Stone-Age Giants

What inspired people to move large objects? Some 5,500 years ago, our ancestors began to shape erratic blocks and use them to construct giant monuments. The archaeologists at CAU Kiel working with Professor Müller and at the RGK in Frankfurt working with Professor Lüth assume that both human cohabitation and human thought underwent a fundamental change at the same time. Did these structures, made of megaliths, serve as gravesites, as meeting points or were they intended to serve as markers on the open landscape? What can the stone legacies tell us about social differences within Neolithic mankind? To project page
 
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Stone-Age Giants: Episode 10, 25/01/2010

A Researcher’s Puzzle

 

Archaeologists, botanists, anthropologists, excavation technicians, geologists and many more besides – to reveal the secrets of the megalithic graves in northern Germany demands a wide variety of skills and knowledge. This primarily calls for good communication and coordination of the total of 15 projects. How is it possible to combine so many different disciplines in any case, and why is archaeology, in particular, more or less predestined to take on this task?

 
25.01.2010

A Researcher’s Puzzle

Archaeologists, botanists, anthropologists, excavation technicians, geologists and many more besides – who can bring together what belongs together?
 
18.01.2010

The Stone Age Code

Where the archaeologists come up against their limits, molecular genetics can come to the rescue. From the remains of Stone Age man, they aim to take a genetic fingerprint…
 
11.01.2010

Wolkenwehe

Stones, bones and wooden posts: Looking for clues in the Brenner bog. Is there a connection between the settlement of Wolkenwehe and the megalithic graves?
 
14.12.2009

Wacker!

Going back into the past with a pneumatic hammer. What secrets about climate change can be found on the sea bed?
 
26.10.2009

The Trail of the Bones

Which illnesses were prevalent 5500 years ago, and what were they caused by? The trail of the bones will reveal all…
 
23.09.2009

Working to the Bone

Even the tiniest of teeth counts: What can bones tell us about burial rites from 5,500 years ago?
 
07.09.2009

At the "Königsgrab"

How the archaeologists can see underground without a spade, a trowel or a brush and without moving a single clod of earth, with a little help from a geophysicist.
 
06.08.2009

Looking Beyond

You are what you eat! What can the remains of plants and corn tell us about life 5500 years ago – and about the eating habits and lifestyle of long ago?
 
13.07.2009

Fishing by Camera

The challenges at the megalithic grave are "megalithic"! To get the right perspective on things, the researchers want to reach great heights. Will their home-made camera rod help?
 
30.06.2009

The Ravages of Time

Not going unnoticed by the archaeologists: the large stone graves in the far North. The number of megalithic graves has declined strongly.
 
15.06.2009

Stone-Age Giants

The trail of rocks: from portal tombs to graves and their builders
 
 

The Projects

Everything about wave hunters, discrete optimisers and love à la Darwin—here, you'll experience what lies behind the individual projects as you follow the research diaries and get to know the scientists.

Duck Stop

260,000 water birds in search of food  
 

Bonded Concrete

Breaking tests: how strong is ultra-strong?  
 

Function through Diversity

Pioneering work in China: The largest ever forest experiment on biodiversity  
 

The Wave Hunters

Do Einstein’s gravitational waves rock the universe?  
 

Polar Archive

Drilling in the arctic: climate research for the future  
 

Stone-Age Giants

The trail of rocks: from portal tombs to graves and their builders  
 

Discrete Optimisers

Many roads lead to the destination. How math simplifies our daily life  
 

Love à la Darwin

Do inner values matter? Mate choice from the perspective of evolution