Stone Chambers Breitscheid

Brief description

Two caves where interesting archaeological finds have been made.

Detailed description

The stone chambers are two caves in which interesting archaeological finds have been made. have been made. There is evidence of settlement in the caves since the Neolithic period, around 4400-3500 BC.

The Great Stone Chamber

The cave has been archaeologically several times. During excavations in 1898 shards of Neolithic pottery and pottery remains from the pottery remains from the Hallstatt period (ca. 450 B.C.) were came to light. Whether the cave was inhabited at this time was inhabited at this time, occasionally served as a place of refuge or whether offerings were only made here, cannot be said because of the small number of cannot be said.

The Small Stone Chamber

Contrary to its name, the Small Stone Chamber is the larger of the two caves and lies about 50 m west of the Large Stone Chamber. stone chamber. We first encounter its triangular main entrance, behind which follows a small room from which a short crawlway branches off to the right. from which a short crawlway branches off to the right. Straight ahead you reach another passage via a sloping step (be careful, it is slippery). If you are not afraid, you can go in here once and be curious where you will come out again... The archaeological exploration of this cave in autumn 1884 revealed human skeletal remains right at the entrance. the entrance. Unfortunately, it was not possible to determine exactly how many people the remains belonged to. Besides the In addition to the bones, pottery shards and iron and bronze objects were found, including bronze earrings, a glass bead and an amber bead. glass bead, an amber bead and, as a highlight, a bronze spiral neck ring. Due to its significance, the small stone chamber was named Geotope of the Year by the Hessian State Office for the Environment and Geology in 2015. Hessian Geotope of the Year.

Translated with DeepL (www.deepl.com). 

Text: GEOPARK Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus