Altes Lager Menzlin

Altes Lager (German for "Old Camp") is a site 1,5 km south of the Menzlin village near Anklam, Western Pomerania, Germany. The site at the banks of the river Peene was an important Viking trade post during the Middle Ages (Viking Age). By that time, Pomerania was inhabited by Slavic Wends, yet several Viking trade posts were set up along the coast (the next were Ralswiek to the West and Jomsborg/Wollin to the east).

The settlement had an approximated size of 18 hectars in the 9th century. Remnants of a bridge and a cementary were excavated. Some artefacts found in the graves were imported from Ireland and the Baltic states. Following scandinavian customs, the dead were buried either in ship-like graves or within stone circles. The graves excavated so far have been found to be the tombs of women. Most findings date back to the 9th and 10th century.

Name

The ancient name of the site is unknown. "Altes Lager", the current name, dates back to Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg's 1676 siege of Anklam. [ [http://www.anklamjournal.de/menzlinn.htm Das „Alte Lager“ bei Menzlin] ]

Sources

* J. Hermann (Hrsg): "Archäologie in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik". Stuttgart 1989
* Ulrich Schoknecht: "Menzlin: Ein frühgeschichtlicher Handelsplatz an der Peene. Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Bezirke Rostock". Schwerin und Neubrandenburg 1977
* H. Keiling: "Menzlin, frühstädtisches Zentrum der Slawen mit Niederlassung skandinavischer Händler". In: H.Keiling: "Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Groß Raden". Museumskatalog 7, Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Schwerin 1989

References