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censorship at first targeted books that were considered to be serious including scientific and educational texts and texts that were thought to promote polish patriotism only fiction that was free of anti @@ german overtones was permitted banned literature included maps atlases and english and french @@ language publications including dictionaries several non @@ public indexes of prohibited books were created and over 1 @@ 500 polish writers were declared dangerous to the german state and culture the index of banned authors included such polish authors as adam mickiewicz juliusz słowacki stanisław wyspiański bolesław prus stefan żeromski józef ignacy kraszewski władysław reymont stanisław wyspiański julian tuwim leopold staff eliza and maria konopnicka mere possession of such books was illegal and punishable by imprisonment door @@ to @@ door sale of books was banned and bookstores which required a license to operate were either emptied out or closed |
poles were forbidden under penalty of death to own radios the press was reduced from over 2 @@ 000 publications to a few dozen all censored by the germans all pre @@ war newspapers were closed and the few that were published during the occupation were new creations under the total control of the germans such a thorough destruction of the press was unprecedented in contemporary history the only officially available reading matter was the propaganda press that was disseminated by the german occupation administration cinemas now under the control of the german propaganda machine saw their programming dominated by nazi german movies which were preceded by propaganda newsreels the few polish films permitted to be shown ( about 20 of the total programming ) were edited to eliminate references to polish national symbols as well as jewish actors and producers several propaganda films were shot in polish although no polish films were shown after 1943 as all profits from polish cinemas were officially directed toward german war production attendance was discouraged by the polish underground a famous underground slogan declared w ( only pigs attend the movies ) a similar situation faced theaters which were forbidden by the germans to produce serious spectacles indeed a number of propaganda pieces were created for theater stages hence theatrical productions were also boycotted by the underground in addition actors were discouraged from performing in them and warned that they would be labeled as collaborators if they failed to comply ironically restrictions on cultural performances were eased in jewish ghettos given that the germans wished to distract ghetto inhabitants and prevent them from grasping their eventual fate |
music was the least restricted of cultural activities probably because hans frank regarded himself as a fan of serious music in time he ordered the creation of the orchestra and symphony of the general government in its capital kraków numerous musical performances were permitted in cafes and churches and the polish underground chose to boycott only the propagandist operas visual artists including painters and sculptors were compelled to register with the german government but their work was generally tolerated by the underground unless it conveyed propagandist themes shuttered museums were replaced by occasional art exhibitions that frequently conveyed propagandist themes |
the development of nazi propaganda in occupied poland can be divided into two main phases initial efforts were directed towards creating a negative image of pre @@ war poland and later efforts were aimed at fostering anti @@ soviet antisemitic and pro @@ german attitudes |
after the soviet invasion of poland ( beginning 17 september 1939 ) that followed the german invasion that had marked the start of world war ii ( beginning 1 september 1939 ) the soviet union annexed the eastern parts ( kresy ) of the second polish republic comprising 201 @@ 015 square kilometres ( 77 @@ 612 sq mi ) and a population of 13 @@ 299 million hitler and stalin shared the goal of obliterating poland's political and cultural life so that poland would according to historian niall ferguson cease to exist not merely as a place but also as an idea |
the soviet authorities regarded service to the prewar polish state as a crime against revolution and counter @@ revolutionary activity and arrested many members of the polish intelligentsia politicians civil servants and academics as well as ordinary persons suspected of posing a threat to soviet rule more than a million polish citizens were deported to siberia many to gulag concentration camps for years or decades others died including over 20 @@ 000 military officers who perished in the katyn massacres |
the soviets quickly the annexed lands introducing compulsory collectivization they proceeded to confiscate nationalize and redistribute private and state @@ owned polish property in the process they banned political parties and public associations and imprisoned or executed their leaders as enemies of the people in line with soviet anti @@ religious policy churches and religious organizations were persecuted on 10 february 1940 the nkvd unleashed a campaign of terror against anti @@ soviet elements in occupied poland the soviets' targets included persons who often traveled abroad persons involved in overseas correspondence red cross workers refugees smugglers priests and members of religious congregations the nobility landowners wealthy merchants bankers industrialists and hotel and restaurant owners stalin like hitler worked to eliminate polish society |
the soviet authorities sought to remove all trace of the polish history of the area now under their control the name poland was banned polish monuments were torn down all institutions of the dismantled polish state including the lwów university were closed then reopened mostly with new russian directors soviet communist ideology became paramount in all teaching polish literature and language studies were dissolved by the soviet authorities and the polish language was replaced with russian or ukrainian polish @@ language books were burned even in the primary schools polish teachers were not allowed in the schools and many were arrested classes were held in belorussian lithuanian and ukrainian with a new pro @@ soviet curriculum as polish @@ canadian historian piotr noted citing british historians m r d foot and i c b dear majority of scholars believe that in the soviet occupation zone conditions were only marginally less harsh than under the germans in september 1939 many polish jews had fled east after some months of living under soviet rule some of them wanted to return to the german zone of occupied poland |
all publications and media were subjected to censorship the soviets sought to recruit polish left @@ wing intellectuals who were willing to cooperate soon after the soviet invasion the writers' association of soviet ukraine created a local chapter in lwów there was a polish @@ language theater and radio station polish cultural activities in minsk and wilno were less organized these activities were strictly controlled by the soviet authorities which saw to it that these activities portrayed the new soviet regime in a positive light and vilified the former polish government |
the soviet propaganda @@ motivated support for polish @@ language cultural activities however clashed with the official policy of russification the soviets at first intended to phase out the polish language and so banned polish from schools street signs and other aspects of life this policy was however reversed at times first before the elections in october 1939 and later after the german conquest of france in november 1940 the poles of lwów observed the 85th anniversary of adam mickiewicz's death soon however stalin decided to re @@ implement the russification policies he reversed his decision again however when a need arose for polish @@ language pro @@ soviet propaganda following the german invasion of the soviet union as a result stalin permitted the creation of polish forces in the east and later decided to create a communist people's republic of poland |
many polish writers collaborated with the soviets writing pro @@ soviet propaganda they included jerzy tadeusz boy @@ żeleński kazimierz janina jan teodor leon zuzanna ginczanka halina mieczysław stefan stanisław jerzy tadeusz juliusz kleiner jan kott karol leopold lewin anatol jerzy leon pasternak julian jerzy jerzy rawicz adolf rudnicki włodzimierz włodzimierz elżbieta anatol stern julian stryjkowski lucjan leopold wanda wasilewska stanisław wasilewski adam aleksander weintraub and bruno winawer |
other polish writers however rejected the soviet persuasions and instead published underground jadwiga jerzy jadwiga @@ beata tadeusz peiper teodor juliusz petry some writers such as władysław after collaborating with the soviets for a few months joined the anti @@ soviet opposition similarly aleksander wat initially sympathetic to communism was arrested by the soviet nkvd secret police and exiled to kazakhstan |
polish culture persisted in underground education publications even theater the polish underground state created a department of education and culture ( under stanisław lorentz ) which along with a department of labor and social welfare ( under jan stanisław jankowski and later stefan mateja ) and a department for elimination of the effects of war ( under antoni olszewski and bronisław ) became underground patrons of polish culture these departments oversaw efforts to save from looting and destruction works of art in state and private collections ( most notably the giant paintings by jan matejko that were concealed throughout the war ) they compiled reports on looted and destroyed works and provided artists and scholars with means to continue their work and their publications and to support their families thus they sponsored the underground publication ( bibuła ) of works by winston churchill and arkady fiedler and of 10 @@ 000 copies of a polish primary @@ school primer and commissioned artists to create resistance artwork ( which was then disseminated by operation n and like activities ) also occasionally sponsored were secret art exhibitions theater performances and concerts |
other important patrons of polish culture included the roman catholic church and polish aristocrats who likewise supported artists and safeguarded polish heritage ( notable patrons included cardinal adam stefan sapieha and a former politician janusz radziwiłł ) some private publishers including stefan zbigniew and the publishing house paid writers for books that would be delivered after the war |
in response to the german closure and censorship of polish schools resistance among teachers led almost immediately to the creation of large @@ scale underground educational activities most notably the secret teaching organization ( tajna organizacja ton ) was created as early as in october 1939 other organizations were created locally after 1940 they were increasingly subordinated and coordinated by the ton working closely with the underground's state department of culture and education which was created in autumn 1941 and headed by czesław creator of the ton classes were either held under the cover of officially permitted activities or in private homes and other venues by 1942 about 1 @@ 500 @@ 000 students took part in underground primary education in 1944 its secondary school system covered 100 @@ 000 people and university level courses were attended by about 10 @@ 000 students ( for comparison the pre @@ war enrollment at polish universities was about 30 @@ 000 for the 1938 / 1939 year ) more than 90 @@ 000 secondary @@ school pupils attended underground classes held by nearly 6 @@ 000 teachers between 1943 and 1944 in four districts of the general government ( centered on the cities of warsaw kraków radom and lublin ) overall in that period in the general government one of every three children was receiving some sort of education from the underground organizations the number rose to about 70 for children old enough to attend secondary school it is estimated that in some rural areas the educational coverage was actually improved ( most likely as courses were being organized in some cases by teachers escaped or deported from the cities ) compared to pre @@ war classes the absence of polish jewish students was notable as they were confined by the nazi germans to ghettos there was however underground jewish education in the ghettos often organized with support from polish organizations like ton students at the underground schools were often also members of the polish resistance |
in warsaw there were over 70 underground schools with 2 @@ 000 teachers and 21 @@ 000 students underground warsaw university educated 3 @@ 700 students issuing 64 masters and 7 doctoral degrees warsaw under occupation educated 3 @@ 000 students issuing 186 engineering degrees 18 doctoral ones and 16 jagiellonian university issued 468 masters and 62 doctoral degrees employed over 100 professors and teachers and served more than 1 @@ 000 students per year throughout poland many other universities and institutions of higher education ( of music theater arts and others ) continued their classes throughout the war even some academic research was carried out ( for example by władysław tatarkiewicz a leading polish philosopher and zenon a linguist ) nearly 1 @@ 000 polish scientists received funds from the underground state enabling them to continue their research |
the german attitude to underground education varied depending on whether it took place in the general government or the annexed territories the germans had almost certainly realized the full scale of the polish underground education system by about 1943 but lacked the manpower to put an end to it probably prioritizing resources to dealing with the armed resistance for the most part closing underground schools and colleges in the general government was not a top priority for the germans in 1943 a german report on education admitted that control of what was being taught in schools particularly rural ones was difficult due to lack of manpower transportation and the activities of the polish resistance some schools semi @@ openly taught unauthorized subjects in defiance of the german authorities hans frank noted in 1944 that although polish teachers were a mortal enemy of the german states they could not all be disposed of immediately it was perceived as a much more serious issue in the annexed territories as it hindered the process of germanization involvement in the underground education in those territories was much more likely to result in a sentence to a concentration camp |
there were over 1 @@ 000 underground newspapers among the most important were the biuletyn informacyjny of armia krajowa and rzeczpospolita of the government delegation for poland in addition to publication of news ( from intercepted western radio transmissions ) there were hundreds of underground publications dedicated to politics economics education and literature ( for example i ) the highest recorded publication volume was an issue of biuletyn informacyjny printed in 43 @@ 000 copies average volume of larger publication was 1 @@ 000 5 @@ 000 copies the polish underground also published booklets and leaflets from imaginary anti @@ nazi german organizations aimed at spreading disinformation and lowering morale among the germans books were also sometimes printed other items were also printed such as patriotic posters or fake german administration posters ordering the germans to evacuate poland or telling poles to register household cats |
the two largest underground publishers were the bureau of information and propaganda of armia krajowa and the government delegation for poland zakłady ( secret military publishing house ) of jerzy ( subordinated to the armia krajowa ) was probably the largest underground publisher in the world in addition to polish titles armia krajowa also printed false german newspapers designed to decrease morale of the occupying german forces ( as part of action n ) the majority of polish underground presses were located in occupied warsaw until the warsaw uprising in the summer of 1944 the germans found over 16 underground printing presses ( whose crews were usually executed or sent to concentration camps ) the second largest center for polish underground publishing was kraków there writers and editors faced similar dangers for example almost the entire editorial staff of the underground satirical paper na was arrested and its chief editors were executed in kraków on 27 may 1944 ( na was the longest published polish underground paper devoted to satire 20 issues were published starting in october 1943 ) the underground press was supported by a large number of activists in addition to the crews manning the printing presses scores of underground couriers distributed the publications according to some statistics these couriers were among the underground members most frequently arrested by the germans |
under german occupation the professions of polish journalists and writers were virtually eliminated as they had little opportunity to publish their work the underground state's department of culture sponsored various initiatives and individuals enabling them to continue their work and aiding in their publication novels and anthologies were published by underground presses over 1 @@ 000 works were published underground over the course of the war literary discussions were held and prominent writers of the period working in poland included among others krzysztof kamil tadeusz borowski tadeusz boy @@ żeleński maria dąbrowska tadeusz zuzanna ginczanka jarosław future nobel prize winner czesław miłosz zofia jan leopold staff kazimierz wyka and jerzy zawieyski writers wrote about the difficult conditions in the prisoner @@ of @@ war camps ( konstanty stefan leon andrzej and marian ) the ghettos and even from inside the concentration camps ( jan maria halina zofia ( ) tadeusz kazimierz andrzej jaworski and marian kubicki ) many writers did not survive the war among them krzysztof kamil wacław tadeusz boy @@ żeleński tadeusz zuzanna ginczanka juliusz kaden @@ stefan janusz korczak halina tadeusz witold ferdynand antoni włodzimierz leon kazimierz @@ and bruno schulz |
with the censorship of polish theater ( and the virtual end of the polish radio and film industry ) underground theaters were created primarily in warsaw and kraków with shows presented in various underground venues beginning in 1940 the theaters were coordinated by the secret theatrical council four large companies and more than 40 smaller groups were active throughout the war even in the gestapo's pawiak prison in warsaw and in auschwitz underground acting schools were also created underground actors many of whom officially worked mundane jobs included karol elżbieta henryk borowski wojciech władysław stefan jaracz tadeusz kantor mieczysław bohdan korzeniowski jan adam andrzej leon schiller arnold stanisława edmund maria karol wojtyła ( who later became pope john paul ii ) marian jerzy zawieyski and others theater was also active in the jewish ghettos and in the camps for polish war prisoners |
polish music including orchestras also went underground top polish musicians and directors ( adam zbigniew jan barbara zygmunt jerzy witold lutosławski andrzej panufnik piotr edmund rudnicki eugenia jerzy kazimierz maria bolesław woytowicz mira ) performed in restaurants cafes and private homes with the most daring singing patriotic ballads on the streets while evading german patrols patriotic songs were written such as the most popular song of occupied warsaw patriotic puppet shows were staged jewish musicians ( eg władysław szpilman ) and artists likewise performed in ghettos and even in concentration camps although many of them died some survived abroad like alexandre in the united states and eddie rosner and henryk wars in the soviet union |
visual arts were practiced underground as well cafes restaurants and private homes were turned into galleries or museums some were closed with their owners staff and patrons harassed arrested or even executed polish underground artists included eryk stanisław @@ stanisław ostoja @@ and konstanty maria some artists worked directly for the underground state forging money and documents and creating anti @@ nazi art ( satirical posters and caricatures ) or polish patriotic symbols ( for example ) these works were reprinted on underground presses and those intended for public display were plastered to walls or painted on them as graffiti many of these activities were coordinated under the action n operation of armia krajowa's bureau of information and propaganda in 1944 three giant ( 6 m or 20 ft ) puppets caricatures of hitler and benito mussolini were successfully displayed in public places in warsaw some artists recorded life and death in occupied poland despite german bans on poles using cameras photographs and even films were taken although it was impossible to operate an underground radio station underground auditions were recorded and introduced into german radios or loudspeaker systems underground postage stamps were designed and issued since the germans also banned polish sport activities underground sport clubs were created underground football matches and even tournaments were organized in warsaw kraków and poznań although these were usually dispersed by the germans all of these activities were supported by the underground state's department of culture |
during the warsaw uprising ( august october 1944 ) people in polish @@ controlled territory endeavored to recreate the former day @@ to @@ day life of their free country cultural life was vibrant among both soldiers and the civilian population with theaters cinemas post offices newspapers and similar activities available the 10th underground tournament of poetry was held during the uprising with prizes being weaponry ( most of the polish poets of the younger generation were also members of the resistance ) headed by antoni the home army's bureau of information and propaganda even created three newsreels and over 30 @@ 000 metres ( 98 @@ 425 ft ) of film documenting the struggle |
eugeniusz took some 1 @@ 000 photographs before he died sylwester braun some 3 @@ 000 of which 1 @@ 500 survive jerzy some 1 @@ 000 of which 600 survived |
polish artists also worked abroad outside of occupied europe arkady fiedler based in britain with the polish armed forces in the west wrote about the 303 polish fighter squadron melchior wrote about the polish contribution to the capture of monte cassino in italy other writers working abroad included jan lechoń antoni słonimski kazimierz wierzyński and julian tuwim there were artists who performed for the polish forces in the west as well as for the polish forces in the east among musicians who performed for the polish ii corps in a polska parada cabaret were henryk wars and irena anders the most famous song of the soldiers fighting under the allies was the maki na monte cassino ( the red poppies on monte cassino ) composed by feliks konarski and alfred schultz in 1944 there were also polish theaters in exile in both the east and the west several polish painters mostly soldiers of the polish ii corps kept working throughout the war including tadeusz piotr adam marian bolesław and stefan knapp |
the wartime attempts to destroy polish culture may have strengthened it instead norman davies wrote in god's playground in 1945 as a prize for untold sacrifices the attachment of the survivors to their native culture was stronger than ever before similarly close @@ knit underground classes from primary schools to universities were renowned for their high quality due in large part to the lower ratio of students to teachers the resulting culture was however different from the culture of interwar poland for a number of reasons the destruction of poland's jewish community poland's postwar territorial changes and postwar migrations left poland without its historic ethnic minorities the multicultural nation was no more |
the experience of world war ii placed its stamp on a generation of polish artists that became known as the generation of the term denotes an entire generation of poles born soon after poland regained independence in 1918 whose adolescence was marked by world war ii in their art they discovered a new poland one forever changed by the atrocities of world war ii and the ensuing creation of a communist poland |
over the years nearly three @@ quarters of the polish people have emphasized the importance of world war ii to the polish national identity many polish works of art created since the war have centered on events of the war books by tadeusz borowski adolf rudnicki henryk miron hanna krall and others films including those by andrzej wajda ( a generation ashes and diamonds a love in germany korczak katyń ) tv series ( four tank men and a dog and stakes larger than life ) music ( ) and even comic books all of these diverse works have reflected those times polish historian tomasz wrote in 1996 |
educational and training programs place special emphasis on the world war ii period and on the occupation events and individuals connected with the war are ubiquitous on tv on radio and in the print media the theme remains an important element in literature and learning in film theater and the fine arts not to mention that politicians constantly make use of it probably no other country marks anniversaries related to the events of world war ii so often or so solemnly |
the arihant class ( sanskrit for killer of enemies ) is a class of nuclear @@ powered ballistic missile submarines being built for the indian navy they were developed under the us $ 2 @@ 9 billion advanced technology vessel ( atv ) project to design and build nuclear @@ powered submarines |
the lead vessel of the class ins arihant was launched in 2009 and after extensive sea trials was confirmed as ready for operations on 23 february 2016 arihant is the first ballistic missile submarine to have been built by a country other than one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council |
in december 1971 during the indo @@ pakistani war of 1971 the us president richard nixon sent a carrier battle group named task force 74 led by the nuclear @@ powered uss enterprise into the bay of bengal in an attempt to intimidate india in response the soviet union sent a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from vladivostok to trail the us task force the event demonstrated the significance of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile submarines to then prime minister indira gandhi following the 1974 smiling buddha nuclear test the director of marine engineering ( dme ) at naval headquarters initiated a technical feasibility study for an indigenous nuclear propulsion system ( project 932 ) |
the indian navy's advanced technology vessel project to design and construct a nuclear submarine took shape in the 1990s then defence minister george fernandes confirmed the project in 1998 the initial intent of the project was to design nuclear @@ powered fast attack submarines though following nuclear tests conducted by india in 1998 at pokhran test range and the indian pledge of no first use the project was re @@ aligned towards the design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to complete india's nuclear triad |
the arihant @@ class submarines are nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines built under the advanced technology vessel ( atv ) project they will be the first nuclear submarines designed and built by india the submarines are 112 m ( 367 ft ) long with a beam of 11 m ( 36 ft ) a draught of 10 m ( 33 ft ) displacement of 6 @@ 000 tonnes ( 5 @@ 900 long tons 6 @@ 600 short tons ) and a diving depth of 300 m ( 980 ft ) the complement is about 95 including officers and sailors the boats are powered by a single seven blade propeller powered by an 83 mw ( 111 @@ 000 hp ) pressurised water reactor and can achieve a maximum speed of 12 15 knots ( 22 28 km / h ) when surfaced and 24 knots ( 44 km / h ) when submerged |
the submarines have four launch tubes in their hump and can carry up to 12 k @@ 15 missiles with one warhead each ( with a range of 750 km or 470 mi ) or 4 k @@ 4 missiles ( with a range of 3 @@ 500 km or 2 @@ 200 mi ) the submarines are similar to the akula @@ class submarine of russia the indian navy will train on ins chakra an akula @@ class submarine leased from russia in 2012 |
the submarines are powered by a pressurised water reactor with highly enriched uranium fuel the miniaturized version of the reactor was designed and built by the bhabha atomic research centre ( barc ) at the indira gandhi centre for atomic research ( ) in kalpakkam it included a 42 @@ metre ( 138 ft ) section of the submarine's pressure hull containing the shielding tank with water and the reactor a control room as well as an auxiliary control room for monitoring safety parameters the prototype reactor became critical on 11 november 2003 and was declared operational on 22 september 2006 successful operation of the prototype for three years enabled the production version of the reactor for arihant the reactor subsystems were tested at the machinery test center in visakhapatnam facilities for loading and replacing the fuel cores of the naval reactors in berthed submarines were also established |
the detailed engineering of the design was implemented at larsen & toubro's submarine design center at their shipbuilding facility tata power sed built the control systems for the submarine the steam turbines and associated systems integrated with the reactor were supplied by industries the lead vessel underwent a long and extensive process of testing after its launch in july 2009 the propulsion and power systems were tested with high @@ pressure steam trials followed by harbor @@ acceptance trials that included submersion tests by flooding its ballast tanks and controlled dives to limited depths ins arihant's reactor went critical for the first time on 10 august 2013 on 13 december 2014 the submarine set off for its extensive sea trials |
exact number of planned submarines remains unclear according to media reports about three to six submarines are planned to be built the first boat of the class ins arihant is expected to be commissioned by 2016 the first four vessels are expected to be commissioned by 2023 in december 2014 the work on a second nuclear reactor began and the second boat ins is being prepared for sea trials the next three ships in the class after the lead ship will be larger and have 8 missile launch tubes to carry up to 8 k4 and a more powerful pressurized water reactor than ins arihant a larger follow on class to the arihant class is also planned these new boats will be capable of carrying 12 to 16 ballistic missiles |
sms markgraf was the third battleship of the four @@ ship könig class she served in the imperial german navy during world war i the battleship was laid down in november 1911 and launched on 4 june 1913 she was formally commissioned into the imperial navy on 1 october 1914 just over two months after the outbreak of war in europe markgraf was armed with ten 30 @@ 5 @@ centimeter ( 12 @@ 0 in ) guns in five twin turrets and could steam at a top speed of 21 knots ( 39 km / h 24 mph ) markgraf was named in honor of the royal family of baden the name markgraf is a rank of german nobility and is equivalent to the english margrave or marquess |
along with her three sister ships könig grosser kurfürst and kronprinz markgraf took part in most of the fleet actions during the war including the battle of jutland on 31 may and 1 june 1916 at jutland markgraf was the third ship in the german line and heavily engaged by the opposing british grand fleet she sustained five large @@ caliber hits and her crew suffered 23 casualties markgraf also participated in operation albion the conquest of the gulf of riga in late 1917 the ship was damaged by a mine while en route to germany following the successful conclusion of the operation |
after germany's defeat in the war and the signing of the armistice in november 1918 markgraf and most of the capital ships of the high seas fleet were interned by the royal navy in scapa flow the ships were disarmed and reduced to skeleton crews while the allied powers negotiated the final version of the treaty of versailles on 21 june 1919 days before the treaty was signed the commander of the interned fleet rear admiral ludwig von reuter ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the british would not be able to seize the ships unlike most of the scuttled ships markgraf was never raised for scrapping the wreck is still sitting on the bottom of the bay |
markgraf was ordered under the provisional name ersatz weissenburg and built at the ag weser shipyard in bremen under construction number 186 her keel was laid in november 1911 and she was launched on 4 june 1913 at her launching ceremony the ship was christened by frederick ii grand duke of baden the head of the royal family of baden in honor of which the ship had been named fitting @@ out work was completed by 1 october 1914 the day she was commissioned into the high seas fleet she had cost the imperial german government 45 million goldmarks |
markgraf displaced 25 @@ 796 t ( 25 @@ 389 long tons ) as built and 28 @@ 600 t ( 28 @@ 100 long tons ) fully loaded with a length of 175 @@ 4 m ( 575 ft 6 in ) a beam of 19 @@ 5 m ( 64 ft 0 in ) and a draft of 9 @@ 19 m ( 30 ft 2 in ) she was powered by three bergmann steam turbines three oil @@ fired and twelve coal @@ fired boilers which developed a total of 40 @@ 830 shp ( 30 @@ 450 kw ) and yielded a maximum speed of 21 knots ( 39 km / h 24 mph ) the ship had a range of 8 @@ 000 nautical miles ( 15 @@ 000 km 9 @@ 200 mi ) at a cruising speed of 12 knots ( 22 km / h 14 mph ) the ship had a crew of 41 officers and 1 @@ 095 enlisted sailors |
she was armed with ten 30 @@ 5 cm ( 12 @@ 0 in ) sk l / 50 guns arranged in five twin gun turrets two superfiring turrets each fore and aft and one turret amidships between the two funnels her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 15 cm ( 5 @@ 9 in ) sk l / 45 quick @@ firing guns six 8 @@ 8 cm ( 3 @@ 5 in ) sk l / 45 quick @@ firing guns and five 50 cm ( 20 in ) underwater torpedo tubes one in the bow and two on each beam markgraf's 8 @@ 8 cm guns were removed and replaced with four 8 @@ 8 cm anti @@ aircraft guns the ship's main armored belt was 350 millimeters ( 14 in ) thick the deck was 30 mm ( 1 @@ 2 in ) thick the main battery turrets and forward conning tower were armored with 300 mm ( 12 in ) thick steel plates |
following her commissioning on 1 october 1914 markgraf conducted sea trials which lasted until 12 december by 10 january 1915 the ship had joined iii battle squadron of the high seas fleet with her three sister ships on 22 january 1915 iii squadron was detached from the fleet to conduct maneuver gunnery and torpedo training in the baltic the ships returned to the north sea on 11 february too late to assist the i scouting group at the battle of dogger bank |
in the aftermath of the loss of sms blücher at the battle of dogger bank kaiser wilhelm ii removed admiral friedrich von ingenohl from his post as fleet commander on 2 february admiral hugo von pohl replaced him as commander of the fleet von pohl carried out a series of sorties with the high seas fleet throughout 1915 the first such operation markgraf's first with the fleet was a fleet advance to terschelling on 29 30 march the german fleet failed to engage any british warships during the sortie another uneventful operation followed on 17 18 april and another three days later on 21 22 april markgraf and the rest of the fleet remained in port until 29 may when the fleet conducted another two @@ day advance into the north sea on 11 12 september markgraf and the rest of iii squadron supported a minelaying operation off texel another uneventful fleet advance followed on 23 24 october |
vice admiral reinhard scheer became commander in chief of the high seas fleet on 18 january 1916 when admiral von pohl became too ill from liver cancer to continue in that post scheer proposed a more aggressive policy designed to force a confrontation with the british grand fleet he received approval from the kaiser in february the first of scheer's operations was conducted the following month on 5 7 march with an uneventful sweep of the hoofden another sortie followed three weeks later on the 26th with another on 21 22 april on 24 april the battlecruisers of rear admiral franz von hipper's i scouting group conducted a raid on the english coast markgraf and the rest of the fleet sailed in distant support the battlecruiser seydlitz struck a mine while en route to the target and had to withdraw the other battlecruisers bombarded the town of lowestoft unopposed but during the approach to yarmouth they encountered the british cruisers of the harwich force a short artillery duel ensued before the harwich force withdrew reports of british submarines in the area prompted the retreat of the i scouting group at this point scheer who had been warned of the sortie of the grand fleet from its base in scapa flow also withdrew to safer german waters |
markgraf was present during the fleet operation that resulted in the battle of jutland which took place on 31 may and 1 june 1916 the german fleet again sought to draw out and isolate a portion of the grand fleet and destroy it before the main british fleet could retaliate markgraf was the third ship in the german line behind her sisters könig and grosser kurfürst and followed by kronprinz the four ships made up the v division of the iii battle squadron and they were the vanguard of the fleet the iii battle squadron was the first of three battleship units directly astern were the kaiser @@ class battleships of the vi division iii battle squadron the iii squadron was followed by the helgoland and nassau classes of the ii battle squadron in the rear guard were the obsolescent deutschland @@ class pre @@ dreadnoughts of the i battle squadron |
shortly before 16 00 the battlecruisers of i scouting group encountered the british 1st battlecruiser squadron under the command of vice admiral david beatty the opposing ships began an artillery duel that saw the destruction of indefatigable shortly after 17 00 and queen mary less than half an hour later by this time the german battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the british ships toward the main body of the high seas fleet at 17 30 könig's crew spotted both the i scouting group and the 1st battlecruiser squadron approaching the german battlecruisers were steaming to starboard while the british ships steamed to port at 17 45 scheer ordered a two @@ point turn to port to bring his ships closer to the british battlecruisers and a minute later the order to open fire was given |
markgraf opened fire on the battlecruiser tiger at a range of 21 @@ 000 yards ( 19 @@ 000 m ) markgraf and her two sisters fired their secondary guns on british destroyers attempting to make torpedo attacks against the german fleet markgraf continued to engage tiger until 18 25 by which time the faster battlecruisers managed to move out of effective gunnery range during this period the battleships warspite and valiant of the 5th battle squadron fired on the leading german battleships at 18 10 one of the british ships scored a 15 @@ inch ( 38 cm ) shell hit on markgraf shortly thereafter the destroyer moresby fired a single torpedo at markgraf and missed from a range of about 8 @@ 000 yd ( 7 @@ 300 m ) malaya fired a torpedo at markgraf at 19 05 but the torpedo missed due to the long range around the same time markgraf engaged a cruiser from the 2nd light cruiser squadron before shifting her fire back to the 5th battle squadron for ten minutes during this period two more 15 @@ inch shells hit markgraf though the timing is unknown the hit at 18 10 struck on a joint between two 8 @@ inch @@ thick side armor plates the shell burst on impact and holed the armor the main deck was buckled and approximately 400 t ( 390 long tons 440 short tons ) of water entered the ship the other two shells failed to explode and caused negligible damage |
shortly after 19 00 the german cruiser wiesbaden had become disabled by a shell from the british battlecruiser invincible rear admiral paul behncke in könig attempted to position his four ships to cover the stricken cruiser simultaneously the british iii and iv light cruiser squadrons began a torpedo attack on the german line while advancing to torpedo range they smothered wiesbaden with fire from their main guns the obsolescent armored cruisers of the 1st cruiser squadron also joined in the melee markgraf and her sisters fired heavily on the british cruisers but even sustained fire from the battleships' main guns failed to drive them off markgraf fired both her 30 @@ 5 cm and 15 cm guns at the armored cruiser defence under a hail of fire from the german battleships defence exploded and sank credit is normally given to the battlecruiser lützow though markgraf's gunners also claimed credit for the sinking |
markgraf then fired on the battlecruiser princess royal and scored two hits the first hit struck the 9 @@ inch armor covering x barbette was deflected downward and exploded after penetrating the 1 @@ inch deck armor the crew for the left gun were killed the turret was disabled and the explosion caused serious damage to the upper deck the second shell penetrated princess royal's 6 @@ inch belt armor ricocheted upward off the coal bunker and exploded under the 1 @@ inch deck armor the two shells killed 11 and wounded 31 at the same time markgraf's secondary guns fired on the cruiser warrior which was seriously damaged by 15 heavy shells and forced to withdraw warrior foundered on the trip back to port the following morning |
around 19 30 admiral john jellicoe's main force of battleships entered the battle orion began firing at markgraf at 19 32 she fired four salvos of 13 @@ 5 @@ inch armor @@ piercing capped ( apc ) shells and scored a hit with the last salvo the shell exploded upon impacting the armor protecting the no 6 15 cm gun casemate the shell failed to penetrate but holed the armor and disabled the gun the explosion seriously injured two and killed the rest of the gun crew a heavy shell nearly struck the ship at the same time and at 19 44 a bent propeller shaft forced markgraf's crew to turn off the port engine naval historian john campbell speculated that this shell was the one that damaged the shaft her speed dropped to 17 or 18 kn ( 31 or 33 km / h 20 or 21 mph ) though she remained in her position in the line |
shortly after 20 00 the german battleships engaged the 2nd light cruiser squadron markgraf fired primarily 15 cm shells in this period markgraf was engaged by agincourt's 12 @@ inch guns which scored a single hit at 20 14 the shell failed to explode and shattered on impact on the 8 @@ inch side armor causing minimal damage two of the adjoining 14 @@ inch plates directly below the 8 @@ inch armor were slightly forced inward and some minor flooding occurred the heavy fire of the british fleet forced scheer to order the fleet to turn away due to her reduced speed markgraf turned early in an attempt to maintain her place in the battle line this however forced grosser kurfürst to fall out of formation markgraf fell in behind kronprinz while grosser kurfürst steamed ahead to return to her position behind könig after successfully withdrawing from the british scheer ordered the fleet to assume night cruising formation though communication errors between scheer aboard friedrich der grosse and westfalen the lead ship caused delays several british light cruisers and destroyers stumbled into the german line around 21 20 in the ensuing short engagement markgraf hit the cruiser calliope five times with her secondary guns the fleet fell into formation by 23 30 with grosser kurfürst the 13th vessel in the line of 24 capital ships |
around 02 45 several british destroyers mounted a torpedo attack against the rear half of the german line markgraf initially held her fire as the identities of the destroyers were unknown but gunners aboard grosser kurfürst correctly identified the vessels as hostile and opened fire while turning away to avoid torpedoes which prompted markgraf to follow suit heavy fire from the german battleships forced the british destroyers to withdraw at 05 06 markgraf and several other battleships fired at what they thought was a submarine |
the high seas fleet managed to punch through the british light forces without drawing the attention of jellicoe's battleships and subsequently reached horns reef by 04 00 on 1 june upon reaching wilhelmshaven markgraf went into harbor while several other battleships took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead the ship was transferred to hamburg where she was repaired in ag vulcan's large floating dock repair work was completed by 20 july in the course of the battle markgraf had fired a total of 254 shells from her main battery and 214 rounds from her 15 cm guns she was hit by five large @@ caliber shells which killed 11 men and wounded 13 |
following repairs in july 1916 markgraf went into the baltic for trials the ship was then temporarily assigned to the i scouting group for the fleet operation on 18 19 august due to the serious damage incurred by seydlitz and derfflinger at jutland the only battlecruisers available for the operation were von der tann and moltke which were joined by markgraf grosser kurfürst and the new battleship bayern the british were aware of the german plans and sortied the grand fleet to meet them by 14 35 scheer had been warned of the grand fleet's approach and unwilling to engage the whole of the grand fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close engagement at jutland turned his forces around and retreated to german ports |
markgraf was present for the uneventful advance in the direction of sunderland on 18 20 october unit training with the iii squadron followed from 21 october to 2 november two days later the ship formally rejoined iii squadron on the 5th a pair of u @@ boats grounded on the danish coast light forces were sent to recover the vessels and iii squadron which was in the north sea en route to wilhelmshaven was ordered to cover them during the operation the british submarine j1 torpedoed both grosser kurfürst and kronprinz and caused moderate damage for most of 1917 markgraf was occupied with guard duties in the north sea interrupted only by a refit period in january and periodic unit training in the baltic |
in early september 1917 following the german conquest of the russian port of riga the german navy decided to eliminate the russian naval forces that still held the gulf of riga the admiralstab ( navy high command ) planned an operation to seize the baltic island of ösel and specifically the russian gun batteries on the sworbe peninsula on 18 september the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture ösel and moon islands the primary naval component was to comprise the flagship moltke along with the iii and iv battle squadrons of the high seas fleet the ii squadron consisted of the four könig @@ class ships and was by this time augmented with the new battleship bayern the iv squadron consisted of the five kaiser @@ class battleships along with nine light cruisers three torpedo boat flotillas and dozens of mine warfare ships the entire force numbered some 300 ships supported by over 100 aircraft and six zeppelins the invasion force amounted to approximately 24 @@ 600 officers and enlisted men |
opposing the germans were the old russian pre @@ dreadnoughts slava and tsesarevich the armored cruisers bayan admiral makarov and diana 26 destroyers and several torpedo boats and gunboats three british c @@ class submarines where also stationed in the gulf the irben strait the main southern entrance to the gulf of riga was heavily mined and defended by a number of coastal artillery batteries the garrison on ösel numbered nearly 14 @@ 000 men though by 1917 it had been reduced to 60 to 70 percent strength |
the operation began on 12 october when moltke and the four könig @@ class ships covered the landing of ground troops by suppressing the shore batteries covering tagga bay markgraf fired on the battery located on cape after the successful amphibious assault iii squadron steamed to putziger wiek although markgraf remained behind for several days on the 17th markgraf left tagga bay to rejoin her squadron in the gulf of riga but early on the following morning she ran aground at the entrance to the ship was quickly freed and she reached the iii squadron anchorage north of larina bank on the 19th the next day markgraf steamed to moon sound and on the 25th participated in the bombardment of russian positions on the island of the ship returned to arensburg on 27 october and two days later was detached from operation albion to return to the north sea |
markgraf struck a pair of mines in quick succession while in the irben strait and took in 260 metric tons ( 260 long tons 290 short tons ) of water the ship continued on to kiel via neufahrwasser in danzig she then went on to wilhelmshaven where the mine damage was repaired the work was completed at the imperial dockyard from 6 to 23 november after repairs were completed markgraf returned to guard duty in the north sea she missed an attempted raid on a british convoy on 23 25 april 1918 as she was in dock in kiel from 15 march to 5 may for the installation of a new foremast |
markgraf and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of october 1918 days before the armistice was to take effect the bulk of the high seas fleet was to have sortied from their base in wilhelmshaven to engage the british grand fleet scheer by now the grand admiral ( großadmiral ) of the fleet intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the british navy in order to obtain a better bargaining position for germany despite the expected casualties however many of the war @@ weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war on the morning of 29 october 1918 the order was given to sail from wilhelmshaven the following day starting on the night of 29 october sailors on thüringen and then on several other battleships including markgraf mutinied the unrest ultimately forced hipper and scheer to cancel the operation informed of the situation the kaiser stated i no longer have a navy |
following the capitulation of germany in november 1918 most of the high seas fleet ships under the command of rear admiral ludwig von reuter were interned in the british naval base in scapa flow prior to the departure of the german fleet admiral adolf von trotha made clear to von reuter that he could not allow the allies to seize the ships under any conditions the fleet rendezvoused with the british light cruiser cardiff which led the ships to the allied fleet that was to escort the germans to scapa flow the massive flotilla consisted of some 370 british american and french warships once the ships were interned their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech blocks and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and enlisted men |
the fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the treaty of versailles von reuter believed that the british intended to seize the german ships on 21 june 1919 which was the deadline for germany to have signed the peace treaty unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the first opportunity on the morning of 21 june the british fleet left scapa flow to conduct training maneuvers and at 11 20 reuter transmitted the order to his ships markgraf sank at 16 45 the british soldiers in the guard detail panicked in their attempt to prevent the germans from scuttling the ships they shot and killed markgraf's captain walter schumann who was in a lifeboat and an enlisted man in total the guards killed nine germans and wounded twenty @@ one the remaining crews totaling some 1 @@ 860 officers and enlisted men were imprisoned |
markgraf was never raised for scrapping unlike most of the other capital ships that were scuttled markgraf and her two sisters had sunk in deeper water than the other capital ships which made any salvage attempt more difficult the outbreak of world war ii in 1939 put a halt to all salvage operations and after the war it was determined that salvaging the deeper wrecks was financially impractical the rights to future salvage operations on the wrecks were sold to britain in 1962 owing to the fact that the steel that composed their hulls was produced before the advent of nuclear weapons markgraf and her sisters are among the few accessible sources of low @@ background steel which has occasionally been removed for use in scientific devices markgraf and the other vessels on the bottom of scapa flow are a popular dive site and are protected by a policy barring divers from recovering items from the wrecks |
the coldrum long barrow also known as the coldrum stones and the stones is a chambered long barrow located near to the village of trottiscliffe in the south @@ eastern english county of kent constructed circa 4000 bce during britain's early neolithic period today it survives only in a ruined state |
archaeologists have established that the monument was built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to britain from continental europe although representing part of an architectural tradition of long barrow building that was widespread across neolithic europe the coldrum stones belong to a localised regional variant of barrows produced in the vicinity of the river medway now known as the medway megaliths of these it is in the best surviving condition and lies near to both addington long barrow and chestnuts long barrow on the western side of the river three further surviving long barrows kit's coty house the little kit's coty house and the coffin stone are located on the medway's eastern side |
built out of earth and around fifty local sarsen megaliths the long barrow consisted of a sub @@ rectangular earthen tumulus enclosed by kerb @@ stones within the eastern end of the tumulus was a stone chamber into which human remains were deposited on at least two separate occasions during the early neolithic analysis of these remains has shown them to be those of at least seventeen individuals a mixture of men women children and adults at least one of the bodies had been dismembered prior to burial potentially reflecting a funerary tradition of excarnation and secondary burial as with other barrows coldrum has been interpreted as a tomb to house the remains of the dead perhaps as part of a belief system involving ancestor veneration although archaeologists have suggested that it may also have had further religious ritual and cultural connotations and uses |
after the early neolithic the long barrow fell into a state of ruined dilapidation perhaps experiencing deliberate deposition in the late medieval period either by christian zealots or treasure hunters local folklore grew up around the site associating it with the burial of a prince and the countless stones motif the ruin attracted the interest of antiquarians in the 19th century while archaeological excavation took place in the early 20th after limited reconstruction in 1926 ownership was transferred to heritage charity the national trust it is open without charge to visitors all year around |
the coldrum stones are named after a nearby farm coldrum lodge which has since been demolished the monument lies in a rather isolated site north @@ east of the nearby village of trottiscliffe about 500 metres from a prehistoric track known as the pilgrim's way the tomb can be reached along a pathway known as coldrum lane which is only accessible on foot the nearest car park to coldrum lane can be found off of lane in trottiscliffe another nearby village is addington which is located one and a quarter miles away |
the early neolithic was a revolutionary period of british history beginning in the fifth millennium bce it saw a widespread change in lifestyle as the communities living in the british isles adopted agriculture as their primary form of subsistence abandoning the hunter @@ gatherer lifestyle that had characterised the preceding mesolithic period archaeologists have been unable to prove whether this adoption of farming was because of a new influx of migrants coming in from continental europe or because the indigenous mesolithic britons came to adopt the agricultural practices of continental societies either way it certainly emerged through contact with continental europe probably as a result of centuries of interaction between mesolithic people living in south @@ east britain and linear pottery culture ( ) communities in north @@ eastern france the region of modern kent would have been a key area for the arrival of continental european settlers and visitors because of its position on the estuary of the river thames and its proximity to the continent |
between 4500 and 3800 bce all of the british isles came to abandon its former mesolithic hunter @@ gatherer lifestyle to be replaced by the new agricultural subsistence of the neolithic age although a common material culture was shared throughout most of the british isles in this period there was great regional variation regarding the nature and distribution of settlement architectural styles and the use of natural resources throughout most of britain there is little evidence of cereal or permanent dwellings from this period leading archaeologists to believe that the early neolithic economy on the island was largely pastoral relying on herding cattle with people living a nomadic or semi @@ nomadic way of life although witnessing some land clearance britain was largely forested in this period and it is unclear what level of deforestation the area of kent had experienced in the early neolithic widespread forest clearance only took place on the of south @@ east britain in the late bronze age environmental data from the area around the white horse stone supports the idea that the area was still largely forested in the early neolithic covered by a woodland of oak ash hazel / alder and |
across western europe the early neolithic marked the first period in which humans built monumental structures in the landscape these were tombs that held the physical remains of the dead and though sometimes constructed out of timber many were built using large stones now known as megaliths individuals were rarely buried alone in the early neolithic instead being interned in collective burials with other members of their community the construction of these collective burial monumental tombs both wooden and megalithic began in continental europe before being adopted in britain in the first half of the fourth millennium bce |
the early neolithic people of britain placed far greater emphasis on the ritualised burial of the dead than their mesolithic forebears had done many archaeologists have suggested that this is because early neolithic people adhered to an ancestor cult that venerated the spirits of the dead believing that they could intercede with the forces of nature for the benefit of their living descendants archaeologist robin holgate stressed that rather than simply being tombs the medway megaliths were communal fulfilling a social function for the communities who built and used them thus it has furthermore been suggested that early neolithic people entered into the tombs which doubled as temples or shrines to perform rituals that would honour the dead and ask for their assistance for this reason historian ronald hutton termed these monuments tomb @@ shrines to reflect their dual purpose |
in britain these tombs were typically located on prominent hills and slopes overlooking the surrounding landscape perhaps at the junction between different territories archaeologist caroline malone noted that the tombs would have served as one of a variety of markers in the landscape that conveyed information on territory political allegiance ownership and ancestors many archaeologists have subscribed to the idea that these tomb @@ shrines served as territorial markers between different tribal groups although others have argued that such markers would be of little use to a nomadic herding society instead it has been suggested that they represent markers along herding pathways many archaeologists have suggested that the construction of such monuments reflects an attempt to stamp control and ownership over the land thus representing a change in mindset brought about by others have suggested that these monuments were built on sites already deemed sacred by mesolithic hunter @@ gatherers |
archaeologists have differentiated these early neolithic tombs into a variety of different architectural styles each typically associated with a different region within the british isles passage graves characterised by their narrow passage made of large stones and one or multiple burial chambers covered in earth or stone were predominantly located in northern britain and southern and central ireland alternately across northern ireland and central britain long chambered mounds predominated while in the east and south @@ east of britain earthen long barrows represented the dominant architectural trend these earthen long barrows were typically constructed of timber because building stone was scarce in southern britain archaeologist aubrey burl argued that these timber tombs might have been even more eye @@ catching than their stone counterparts perhaps consisting of towering carved poles flamboyantly painted but that evidence of such sculptures has not survived the medway megaliths represent just one of these regional groups within the wider west european tradition of tomb building in this period |
although now all in a ruinous state and not retaining their original appearance at the time of construction the medway megaliths would have been some of the largest and most visually imposing early neolithic funerary monuments in britain grouped along the river medway as it cuts through the north downs they constitute the most south @@ easterly group of megalithic monuments in the british isles and the only megalithic group in eastern england archaeologists brian philp and mike deemed the medway megaliths to be some of the most interesting and well known archaeological sites in kent while archaeologist paul ashbee described them as the most grandiose and impressive structures of their kind in southern england |
they can be divided into two separate clusters one to the west of the river medway and the other on blue bell hill to the east with the distance between the two clusters measuring at between 8 and 10 km the western group includes coldrum long barrow addington long barrow and the chestnuts long barrow the eastern group consists of kit's coty house little kit's coty house the coffin stone and several other stones which might have once been parts of chambered tombs it is not known if they were all built at the same time or whether they were constructed in succession while similarly it is not known if they each served the same function or whether there was a hierarchy in their usage |
the medway long barrows all conformed to the same general design plan and are all aligned on an east to west axis each had a stone chamber at the eastern end of the mound and they each probably had a stone facade flanking the entrance the chambers were constructed from sarsen a dense hard and durable stone that occurs naturally throughout kent having formed out of silicified sand from the eocene early neolithic builders would have selected blocks from the local area and then transported them to the site of the monument to be erected |
such common architectural features among these tomb @@ shrines indicate a strong regional cohesion with no direct parallels elsewhere in the british isles for instance they would have been taller than most other tomb @@ shrines in britain with internal heights of up to 10 ft nevertheless as with other regional groupings of early neolithic tomb @@ shrines ( such as the cotswold @@ severn group ) there are also various idiosyncrasies in the different monuments such as coldrum's rectilinear shape the chestnut long barrow's facade and the long thin mounds at addington and kit's coty this variation might have been caused by the tomb @@ shrines being altered and adapted over the course of their use in this scenario the monuments would represent composite structures |
it seems apparent that the people who built these monuments were influenced by pre @@ existing tomb @@ shrines that they were already aware of whether those people had grown up locally or moved into the medway area from elsewhere is not known based on a stylistic analysis of their architectural designs stuart piggott thought that they had originated in the area around the low countries while glyn daniel instead believed that the same evidence showed an influence from scandinavia john h evans instead suggested an origin in germany and ronald f jessup thought that their origins could be seen in the cotswold @@ severn megalithic group ashbee noted that their close clustering in the same area was reminiscent of the megalithic tomb @@ shrine traditions of continental northern europe and emphasised that the medway megaliths were a regional manifestation of a tradition widespread across early neolithic europe he nevertheless stressed that a precise place of origin was impossible to indicate with the available evidence |
the monument originally consisted of a sarsen stone chamber covered by a low earthen mound which was bounded by prostrate slabs as such the archaeologist paul ashbee asserted that the monument could be divided into three particular features the chamber the barrow and the sarsen stone surround it is located on the edge of a large scarp although it is difficult to ascertain what views would have been possible from the monument at the time of construction due to a lack of information on how densely forested the vicinity was however if the area was not highly wooded then 360 ° views of the surrounding landscape would have been possible the monument's axis points toward both the north downs and the medway valley which is similar to the other medway megaliths archaeologist sian suggested that the coldrum long barrow might have been built within view of a nearby settlement and that this may have been a key factor in the experience of ceremonies and rituals taking place at the tombs and may also have defined a link between the tomb builders and the landscape |
it had been built using about 50 stones the barrow is sub @@ rectangular in plan and about 20 meters ( 64 feet ) in length at its broader eastern end where the chamber is located the monument measures 15 metres ( 50 feet ) while at the narrower western end it is 12 metres ( 40 feet ) in breadth as such the barrow is a truncated wedge @@ shape the megalithic builders responsible for the coldrum stones positioned it on the top of a small ridge adjacent to the north downs and constructed it facing eastward towards the river medway |
the chamber of the monument measures 4 @@ 5 metres ( 13 feet ) in length and 1 @@ 7 metres ( 5 feet 6 inches ) in width although it was potentially much larger when originally constructed the chamber's internal height would have been at least 2 metres ( 6 feet 6 inches ) in its current state the northern side of the chamber is made up of two slabs one being 8 feet long 7 feet 6 inches deep and 1 foot 9 inches thick and the other 5 feet long 6 feet deep and 2 feet thick conversely the chamber's southern side consists of a single slab measuring 11 feet 4 inches in length 7 feet 3 inches in depth and 1 foot 9 inches in depth at its thicker eastern end the western end of the chamber is closed off with a slab measuring about 14 feet 6 inches wide with a thickness of 1 foot and a depth of around 8 feet a collapsed broken slab lies at the opening eastern end of the chamber it is also possible that a largely rectangular slab at the bottom of the slope had once been part of the eastern end of the chamber excavation has revealed that flint masonry was used to pack around the chamber and support its sarsens twentieth @@ century renovation has seen this largely replaced with cement allowing the stones to continue standing upright |
it is possible that there was a facade in front of the chamber as is evident at other chambered tombs in britain such as west kennet long barrow and wayland's smithy it is also possible that there was a portal stone atop the chamber as was apparent at kit's coty house and lower kit's coty house many of the larger slabs of stone that have fallen down the slope on the eastern end of the monument may have been parts of this facade or portal |
the earthen mound that once covered the tomb is now visible only as an undulation approximately 1 foot 6 inches in height in the nineteenth @@ century the mound was higher on the western end of the tomb although this was removed by excavation to reveal the sarsens beneath during the 1920s it is likely that in the early neolithic the mound had a quarry ditch surrounding it and it is inside this ditch that the kerb @@ stones now sit |
the kerb @@ stones around the tomb display some patterning those on the northern side are mostly rectilinear while those on the southern side are smaller and largely irregular in shape it is probable that there was an ancillary dry @@ stone wall constructed using blocks of ironstone from the geological folkestone beds as is evident at chestnuts long barrow given that such blocks of stone rarely occur naturally it may have been quarried |
a concave line of abrasion and polishing can be found on both one of the central kerb @@ stones on the western end of the monument and a kerb @@ stone on the south @@ east of the monument these have been attributed to the sharpening of flint and other stone axe @@ blades on these sarsens it is possible that these tools were sharpened for use in cutting and carving the timber levers and struts which would have been used in erecting the stones and constructing the tomb similar evidence for the sharpening of tools has been found at west kennet long barrow as well as later prehistoric monuments such as stonehenge |
coldrum long barrow is comparatively isolated from the other medway megaliths in this it is unique given that the other surviving examples are clustered into two groups however it is possible that another chambered tomb was located nearby a razed elongated earthen mound with an east @@ west orientation is located in a hollow at the foot of the downs just under a quarter of a mile to the north of the coldrum stones it may be that this represents the remnants of another such monument which has had its stones removed or buried several large sarsens to the south of the might represent the remnants of a further such tomb since destroyed |
ashbee suggested that given its size and comparisons with other long barrows such as fussell's lodge the coldrum tomb could have housed the remains of over a hundred individuals excavations conducted in the early 20th century have led to the methodical discovery and removal of what was believed to be the remains of twenty @@ two human individuals these remains were examined by sir arthur keith the conservator of the museum at the royal college of surgeons he published his results in 1913 in a paper largely concerned with discerning racial characteristics of the bodies |
a subsequent re @@ analysis of the bones was conducted in the early 21st century and published in the proceedings of the prehistoric society in 2013 the project presented osteological analysis bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis to inform on the demography burial practices diet and subsistence and chronology of the coldrum population earlier conclusions it stated that the minimum number of individuals was seventeen these were then further identified as probably belonging to nine adults ( probably five males and four females ) two sub @@ adults four older children and two younger children ( one around five years old the other between 24 and 30 months old ) |
keith had suggested that the crania he examined displayed similar features which he attributed to the different individuals belonging to one family or several families united by common descent similar observations had been made regarding the crania from other long barrows in britain although martin smith and megan brickley noted that this was not necessarily representative of a family group instead they stated that it would also be consistent with a population that was still relatively small and scattered in which most individuals were interrelated |
wysocki's team noted that in all but one case the fracture morphologies are consistent with dry @@ bone breakage three of the skulls exhibited evidence that they had experienced violence a probable adult female had an unhealed injury on the left frontal while an adult of indeterminate sex had an unhealed fracture on the left frontal and a second adult female had a healed depressed fracture on the right frontal |
isotope analysis of the remains revealed δ13c values that were typical of those found at many other southern british neolithic sites albeit with significantly higher values of which grew over time although this data is difficult to interpret it was identified as probably reflecting a terrestrial diet high in animal protein that over time was increasingly supplemented with freshwater river or estuarine foods in the case of the older individuals whose remains were interned in the tomb the tooth enamel was worn away and the dentine had become exposed on the chewing area of the crowns |
radiocarbon dating of the remains suggested early neolithic activity began at the site during 3800 calibrated bce ( 95 probability ) or 3880 cal bce ( 68 probability ) when the first human remains were buried at the site it then suggested that after an interval of either 60 350 years ( 95 probability ) or 140 290 years ( 68 probability ) further depositions of human remains were made inside the tomb this second phase probably began in cal bce ( 95 probability ) or 3560 cal bce ( 68 probability ) the radiocarbon dating of the human remains does not provide a date for the construction of coldrum long barrow itself it is possible that the individuals died either some time before or after the monument's construction |
cut @@ marks were identified on a number of the bones ( two femora two and one cranium ) with specialists suggesting that these had been created post @@ mortem as the bodies were dismembered and the bones removed from their attached ligaments however they further suggested that the lack of such cut @@ marks on certain bones was suggestive that the body had already undergone partial decomposition or the removal of soft tissues prior to the process of dismemberment the precision of the cut @@ marks suggests that this dismemberment was done carefully they do not suggest frenzied hacking or mutilation none of the criteria that deem diagnostic of cannibalism were found on the bones |
this cut @@ marked human bone assemblage represented the largest yet identified from within a neolithic long barrow in southern britain although similar evidence for dismemberment has been found from a number of other neolithic british sites such as west trump and haddenham there are two possibilities for how this material developed the first is that the bodies of the dead were or exposed to the elements followed by a secondary burial within the tomb the second is that they were placed in the tomb where the flesh decomposed before the bodies were then rearranged within the tomb itself these practices may have been accompanied by shamanism or magical practices direct evidence for which does not survive |
the inclusion of occupational debris over the bones was not unique to the site but common in chambered tombs from southern england on the basis of an example discovered at kit's coty house ashbee thought it apparent that the contents of the coldrum's chamber would have been compartmentalised by medial slabs which served the same purpose as the side chambers of west kennet and wayland's smithy |
Subsets and Splits