Great stone graves Vårkumla 1 and 2

Great stone grave Vårkumla 2 or Hallabacken

The Domarring

Ruins of the Vårkumla flax kiln

The large stone graves Vårkumla 1 and 2 (also called Glaskulla or Hallabacken Passage Graves (RAÄ-Nr Vårkumla 14: 1 and 14: 2)) are located between Glaskulla and Vårskäl in Vårkumla in Västra Götaland in Sweden . They are probably the largest, but not excavated, passage graves in Falbygden , a cultural landscape in western Sweden. Both are located in the place formerly called Hälletorp, east of Vårkumla Church on the right of the road to Vartofta and are signposted.

The two large stone graves of Vårkumla belong to a cluster of 270 of the 400 known megalithic structures in Sweden from around 3000 BC. BC, which are concentrated in this region. The stone graves and burial mounds indicate an early settlement of the area by the carriers of the funnel beaker culture (TBK). The passage grave is a form of Neolithic megalithic systems, which consists of a chamber and a structurally separated, lateral passage. This form is primarily found in Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia, as well as occasionally in France and the Netherlands. Their origin and function are considered to be the hallmarks of social development.

description

Vårkumla 1 is still mostly hidden in the mound, only the huge capstones weighing more than 20 t are on top. A few meters further is the passage grave Vårkumla 2 or Hallabacken. In contrast to Vårkumla 1, it protrudes further from the mound. The only remaining capstone is impressive.

On the south side of the hill, a dozen meters from one of the passage tombs, lies a much later stone structure (possibly made from stones from the hill cover) that looks like a cellar vault. There is a domar ring by the Vårkumla church .

Vårkumla or Hallabacken

Nearby are the remains of a destroyed flax kiln , a domar ring (14 m in diameter and 13 stones) and the rune stone Vg 139 at the church of Vårkumla.

literature

Lili Kaelas: Dolmen and passage graves in Sweden. Reports and Communications on prehistory, early history, etc. Medieval archeology. Writings of the Provincial Institute for Folk and State Research at the University of Kiel, Offa. 15, pp. 5-24, 1956

Individual evidence

^ Johannes Müller : Neolithic Monuments and Neolithic Societies . In: Varia neolithica, Vol. 6 . Verlag Beier & Beran, Langenweissbach 2009, p. 15, ISBN 978-3-941171-28-2 (total p. 7-16).