge in Rome (Germany) where six phases of change occurred over just three centuries. southern England. 8 Mediterranean Sea 9 Naples P Megalithic Routes: Pathways to Europe’s earliest architecture The goal of the Association Megalithic Routes is to link together the oldest routes that aim to highlight the broad spectrum of attempts by prehistoric com - monuments of Europe by cultural routes which not only lead to the megalithic munities to demonstrate and assert, even thousands of years ago, the “summit monuments but also highlight the manifold features of the surrounding land - of creation”. scape. Obviously, there is a close link between the origin of megalithic monu - ments and the history of the cultural landscape: both begin at the same time The project “Megalithic Routes” is committed to the principles of “low-impact and symbolise the early efforts of humans to make use of nature by extensive tourism” and refrains from any irreversible measures affecting the natural measures to shape the natural environment. environment when developing opportunities for tourism. Priority is given to the use of existing roads and routes as well as to the promotion of mobility in tune “Megalithic Routes” is a project in which the boundaries between the natural with nature and current social concepts such as hiking and cycling. Moreover, and cultural sciences no longer exist. For this reason, representatives of impor - museums and educational institutions such as schools and extracurricular tant European Geoparks and nature parks are members of Megalithic Routes, establishments are being encouraged to develop new possibilities for cross- in addition to specialist archaeological and tourism institutions. Together with border cooperation in the field of youth education and European exchange pro - Dolmen in Plejerup (DK) Round mound in Greving Forest (DK) Passage grave Luttra (SE) archaeologists they are active in creating and constructing attractive cultural grammes for children and young people on the subject of ‘Megalithic Roots ‘. 10 11 Astronomy and cosmology Megalithic tombs and associated monumental structures are sometimes inter - preted as observatories through which to chart the movement of celestial objects. Stonehenge was even interpreted as a computer for the prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. The reality is probably more straightforward. In some cases the ar - chitecture of specific monuments embodies a cosmological scheme such as the passage of the sun across the heavens reflecting the passage of life itself. In other cases alignments and orientations mark key moments in the ritual calendar. The chambers of the megalithic graves in northwest Germany are oriented mainly in an east-west direction and seem to be oriented towards the rising or setting points of the sun (or the moon, as proposed by some researchers) around the spring or autumn equinoxes. However, as the chambers were covered at least partially by earth mounds, the now free standing stones could not have served as sight lines. One way and another it seems that most megalithic tombs in Europe are oriented towards the movements of the sun. The entrances of many tombs in Brittany (France) are oriented towards the southeast where the sun rises during the win - ter solstice. Most of the entrances to the dolmens in Mecklenburg and northwest Germany are aligned towards the south: the highest position of the sun in the sky. And in Ireland the passage of Newgrange is illuminated by the rising sun at Karlssteine, Osnabrück (D) Newgrange (IE) the winter solstice. 12 13 Tourism offers Megalithic Routes places great emphasis on eco-friendly tourism in the form of hiking and cycling activities in the participant countries and con - siders the link between nature and culture to be especially important. Most of the offers are on a one-day basis. For more information see the websites of the individual regions and institutions as well as: www.steinzeitreise.de | www.huenenweg.de European Day of Megalithic Culture From 2014 Megalithic Routes promotes an international Day of Mega- lithic Culture. On this day there will be events in our member regions, celebrating the topic of megalithic culture and their manifestations.