Großsteingräber bei Wersen, Neolithic passage graves in Lotte, Germany.
Großsteingräber bei Wersen is a group of Neolithic burial chambers of the Funnel Beaker culture near Wersen in Lotte, North Rhine-Westphalia. Grab 1, the Kleine Sloopsteine (Sprockhoff 983), has a 7 m long, 1.5 m wide chamber with nine wall stones, one at each narrow end. Grab 2, the Große Sloopsteine (Sprockhoff 984), is an 18.5 m long chamber enclosed by a stone kerb 23.5 m long and 7.5 m wide.
The three tombs belong to the Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture; the two surviving ones carry Sprockhoff numbers 983 and 984. Pottery from the 2015 excavation dates to Brindley's stages 4–6, 3250–2860 BC, and radiocarbon dating of human bone gave 3350–2850 cal BC. The third grave was destroyed in the 19th century and its remains were rediscovered in 2017.
These burial sites reveal how early communities treated their dead as a group, reflecting their social bonds and shared beliefs about the afterlife. The way the tombs were built and used shows how important collective identity was to these societies.
The two graves lie about two kilometres apart: Grab 2 (Große Sloopsteine) is two kilometres north-northwest of Wersen, Grab 1 (Kleine Sloopsteine) about one kilometre northwest of the Halen farmstead. The Großsteingrab Osterbeck stands some 500 metres northwest of Grab 2. The chambers are open monuments in the field, so expect uneven ground and no facilities.
Researchers have worked to pinpoint the exact dates of this site by examining bone remains found in the chambers. The findings reveal that the graves were used repeatedly over several centuries by different groups of people.
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