Megalithic stone box

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As megalithic stone box or large crate a is neolithische Steinkiste referred to primarily in Bohuslän , Dalsland , northern Halland ( Dvärgahuset ) in Närke , in the western Östergötland in Västergötland ( Herrljunga , Horshaga , Södra hair shirt , Sjökullen , Skogsbo ) in Småland ( Göteryd and Bromölla ), Värmland ( Tempelgraven ) and in Skåne (in Sweden ) but also in Northern Jutland ( Blærekisten ). The northernmost large box was found in 1960 at Dragby in central Uppland .

Stone box from Backa

Demarcation

The number of all Swedish stone boxes is almost 2000. According to the National Heritage Board records, there are 649 in Västergötland, 129 in Dalsland, 97 in Bohuslän, 70 in Halland and around 100 in Värmland. There are also a larger number in Småland and Skåne, as well as a number in other regions of southern Sweden.

The megalithic stone box is not to be confused with the almost 2,000 small Bronze Age stone boxes in Sweden , often lying under roasts , but corresponds typologically to the Western European gallery grave .

construction

The components of the megalithic box were built from different materials, but mostly from large erratic blocks . The always rectangular boxes are sometimes separated. There are those with two (Bäckaryd, Småland) and those with three areas ( Skogsbo , Skrelunda-Trumpetaregården), which are formed by dividing walls with a soul hole (Swedish: Gavelhål ). Soul holes mark the outer access and the zone separation of around 65 large boxes, but only in western central Sweden. The largest concentration of megalithic boxes with around 100 facilities is near Göteryd. Sometimes there is an open, antenna-like, covered anteroom.

The box at Gillhög in Skåne is three meters long. It has three cap stones and a floor made of pebbles. In other cases the floor was covered with slabs. The big box contained a single burial. Since it has no access, it was also planned as a single grave. For unknown reasons, the stone boxes often lack the keystone on a narrow side, or it has been replaced by a threshold stone, which indicates collective burial. Ängamöllan's 3.5 m long box is one such example. Seven individuals were found here. That in large boxes, also subsequent burials and these even took place into the Bronze Age , prove u. a. the 3.2 m long divided box from Skrelunda-Trumpetaregården and the 8.2 m long box from Jättakullen both in Västergotland.

  • Megalithic stone boxes

  • Megalithic stone box from Nöbbele (d) near Växjö

  • Stone box Utbogården in Karleby

  • Stone chest from Skottened

  • Fulltofta Gentle

  • Stone box from Levene Västergötland

  • Stone box from Herrljunga

  • Unmegalithic (small) stone boxes like the Bostället stone box are much more common

  • Stone box from Vesterlösa

  • Stone chest from Sjötorpet near Växjö

  • Mörbylånga

  • Källsjö in Halland

The megalithic stone boxes are in the ground and are covered by flat, round, oval or angular mounds of earth or stone. The length of these boxes is usually between 2.5 and 4 meters. However, there are also cases in which it is six to eight meters ( stone box from Hulta in Källsjö). This limit is exceeded by the stone box from Skogsbo with 9.3 m, the heavily disturbed box from Fjällsökla in Dalsland with about 12.0 m and the stone box from Södra Härene with about 14.0 m; the one at Skattegården near Vilske-Kleva is only slightly shorter. This makes them the size of the largest megalithic complexes in Denmark.

See also

literature

Web links