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A threshold stone or sill stone (german: Schwellenstein) is a rectangularly dressed stone slab that forms part of the entrance of 
Threshold stones are typical of
Photograph of the "Mürow" megalithic tomb with its large threshold stone
Megalithic monuments
megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
The ...
ic tombs of the Funnelbeaker culture
The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (german: Trichter(-rand-)becherkultur, nl, Trechterbekercultuur; da, Tragtbægerkultur; ) was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe.
It developed as a technological merger of lo ...
, normally those with a passage. The red sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) b ...
slab, up to 0.1 metres thick, was buried in the ground to a depth of 0.2 metres at the entrance to the chamber. Cultural sites of other types, such as Domus de Janas, also have a clear partition between the passage and the ante-chamber or main chamber.
Threshold stones are typical of dolmen
A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
s, gallery grave
A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of ga ...
s and passage grave
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...
s, etc. Whilst in most simple dolmen
The simple dolmen (german: Urdolmen, literally "ancient dolmen") or primeval dolmen is an early form of dolmen or megalithic tomb that occurs especially in Northern Europe. The term was defined by archaeologist, Ernst Sprockhoff, and utilise ...
s the blocking stone (''Verschlussstein'') of the entrance side was replaced by a threshold stone of varying height, the entrance to extended dolmens and great dolmen
The great dolmen or grand dolmen (german: Großdolmen, da, Stordysse) is a type of megalithic site of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) that occurs in Nordic megalith architecture, primarily in the east of what is now German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ...
s was narrowed axially or coaxially usually to about half the width of the chamber and the lower threshold stone marked the transition in the open doorway between the passage and the chamber. In simple dolmens with no passage and an entrance opening, the threshold reaches almost half the height of the chamber and protrudes 0.5 m above the hallway floor in Grave 9 in the northern part of the Everstorf Forest. Usually, however the upper edge of the threshold is not generally higher than 0.1 metres above the level of the hall floor in dolmens. The length of the threshold in polygonal dolmen
A polygonal dolmen (german: Polygonaldolmen) is a megalithic architectural structure and often depicted as the archetypal dolmen.
Description
Five to nine supporting stones, or orthostats, shape the ground plan of the polygonal chamber. A sing ...
s and gallery and passage graves is also the width of the entrance which, in the Funnelbeaker culture, rarely exceeds 0.7 metres.
As well as separating the sacral chamber from the profane passage, the threshold stone also serves to support a door slab or sealing slab. If the passageway was used, e.g. in connexion with secondary burial
The secondary burial (German: ''Nachbestattung'' or ''Sekundärbestattung''), or “double funeral”Duday, Henri, et al. The Archaeology of the Dead: Lectures in Archaeothanatology. United Kingdom, Oxbow Books, 2009. (not to be confused with do ...
s, for cultic purposes, it was given a covering of flagstones and a second, outer threshold stone.
See also
*Nordic megalith architecture
Nordic megalith architecture is an ancient architectural style found in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia and North Germany, that involves large slabs of stone arranged to form a structure. It emerged in northern Europe, predominantly betwee ...
Literature
*Ewald Schuldt Ewald Adolf Ludwig Wilhelm Schuldt (3 January 1914 – 1 June 1987) was a German prehistorian who carried out significant research into the megaliths of northern Germany.
Life
Early years
Schuldt was born on 3 January 1914 in Mechelsdorf near ...
: ''Die mecklenburgischen Megalithgräber.'' Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaft, Berlin, 1972.
* Jürgen E. Walkowitz: ''Das Megalithsyndrom. Europäische Kultplätze der Steinzeit.'' Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach, 2003, {{ISBN, 3-930036-70-3 (''Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas''. 36).
External links
Photograph of the "Mürow" megalithic tomb with its large threshold stone
Megalithic monuments