Steinkiste von Anderlingen

The Steinkiste von Anderlingen stands in a quiet corner of Lower Saxony, 16 kilometres south-east of Bremervörde. It was built about 3,400 years ago in the Early Bronze Age and once lay inside a large burial mound near the small river Twiste. The mound measured 25 metres across and two metres high, and was crowned by a ring of stones. In 1907 a farmer began to dig into the mound for sand and stones, uncovering the central stone cist by chance. The cist is remarkable for the carved figures on its southern end stone. Three human shapes were pecked into the surface, resembling rock carvings from south Scandinavia. Nearby, three bronze objects were found: a round-headed fibula, a shouldered axe and a dagger with rivets still holding traces of wood and leather. Experts believe the grave once held a single unburnt body, placed with these grave goods. Today the reconstructed cist sits beside the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hannover. Visitors can walk around the stone chamber and see the image of the three figures on the southern slab. The bronze finds are kept inside the museum, where the axe’s wooden shaft and the dagger’s leather sheath remain preserved. The site is peaceful, with no trace left of the original mound or the riverbank where the discovery was made.