Matuszewska A. 2025. Hünengräber, Hünenbetten, Tumuli Gigantium: The Identification ofMegalithic Tombs in the Context of Folk Traditions and ToponymicAnalysis in West Pomerania, „Geoheritage” 18:10
Hünengräber, Hünenbetten, Tumuli Gigantium: The Identification ofMegalithic Tombs in the Context of Folk Traditions and ToponymicAnalysis in West Pomerania
Agnieszka Matuszewska
Abstract
Megalithic structures represent some of the most remarkable and monumental features of European prehistory. In the 4thmillennium BC, such large-stone constructions were erected in the region of West Pomerania. Their significance extendsfar beyond the communities that constructed them, influencing not only the builders and their immediate predecessors butalso generations hundreds, and even thousands, of years later. Megaliths elicited a range of emotional responses, fromadmiration and fascination to fear. This is evident in historical sources such as legends and in the toponymic analysis ofancient place names, which reveal traces of megalithic cemeteries. In these sources, the monuments under considerationare often referred to by terms such as Hünengräber, Hünenbetten or Tumuli gigantium. The focus of this article is topresent a selection of these megalithic monuments from West Pomerania.
Keywords
Megaliths · Legends · Toponymic analysis · West pomerania
