Orientation of Trb-West Megalithic Monuments

Abstract

Funnel Beaker, or Trichterrandbecher (TRB), people introduced the Neolithic economy along with a characteristic pottery into parts of the North European Plains. I The TRB area has been divided into several groups reflecting the differences found in the material culture.' The remains found in the northern parts of the Netherlands and the northwest of Germany belong to the TRB-West Group (Figure I). These remains. have been dated in calibrated radiocarbon dates from 3400 B.C. to about 2800 B.C. 3 The TRB people built a variety of megalithic structures for burial purposes. Passage graves or GrossSteingriiber are the most common, but there are others." In a GrossSteingriib a near-rectangular chamber bordered by large orthostats forms the tomb. Dry stone fills the space between these boulders. In a number of monuments either one or two pairs of stones form a passage, and these are located in the middle of one of the long sides. The chamber is always much larger than the entrance. A tumulus covered the T-shaped megalithic structure, and on several occasions a kerb was laid surrounding this tumulus.' .' ..... FIG. I. Distribution of the megalithic monuments in the TRB-West group. Filled circles indicate measured monuments.

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“…Winter in the east. We now also understand that there is likely an integrated visual complexity connecting landscape and surrounding astronomical phenomena and that multiple targets, rather than single targets usually claimed for western Europe more readily fit the data (Hoskin 2009 -Sun;González García & Costa-Ferrer 2006, 2007. Ultimately, seasonal times are staged during the Iberian Neolithic.…”

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