Gullhögen

The Gullhögen (with the RAÄ-Nr. Valla 98: 1) is a passage grave ( Swedish Gånggrift ) in Berga, in the east of the island Tjörn in Bohuslän in Sweden .

It dates from the Neolithic Age around 3500–2800 BC. BC and is a megalithic system of the funnel beaker culture (TBK). It was partially examined in 1915 by William Ekman, who died on September 20, 1915 during the excavation. The Gullhögen is a typical representative of the small passage graves with round chambers in Bohuslän and Denmark, which are also known there under the name Großdolmen ( Danish stordysse - Swedish stordös ). (Eriksen & Andersen 2014 pp. 44, 45). According to German terminology, it is a polygonal pole .

Passage grave model

description

In the middle of a round hill with a diameter of 10 to 11 m and a height of 1.0 to 1.5 m with mostly relatively well-preserved curbs, there is a polygonal chamber with a diameter of around 2.0 m, consisting of seven bearing stones. In the southeast corner of the chamber, the blocks form a triangular entrance to the approximately 3.0 m long and 0.5 m wide corridor, which consists of two supporting stones. The cap stones of the chamber and passage are missing. Some carefully laid dry stone masonry has been preserved in the gaps.

Finds

At the top of the chamber was a mixture of stone and sand with individual unburned human bones and the tip of a flint dagger . At a depth of 0.6 m, the filling consisted of clean yellow sand. At a depth of 0.8 m there was a carefully laid layer of thin stone slabs, which continued on the same level in the corridor. Gravel appeared at a depth of 1.15 m. The corridor and the chamber were separated by a low threshold stone, which was also found in the middle of the corridor. The mouth of the passage forms, as with other passage graves in Bohuslän, a small dent in the curb. Directly in front of the corridor was a larger stone slab, beneath and next to which a number of broken decorated ceramics were found. Typologically this could be dated to around 3300 BC. To be dated. West of the pottery was a flat, leaf- or lanceolate-shaped object whose late Neolithic dating is significantly younger than the passage grave, but contemporary with the dagger point in the chamber. In the uppermost position in the southwest was a porphyry club (of the Jutland type), a fragmentary large rectangular amber disc with an eyelet, an X-shaped amber bead, two ring-shaped amber beads, some pebbles and a knife.

After the excavation, the megalithic complex was restored.

See also

• Nordic megalithic architecture
• Passage graves in Sweden

literature

• P. Eriksen, NH Andersen: Stendysser - architecture and function. Ringkøbing-Skjern Museum, Moesgaard Museum. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter 85, Århus 2014.
• Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dyster står doze - Gothenburg University

Web links

• Gullhögen - entry in the database "Fornsök" des Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)

Coordinates: 58 ° 0 ′ 29.5 ″  N , 11 ° 45 ′ 14 ″  E