mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== A SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF MEGALITHIC TOMBS A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of Dedman College Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Maximilian Ottmar Baldia (B.A., University of Massachusetts, Boston) (M.A. Southern Methodist University, Dallas) December 16, 1995 COPYRIGHT 1993 Maximilian Ottmar Baldia All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------- *ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS* Beginning with encouragement of my research by A. Harwood, B. Luedtke and C. Nelson, University of Massachusetts, Boston, earliest contacts with experts started in 1976. In rough order of chronology, special thanks for continued support and encouragement go to F.Maier and E.Schubert, Römisch Germanische Kommission, Frankfurt a. M.; I. Scollar, /Reinisches Landesmuseum/, Bonn; J.Hoika, /Archäologisches Landesmuseum/ Schleswig-Holstein; K. Randsborg, /Københavns Universitet/; F. Kaul, /Nationalmuseet Køpenhavn/; J. A. Bakker and the staff of IPP, /Universitait van Amsterdam/; T.Madsen, /Århus Universitet, Inst. for Forhistorisk Arkæologi, Moesgård/; K. Narr, /WestfälischeWilhelms-Universität/, the staff of /Westfälisches Landesmuseum/, especially W.Finke, Münster; E.Schuldt (deceased), Schwerin; G. Körner, H. Schirnig, /NiedersächsischesLandesmuseum/ Hannover; W. D. Tempel, Rotenburg (Wümme), U. Fischer, Frankfurt; H. Knöll (deceased), Kassel; A. Czarnetzki, /Institut für Anthropologie und Humangenetik/, Tübingen; A.Medunová-Benes^v ova, Brno Univ.; F.Laux, Helms Museum, Harburg; A. Weber, currently University of Alberta; L. Kælas, /Göteborgs Arkeologisa Museum/; M. Strömberg, /Arkeologiska Inst. och Historiska Museet/, Lund; H. Behrens, formerly Halle; T. Wis'lan'ski (deceased), Poznan'; and A. Häusler, /Univ. //Inst. für Prähistorische Archäologie/, Halle. Nicole Kremers, Walsrode, provided a special, unscheduled opportunity to inspect the /Sieben Steinhäuser/. In addition to G. Sampson's long hours of editing, J. A. Bakker and U. Fisher provided corrections and suggestions based on the original draft of the dissertation, which was defended December 7, 1993. I am grateful for the gracious intellectual support, the freely shared information, and the encouraging advice I have received over the years. Therefore, I wish to express my gratitude to the individuals and institutions without whom this research would have remained merely a dream. I am, of course, entirely responsible for the correctness of the information presented here. I also take full responsibility for the conclusions I have drawn from the megalithic tomb data. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Baldia, Maximilian Ottmar B.A., University of Massachusetts, Boston, 1976 M.A., Southern Methodist University, 1983 *A Spatial Analysis of Megalithic Tombs *Advisor: Professor C. Garth Sampson Doctor of Philosophy conferred December 16, 1995 Dissertation completed December 7, 1993[1] <#_ftn1> The 500 to 1000 year old history of megalithic tomb research and the development of archaeology are shown to be intertwined. The origin, location and orientation of nearly 5000 megalithic tombs are analyzed. The spatial analysis includes Funnel Beaker megalithic chambers, tumuli and long-mounds, as well as German gallery-graves. A typology, which reflects the enormous variability of tomb architecture, is developed and applied to the spatial and chronological distribution pattern, yielding a complex model of tomb evolution. The tombs evolved form an autochthonous ceremonial complex that must reflect the social, economic, and cultural structure of Northern Europe during part of the Neolithic and Central Europe?s Copper Age. The tombs? high visibility and accessibility in the landscape imply that prehistoric roads largely determined their location and orientations. Simultaneously, chamber entrance orientations seem to some extent to be influenced by celestial alignments. A complex communication network is inferred from the tomb distribution and orientation. The overall distribution may reflect subcultural, ?chiefly? territories. The results of the spatial analysis invite comparison with reconstructed and historic Indo-European linguistic patterns. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <010Spatial_Analysis_MEGT_TOC.htm> *TABLE OF CONTENTS * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * *DEDICATION** *The dissertation is dedicated to Maximilian H. and Keil A. Baldia. <010Spatial_Analysis_MEGT_TOC.htm> Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1] <#_ftnref1> This document is undergoing frequent revisions that go beyond the original theses.