Lanka meltwater valley and the devil’s stone

The devil’s stone lies in the Lanka valley, approximately 2 km west of Trzebiel. Measuring 5.1 x 3.5 m with a height of 2.5 m, it represents the largest glacial erratic in the Muskauer Faltenbogen. Including the part hidden beneath the Earth’s surface, its volume amounts to approximately 36 m3, which corresponds to to total mass of 101 tonnes.
The stone is composed of a fine-grained alkali feldspar granite with a slaty texture and a mineral composition of approximately 40% quartz, 40% microcline, 15% plagioclase and 5% biotite. As its chemistry exhibits no particular features among granites, its precise region of provenance cannot be determined.
Additionally, the devil’s stone once carried a special meaning as a cultic site: man made apertures and indentations can be found on its surface. In the early Middle Ages, large erratics were used as sacrificial altars by the Slavs who were beginning to settle the area.