Odagsen und Grossenrode, Ldkr Northeim: Jungsteinzeitliche Kollektivgraber in südlichen Leinetal, (Beiträge zur Archäologie in Niedersachsen 5), 2003, 190 p., rel. -

From the excavation of the non-megalithic burial chamber of Odagsen I near Einbeck in 1981 onwards, archaeological fieldwork in the basin of the river Leine in Lower Saxony has focussed on the Late Neolithic for the past two decades. Three burials were excavated (Odagsen I, Großenrode I, II) and are presented in detail, three others (Odagsen II, III, and Pinkler) were investigated by surveys. On this basis, burial rituals and the catchment area of the site are analysed. The burials widely differ with regard to conservation, construction and number of finds. Odagsen I with dry-stone walls along the long sides and a tent-like wooden roof represents the typical chamber burials of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and dates to the late 4th millennium. The two graves at Großenrode date to the end of the 4th millennium, the second burial with elements of the Wartberg Culture probably being a little earlier than the first one with connections to the Walternienburg style. The find material clearly reflects the importance of the Leine valley as a link between the Funnel Beaker Culture of the north German plain and cultures of the central German low mountains.