Altendorf (megalithic Tomb) - Tomb Interior

Tomb Interior

The anteroom contained a bovine shoulder blade, lying on its earthen floor. The tomb chamber proper also had a simple earthen floor, but here and there it had been covered with limestone slabs. Such pavings occurred especially near the back and underneath groups of burials. Occasionally, slabs set on edge delimited small areas, one such partition contained 5 skulls of children. The dead had been placed in the tomb over time, possibly over several centuries. There were up to 4 burial layers, separated by layers of soil, stones, charcoal and rotten wood, perhaps the remains of intermediate coverings or floors. More recent depositions often damaged, moved or truncated earlier ones. There were fully articulated skeletons, fragmentary ones, piles of skulls (near the walls) and caches of other sorted bones, indicating some reorganisation of the remains after decay of their flesh had taken place. It appears that at that point, bones were often sorted according to type. Skulls were frequently stacked as piles or pyramids. 30 skulls were sitting in a row along the left wall. Intriguingly, of 8 articulated skeletons, only 2 retained the skull. As far as determninable, all bodies were placed parallel to the tomb, with their head towards the east. Some of the skeletons were associated with gravegoods. For example, an elderly man was accompanied by 5 fox jawbones, an arrowhead, a fossilised seashell, and several pierced dog teeth. A woman of over 40 years' age was found with a fox jaw, 20 pierced dog teeth and some cremated children's bones. The presence of burnt human remains is unusual in Wartberg culture tombs, with the exception of the tomb at Lohra.