Gudensberg-Maden Grave Field — Schwalm-Eder
Maden Gudensberg gallery cluster · Odenberg Wartberg graves
Late Neolithic (Wartberg 3400–2800 BCE)·Wartberg·🇩🇪 Hesse, Schwalm-Eder, Gudensberg/Maden, Odenberg and Hahn ridge, Germany
About
About Gudensberg-Maden Grave Field — Schwalm-Eder
The Gudensberg-Maden cluster, on the basalt Odenberg plateau 15 km south of Kassel, is a Wartberg gallery grave field of at least three known 12–15 m gallery chambers (Maden I–III) and cist graves of 3400–3000 BCE around the 380-m basalt Odenberg hillfort precursor. Maden was excavated 1950s, yielding Wartberg collective burials with drilled dog teeth necklaces and cooperatively quarried basalt querns from Gudensberg basalt dome. The ridge forms the densest Wartberg grave concentration between Kassel and Fritzlar, linking the Calden and Züschen–Lohne routes.
Why it mattersCentral link in Hessian Wartberg gallery chain; basalt sourcing provenance study type.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Odenberg hilltop relation to graves — early hillfort?
Theories
- 01Gudensberg basalt quern production financed collective tomb building
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 3400–2800 BCE)
- Culture
- Wartberg
- Purpose
- Cluster of collective gallery graves for plateau farming communities
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3400 BCE
First basalt gallery graves dug on Maden loess
c.3000 BCE
Secondary use with Wartberg pottery and quern deposits
1955–58
W. H. Schwellnus excavates Maden I–II
2010
Quarry expansion triggers rescue survey Maden III
On the ground
Structures & features
51.1780° N · 9.3580° E · 250 m · 2 mapped features
Maden II Gallery Chamber
burial14-m Wartberg chamber of basalt orthostats with porthole and 25+ individuals, dog-teeth necklaces
51.1790° N · 9.3590° EOdenberg Ridge Outlook
hilltopBasalt dome 380 m with quarry pits and possible Michelsberg rampart overlooking grave field
51.1770° N · 9.3570° E