Altendorf Gallery Grave — Naumburg
Steinkammergrab von Altendorf · Altenburg tomb
Late Neolithic (Wartberg culture, 3400–2800 BCE)·Wartberg (Funnel Beaker–Wartberg late group)·🇩🇪 Hesse, Kassel district, Naumburg/Altenburg ridge, near Wolfhagen, Germany
About
About Altendorf Gallery Grave — Naumburg
The Altendorf grave (Wartberg culture, late Neolithic c.3400–3000 BCE), on the Altenburg ridge near Naumburg 24 km southwest of Kassel, was a 17-m gallery grave chamber 17.5 m long inside a 17 × 5 m rectangular setting, built of sandstone slabs with a distinctive two-part porthole entrance stone now in Wolfhagen Museum. Excavated 1901–07, it held collective remains of 235–250 individuals with perforated animal teeth, fox mandible and flint tools, documenting Wartberg funerary practice. Dismantled after excavation, its entrance stone and finds reconstruct a classic Hessian gallery grave type-site.
Why it mattersLargest Wartberg collective burial; defines Hessian gallery grave type.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Minimum number 235 vs ritual skull selection?
Theories
- 01Multi-generational ossuary for Altenburg hillfort farming community
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3400–3200 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic (Wartberg culture, 3400–2800 BCE)
- Culture
- Wartberg (Funnel Beaker–Wartberg late group)
- Builders
- Wartberg
- Purpose
- Collective passage/ gallery burial for farming community
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.3400 BCE
Gallery chamber erected on Altenburg loess ridge
c.3000–2800 BCE
Successive collective inhumations to ~250 individuals
1901–07
W. Jordan excavates; tomb dismantled, entrance to Wolfhagen
1954; 2007
Jordan publication; re-evaluated by R. Gleser Wartberg chronology
On the ground
Structures & features
51.2090° N · 9.2030° E · 300 m · 2 mapped features
Altendorf Porthole Entrance Stone
portalTwo-part sandstone entrance slab with 60-cm circular porthole and plug, now displayed Regional Museum Wolfhagen
51.2100° N · 9.2035° EAltendorf Chamber Floor — Collective Burial Layer
burial17.5-m chamber floor with stratified 235 individuals, animal teeth pendants and Wartberg pottery
51.2090° N · 9.2030° E