Denghoog


Denghoog is a Neolithic passage grave dating from around 3000 BC on the northern edge of Wenningstedt-Braderup on the German island of Sylt. The name Denghoog derives from the Söl'ring Deng and Hoog.

Design and construction

Denghoog is an artificial hill created in the 4th millennium BC on top of a passage grave. The hill today has a height of around 3.5 metres and a diameter at the base of around 32 metres. The internal chamber is ellipsoid, measuring about 5 metres by 3 metres. Its roof is supported by twelve large boulders. The space between them is covered by dry stone walls made up of so-called Zwickelsteine. Three huge boulders, weighing around 20 metric tons each, form the roof of about 75 cm thickness. These stones are glacial erratics, carried here in the ice age from Scandinavia. The spaces between the roof stones are also filled with dry stone walling. A layer of firm blue clay, brought here from the eastern side of the island, mixed with stone fragments almost completely waterproofs the roof. Above this is a layer of yellow sand, covered by a final layer of humus.
A passage of six metres length and a height of one metre leads into the chamber. Several other stone blocks were found scattered around the base of the hill. These have been interpreted as the remains of a stone circle on top of the hill.

Excavation history

The hill was first opened for archaeological research in 1868 by Ferdinand Wibel, a professor of geology. He found an undisturbed grave chamber that was divided in three sections. The eastern section was divided off by two rows of upright tiles, rising around 25 cm above the floor. The floor of the section was meticulously tiled with stone covered by a layer of small stone fragments. The western and north-western sections featured a substantial number of slab-like stones, some of which were arranged in a semi-circle. The floor of the chamber was covered by a roughly 20 cm deep layer of gray and yellow sand in which were found some burial objects, remains of an unburned body and a cow's tooth. Remains of other burials were found strewn all over the chamber.
Wibel found a complete pottery jar and shards of 24 other vessels,11 of which could be reassembled or completed. The largest of these, a Schultergefäss has a height of 38 cm and a diameter of 31 cm. Other burial objects included stone tools. There were also six amber beads and fragments of a seventh bead. All of these findings are today exhibited at the Archäologisches Landesmuseum in Schloss Gottorf, in Schleswig. Copies of the major pieces are in the Sylter Heimatmuseum at Keitum.
Although Wibel exactly documented the location of the findings, there is no clear information on the layering of the individual items. It can thus only be assumed that a number of people were buried in the tomb over a longer period of time.
In the past a specific period of the Neolithicum was referred to in Germany as the Denhoog Stufe, named after this monument.
In 1982, a new excavation was conducted by Prof. J. Reichstein of the Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein. This involved examining the surroundings, remeasuring the site, creating a contour level map as well as to-scale floorplans of chamber and passage. It was discovered that the chamber had been surrounded by tiles made from gneiss or quartz, assembled like a shingle roof. Two worked stones were found that had served as door wings for the passage, a rarity for this type of tomb. It was also noted that no trace could be found of screed made from burned flint stone, usually a standard feature of megalithic tomb chambers. Outside the tomb, excavations revealed a set of stones that were arrayed in a funnel-shape oriented towards the passage entry. Next to it were slightly dug-in deposits of clay shards, covered by fist- to head-sized boulders. The richly ornamented pottery resembled those discovered earlier by Wibel. After the excavation was finished, the passage was restored and some of the stones forming the funnel reerected in their original position.
By its shape and ornamentation, the pottery found inside the tomb indicates a date between 3200 and 3000 BC. It is likely that the Denghoog served as a burial site for a family or clan over a period spanning several generations.
Archaeologist Maria Wunderlich identified four individual periods of use of the site: In the initial phase a first burial took place inside the chamber, with two axes, amber and pottery. Small pits were dug next to the passage and small offerings deposited therein. The majority of burials likely took place in the second phase, as indicated by numerous findings of funnelbeaker pottery and amber beads. Smashed pottery was deposited outside the structure. The third phase saw the most intensive use of the external area, with various pieces of pottery placed outside and two within the chamber. During the fourth and final phase burials likely continued in the chamber but by that time the pits had been filled up. No further deposits took place in the entry area. Deposits of pottery and probable associated rites thus took place outside the structure over a period of around ten generations. The number of deposited vessels indicates more than eight deposits per generation. Inside the chamber another 23 vessels indicate a further two or three per generation. This indicates an average of one burial per decade. The larger number of deposits in the exterior area points to an institutionalized form of ancestor worship.

Today

The property was purchased in 1928 by Sölring Foriining and has been accessible to the public since that date.

Historic descriptions

Mr. W.G. Black described it as follows:—
Mr. Christian Jensen, of Oevenum, Föhr, gave this account of Denghoog:
:"The sketches of the Denhoog which I enclose are from the drawings of Professor Wibel, who conducted the excavation of it in 1868. From his and C.P. Hansen's observations I contribute the following statements: Originally, the mound was higher, but in 1868 it had the form of a truncated cone, 4½ mètres in height. As may be seen from the picture, it slopes away to the south above the original passage into the mound, which the dweller made use of as his entrance; so that the extent is very considerable. The present entrance, as may be seen from the view of the interior, was made from above, at the north side, directly opposite the original entrance.... Dr. Wibel says: 'At the south side of the chamber is the doorway for ingress and egress, with the passage itself leading from it. This passage, which was 6 metres in length, was lined with upright blocks of granite and gneiss, with a roofing and floor made of flagstones of the same kinds of stone. It was opened up all the way to the mouth of the passage. This lay close to the extremity of the earth and near the floor of the mound, was closed with earth only, not with a stone, and measured about 1 metre in height, and in breadth. On account of these dimensions... one can only creep through with difficulty, and for that reason the plan does not show with accuracy the position of the wall-slabs, and their number is merely conjectured to be nine."
Immediately after the excavation of 17–19 September 1868, C.P. Hansen wrote as follows:—