Altes Lager (Menzlin)
Stone shipsat Altes Lager Menzlin | |
Location | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,Germany |
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Coordinates | 53°52′15″N13°37′45″E/ 53.87083°N 13.62917°E |
Type | Settlement |
Site notes | |
Condition | In ruins |
Altes Lager(Germanfor "Old Camp" ) is a site 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south of the village ofMenzlinnearAnklam,Western Pomerania,Germany.The site, on the banks of the riverPeene,was an importantVikingtrading-post during theViking Age.At that time,Pomeraniawas inhabited by SlavicWends,yet several Viking trading-posts were set up along the coast (the nearest wereRalswiekto theWestandJomsborg/Wollinto the east).
The settlement covered an area of approximately 18 hectares in the 9th century. Remnants of a bridge and a cemetery have been excavated. Some artifacts found in the graves originated inIrelandand in thelands east of the Baltic.Following Scandinavian customs, the dead were buried either instone ships,i.e. ship-like graves, or withinstone circles.The graves excavated so far have been found to be the tombs of women. Most findings date back to the 9th and 10th centuries.
Name
[edit]The ancient name of the site is unknown.Altes Lager,the current name, dates back toFriedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg's 1676 siege ofAnklam.
Sources
[edit]- J. Hermann (Hrsg):Archäologie in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.Stuttgart 1989
- Ulrich Schoknecht:Menzlin: Ein frühgeschichtlicher Handelsplatz an der Peene. Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Bezirke Rostock.Schwerin und Neubrandenburg 1977
- H. Keiling:Menzlin, frühstädtisches Zentrum der Slawen mit Niederlassung skandinavischer Händler.In: H.Keiling:Archäologische Freilichtmuseum Groß Raden.Museumskatalog 7, Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Schwerin 1989