A sensational discovery: Megalithic cairns and stone chambers of southern Germany

Walter Haug
Germany

Summary: 
A tentative survey of lately discovered, so far unsuspected prehistoric monuments in southern Germany is presented, which seem to belong to the Celtic period of the beginning Iron Age, but also to the Megalithic cultures. These may be compared to the Cairns of Britanny, Ireland and Scotland and to the "Hünengräber" of northern Germany and the longbarrows of Great Britain, but we also find affinities with Etruscan necropolises, dolmens and tholois and even Egyptian step pyramids. Though known for a long time and even recognizable in topographic maps, the true nature or character of these most imposing prehistoric monuments and its stone chambers has so far not been realized, because they were misunderstood as overgrown rubble heaps within ancient quarries. Quite obviously we have here unexpected evidence for cultural diffusion during the Megalithic period, and it is in this connection that also the reliability of our mainstream chronology for these times is discussed.