Calden Gallery Grave — Eckhardshausen
Galeriegrab Calden II · Calden I and II · Erdwerk Calden
Late Neolithic (Wartberg c.3400–2800 BCE; Erdwerk c.3700 BCE)·Wartberg (with Michelsberg enclosure precursor)·🇩🇪 Hesse, Kassel district, Calden, north of Kassel (Calden II near airport), Germany
About
About Calden Gallery Grave — Eckhardshausen
Calden II is one of two Wartberg gallery graves (c.3400–3000 BCE) on the Calden plateau north of Kassel, a 10-m gallery chamber of limestone slabs within a 12 × 4 m mound, adjacent to the 7-hectare Calden earthwork enclosure (c.3700 BCE) with double ditch and palisade. Excavated by J.-H. Schumann 1948 and G. Schrickel 1960s, it contained 30+ collective skulls, Tiefstich pottery and stone axes, showing Wartberg reuse of earlier enclosure periphery. The Erdwerk, one of Hesse's largest Neolithic enclosures, and its gallery graves form a ritual core of the Kassel basin.
Why it mattersOnly Wartberg enclosure+gallery grave association; defines Hessian-Michelsberg to Wartberg continuity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation of Erdwerk ditch to grave — intentional placement?
Theories
- 01Enclosure for gatherings, later graves mark ancestry of Erdwerk builders
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Erdwerk c.3700 BCE; grave c.3300 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic (Wartberg c.3400–2800 BCE; Erdwerk c.3700 BCE)
- Culture
- Wartberg (with Michelsberg enclosure precursor)
- Builders
- Wartberg
- Purpose
- Earthwork enclosure and subsequent collective gallery burial
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3700 BCE
Erdwerk double ditch and palisade built on plateau
c.3300 BCE
Gallery graves I and II erected at enclosure edge
1938; 1948
Schumann discovers Erdwerk aerial; Calden II excavated
2005
Calden gallery protected as archaeological reserve near airport
On the ground
Structures & features
51.3978° N · 9.3824° E · 260 m · 2 mapped features
Calden II Chamber
burial10-m limestone gallery chamber with two entrance stones, holding 30 skulls and Tiefstich ware
51.3978° N · 9.3825° ECalden Erdwerk Double Ditch
earthwork3700 BCE double-ditch enclosure 400 m dia., 6 m wide, palisaded, underlying the gallery graves
51.4008° N · 9.3820° E