Late Neolithic burials in Sweden
Late Neolithic burials in Sweden have been well studied in Skåne . Anthropological analysis of the skeletons on the upper board and the bottom of the passage grave of Carlshögen are not carried out. Such an investigation would be interesting for the problem of the continuity of living in the approximately 700 years between the late Neolithic (SN) and the middle Neolithic (MN) use of the facility. The question of whether only part of the resident population was buried in the collective graves has been clarified in individual cases.
Stone boxes
The custom found in Carlshögen (on the late Neolithic upper floor) of burying corpses in a stretched out supine position or with slightly drawn-up legs is also found in other late Neolithic burials, particularly in Sweden in stone boxes. In the stone box in Gillhög , next to the passage grave there, the skeleton lay stretched on its back in an east-west orientation, together with a vessel and devices made of flint . The difference to both levels of Carlshögen is that the skeletons there were oriented north-south and the additions were mostly next to the body, often on the right side. The east-west orientation occurs more often with stone boxes, although there is no rule whether the head is to be in the east or west.
Shallow graves
Besides the stone boxes, where the conditions are often difficult to determine due to disturbances, there are a large number of simple earth graves from the late Neolithic . They consist of frames of small stone slabs or other stone formats, of isolated stones and in one case of a base made of stones. It must be taken into account here that there were wooden constructions, which could only be proven in exceptional cases. In the middle of the 20th century, the number of recognized late Neolithic shallow graves increased through the investigation of the burial grounds of Hagestad, municipality of Löderup and Fosie, in Malmö . The latter has 13 burials and its core dates from the early late Neolithic. A well-preserved skeleton lay on its back in a stretched position. Several late Neolithic burial grounds were found in Hagestad. The largest was at Hagestad No. 40, where 22 unequal sites were examined, including a double grave. Wooden coffins could be found here. The graves, which represent a large part of the late Neolithic, contained only sparse additions. The additions consist of daggers , arrowheads and the like. a. m. Hagestad No. 40 is located about 800 m east of the Carlshögen megalithic complex and one kilometer northwest of the Ramshög complex. The late Neolithic dead were buried within the open field marrow, both in megalithic systems and in shallow graves. A stone frame made of small pebbles at grave VII in Carlshögen is only documented for a late Neolithic grave in Scania. Grave 10 near Stockholmsgården, Valleberga municipality offers a parallel to this find, where four such stones were located in the pelvic area of the skeleton. Such stones were also found among the late Neolithic additions in the passage grave Tagarp No. 5, municipality of Öster Tommarp, mostly with traces of impact. This shows that it was sometimes part of the burial custom to deposit round-cut stones, which had an unknown function in the rite, in the grave.
context
The late Neolithic subsequent burials in the megalithic complexes correspond to those in earth graves. So it was concluded that the burial ritual was independent of the location. As a rule, the corpses of the Late Neolithic were buried stretched out on their backs or with their legs slightly drawn up. This also applies to Denmark, where subsequent burials in megalithic systems were found much more frequently. There are cases in which bones have been piled up in a pile in the chamber and the timely flint daggers (of the dagger era ) placed between them. The latter is a parallel to grave 1 in Carlshögen.
literature
- Märta Strömberg : The megalithic tombs of Hagestad. On the problem of grave structures and grave rites . Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Volume 8. Bonn and Lund 1971. pp. 307ff
- Märta Strömberg: Swedish megalithic tombs - monuments of various intertretation In: KW Beinhauer (Hrsg.): Studien zur Megalithik 1999 ISBN 3-930036-36-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ M. Kunter & U. Wittler-Ofen In: KW Beinhauer (Ed.): Studies on Megalithics 1999 ISBN 3-930036-36-3 p. 265