"Der umhegte Raum" – eine theoretische Überlegung zu einer nicht nur jungsteinzeitlichen Erscheinung

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Markus Vosteen

Abstract

In 1999 D. Raetzel-Fabian published an article on the interpretation of Neolithic monumental causewayed enclosures in west Central Europe. As a result "the enclosed space" is attributed to the realms of ritual, mortuary practices and - in a wider sense - of cultural consolidation, communication and representation. The following article by Markus Vosteen additionally concentrates on the sacred dimension of space as a universal phenomenon - the creation of boundaries in space and time to separate the sacred and the profane. As sacred time appears to be delimited, he argues in the case of the Neolithic enclosures for a periodical succession of religious and domestic activities, a pattern which would help to understand the frequently observed and embarrassing "mixture" of specific features on one site.