Stone circles and other ancient funeral sites in Poland

[Bonobo]

Read this short article about the biggest circle in Odry:

www.na-kaszuby.pl/interesting_places/stone_circles,en.html

Stone circles in Odry is one of the most interesting places of Poland and Europe. This place is sometimes called the archaeological reserve "Polish Stonehenge".













Stone Circles in Odry (Pomeranian Voivodeship)
Access only by car to the car park at the Kręgi Kamienne nature reserve in Odry. The parking lot (located in Google Maps as "stone circle parking" ) is free, but access to it - poorly marked - leads along dirt roads. The stone circles are located in the forest between Miedzno, Odry, Wojtal and Uroża.


It is worth planning an hour to visit the reserve. Entry during the week is possible until 17.00, at weekends - until 19.00. Entry to the Kręgi Kamienne reserve in Odry is payable . A normal ticket costs about PLN 4, a reduced ticket - about PLN 2.

These are the oldest circles in Poland, often called Polish Stonehenge . According to archaeologists, it is a Goth graveyard from the 1st century AD. During the research, traditional ornaments and Roman ceramics were excavated. The Goth tribe, originally from the territory of modern southern Sweden, inhabited the region of Pomerania for about 150 years, then, wandering along the Vistula and Bug rivers, moved to another part of the continent.

Years later, the Goths were divided into two tribes: Ostrogoths and Visigoths - we can associate them with history lessons at school, because they contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. More than 600 graves have been discovered in the barrows of 8–12 m in diameter in the reserve . There are 12 circles of different sizes and 30 mounds, the largest of which is 33 m in diameter. Around each of them, from 16 to 29 stones were placed, and one or two were placed in their center. The height of the stones varies from 20 to 70 cm.

Their age can be determined by the lichen covering them. There are about 90 species here, some are extremely rare and cannot be found elsewhere in the country. Several species of lichens come from high mountain parts. There are many myths and theories about circles. Some people believe that these are places emanating mysterious energy, and the circles were actually created many years before our era. One of the most popular theories is that 6,000 years ago there was an astronomical observatory here. Today, events promoting the culture of the Goths are held in the reserve. Interesting infrastructure was also built , including small viewing platforms, thanks to which you can see the circles from above .

www.onet.pl/turystyka/onetpodroze/gdzie-w-polsce-na-weekend-przewodnik-po-najciekawszych-miejscach/q2sg1cv,07640b54

[jeanne]

I find these stone formations to be fascinating! Here's one in my general area in the U.S.:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Stonehenge

[Bonobo]

Nov 9, 2021 0:35:00 GMT 1 jeanne said:

I find these stone formations to be fascinating!

I prefer to be more wary. How do we know if sb didn`t move or put those stones there in modern times???

[naukowiec]

I would say it looks more like Avebury than Stonehenge:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-29505170

[goulangou]

It does look like Avebury.

There are a few neolithic sites in Poland. I've visited Krzemionki and can recommend it:
krzemionki.pl/en/

[Bonobo]

www.onet.pl/turystyka/onetpodroze/gdzie-w-polsce-na-weekend-przewodnik-po-najciekawszych-miejscach/q2sg1cv,07640b54

Kuyavian pyramids (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship)
The best way to get to Wietrzychowice is by car from the side of Włocławek. Between them and the village of Śmieły, there is a forest car park (described in Google Maps as "forest car park, sheds" in Śmieły ), at which the educational trail leading to the reserve begins. The cemetery in Sarnów is less marked. The easiest way to get to the reserve is by walking along a dirt road from the bus stop in Wola Sosnowa and from there going straight into the forest. On the left side you will see the main information board.


You need at least an hour to walk along the educational trail through the cultural park , but the Kujawy pyramids are scattered over a large area, so it's worth booking time for walking. Entry to the park is not ticketed.

The Kuyavian pyramids are monuments that should be the showpiece of the region, and hardly anyone has heard about them . These are megalithic tombs built of huge boulders (the largest ones weighed up to 10 tons!), Built by shepherds and farmers from various tribes inhabiting this area in the Neolithic . Probably draft animals were used to transport the rocks.

These huge tombs are called żałka or tombs of giants. They may not have an impressive height (although originally they could have been from 3 to 5 m high), but their length in many cases exceeds 100 m. The longest pyramids were up to 150 m! A few meters from the front of the embankments, where the tombs are highest, there were stone chambers in which traces of human burials were discovered - in each chamber there were from one to several skeletons, most likely the leader of the family.

The pyramids were built in the late stages of the Younger Stone Age, around 3,000–2,200 BC. Some sources date them as even older, around 5,000 BC . years BC In total, five megalithic tombs have been preserved in Wietrzychowice, and as many as nine in the neighboring Sarnów district. There is an information board and a bench next to each building.

Research conducted in the 1930s and later at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s allows us to boldly state that the ancient inhabitants of these areas knew about medicine very well. Two of the discovered skulls show signs of healed trepanation wounds, which means that these people survived the operations performed on them, dying much later. Perhaps the patients were drugged with smoke from burnt cannabis leaves - archaeologists found seeds of this plant in the ground. Of course, however, there is no certainty about the use of this form of anesthesia.

Some of the exhibits found in tombs by scientists, such as arrows or tools, are in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź. The rest of them, huge, unfortunately was lost. In September 1939, they were transported to Warsaw by a Vistula barge, which sank. The Wietrzychowice and Sarnowo Cultural Parks were established in 2006 and 2010, respectively.

[naukowiec]

Nov 22, 2021 15:14:09 GMT 1 goulangou said:

I've visited Krzemionki and can recommend it:

Thanks for the link, it looks really interesting.