Grave med teltformet overbygning fra tidlig-neolitisk tid
Authors: Madsen Torsten 
Published: February 2022

Early Neolithic graves with tent-shaped superstructure Investigation of an Early Neolithic earth grave in the barrow of Konens Høj, Djursland (fig. 8,1) (1) revealed that the stone-paved grave had been covered by a tent-shaped superstructure of oak staves supported on posts in deep foundation trenches at the ends. This type of construction had not been recognized earlier in connection with a simple Early Neolithic earth grave. Examination of earlier excavation reports suggests, however, that such small mortuary houses covering graves are not all that rare. Thus a grave at Vedsted (fig. 8,2) and one at Brøndum (fig. 8,3) are in many respects identical with the Konens Høj grave (2) and others exhibit features suggesting a close relationship.The Konens Høj grave, on which this article is primarily based, has already been published in detail (3), and only a brief description is therefore necessary. The plan (fig. 1) shows a long narrow paving marking the grave, with piles of stones at the ends. There is also a row of stones and a stoneless channel along the north side; a corresponding well-defined row of stones is absent on the south side, owing to the removal of Stones during ploughing. In the original publication of the grave, B. Stürup (5), suggested that the inclination which the posts in the over 1 m deep pits at the ends of the grave were seen to have had was due to displacements caused by the fire which destroyed the superstructure. Since, however, the pits seem to have been dug obliquely, as the published section shows (4), and there are two stoneless hollows through which the posts could have passed, across the paving some distance from the pits, as the published plan shows, is is likely that the inclination of the posts was primary. If this is correct, the suggested reconstruction with a rather tall tent-shaped superstructure cannot be upheld. A low tent-shaped superstructure about 1 m tall, with a ridge just under 2 m long resting on inclined end-posts, is more likely. A construction of this kind is accurately reproduced in the stone-built grave, no. 2, from the Ølstrup cemetery (6).As mentioned above, the similarity of the Konens Høj grave to two other graves, at Vedsted and Brøndum, is such that it seems probable that they too had a tent­shaped wooden superstructure.The Vedsted grave (fig. 2) occupied an E.-W. oriented long barrow with an original width of about 7 m; at the time of excavation the barrow was almost completely destroyed. The grave was exposed as a 4,5 m long E.-W. oriented pile of Stones between 1.5 and 2.5 m in width, concentrated in two heaps, so that the height was 0.7-0.8 m at the ends and 0.3 m in the centre. Removal of the stones revealed that the two heaps covered stone-filled pits measuring 1.3 x 0.5 m and 1.0 x 0.3 m respectively with a depth of 0.42-0.46 m. Between these two pits lay a rectangular grave 2.5 m long and 0.8 m wide, marked only by a slight charcoal blackening. This was bordered to the south by a 0.4 m wide and 0.1 m deep trench, running from pit to pit, and to the north by single stones on edge. Outside the two pits and partially covered by the stone heaps lay two heaps of yellow clay measuring 1.0 x 1.5 x 0.15 m and 1.2 x 1.8 x 0.25 m respectively; this must represent the material from the pits. At the north-east corner of the grave was a poorly preserved collared flask (fig. 3).The Brøndum grave (fig. 4), which was oriented W.S.W.-E.N.E., consisted of two parallel rows of stones, nearly 4 m long and 1 m apart. Between these rows was the grave floor, which was sunk about 0.25 m in the subsoil and limited to nearly 3 m by two 0.3 m wide and c. 0.4 m deep pits in the full width of the grave. The grave contained a fully polished thin-butted axe (I); 4 small disc-shaped amber beads (II) and 3 irregular beads (III) of the same material.Besides these three graves, which are characterized by deep pits at the ends and by rows of stones or stoneless channels or both along the sides, four further graves have been recorded, in connection with which pits have been found, and which may therefore be presumed to attach to those mentioned above (7).A moundless grave at Højtvedgård (fig. 8,4) lay directly under the topsoil and was apparently partially disturbed. It consisted only of a fragmentary N.-S. oriented stone paving measuring 1.5 x 0.5 m and covered with sand with an admixture of charcoal. At the southern end of the paving was a 0.4 x 0.2 m large and 0.4 m deep pit, partly lined with stones. 4 lugged beakers near the pit refer the grave with certainty to the north Jutland non-megalithic group C.At Jattrup (fig. 8,5) was found a W.S.W.-E.N.E. oriented grave (fig. 5) of which only the eastern end was preserved. The grave was 1.1 m broad and preserved to a length of about 2 m. It was edged with a partially preserved, carefully built stone framing, about 0.5 m wide and 0.1-0.2 m high. The floor of the grave was a paving of small stones, covered by a thick layer of broken flint about 0.05 m thick, which was again covered by a 0.20-0.25 m thick stone packing. Above this again was a 0.05 m thick layer of broken flint covering the entire grave and its edging. Just out­side the framing at the east end was a c. 0.8 m deep pit in the full width of the grave. The missing west end of the grave had been excavated by an amateur who had uncovered an area 2 x 2 m. He found here a compact pile of stones about 1 m in diameter containing only a flint scraper. If the east and west ends of the grave were identical, the latter must also have contained a large heap of stones. Traces of one seem to be present in the scattered stones surrounding the pit. The form of the pit may be the original one or enlarged by the removal of the Stones which usually line post holes. Three amber beads and some uncharacteristic sherds were the only objects recovered from the grave.A moundless grave at Thorsø (fig. 8,6 and fig. 6) was found on excavation to be badly damaged. Only an irregular row of stones edging a pit with a diameter of 1.1 m was found. In the area encompassed by this row an »open paving of stones« had been found, and the farmer stated that he had removed »a very close paving« from the entire area. The pit, which was described as circular, attained a depth of 0.7 m in the subsoil and was with the exception of the southern part full of stones. At the edge of and just above the pit were found 2 lugged flasks (fig. 7,1 and 2), a collared flask (fig. 7,3), a beaker (fig. 7,4), sherds from yet another vessel, a polished thin-butted axe of flint and two knives (saws) of flint of the type illustrated in fig. 11.A grave at Salten (fig. 8,7) with its well-known content of copper, amber and stone artefacts (8) lay in a 19.5 m long, 2-4 m wide and 0.5-1 m high heap of cobbles and small rocks mixed with soil. The stones must have been the remains of a long barrow. The grave itself consisted of a 3.0-3.3 m long, 1.6 m broad and up to 0.3 m deep depression containing an irregular border of small rocks. This border had an inside measurement of about 2.5 x 0.8 m. The excavator indicated a pit under the stone border at each end, but did not mark them on the plan or mention them in his report (9).Of these four graves the two -Højtvedgård and Thorsø- are so badly damaged that nothing certain can be said about their original appearance, and it is not certain that the pits found are post holes placed at the end of the graves, even if this is the most likely explanation. In the other two cases, however, there can hardly be any doubt that the characteristic details correspond to those which distinguish the graves at Konens Høj, Vedsted and Brøndum as earth graves with tent-shaped superstructure.Six of the seven graves described here in which pits have been found are situated in south or central Jutland. A comparison with the other graves known from this area reveals no characteristic features other than the pits. Stone edging along the sides, stone heaps at the ends, and stone packing over the grave are common features in the earth graves of southern and central Jutland (11-16).Earlier works on the Early Neolithic earth graves concluded that these contained cists, in most cases bole cists (17-18). It is a question whether the tent-shaped superstructure should merely be seen as a special kind of cist. Three things seem to be relevant to this question. Firstly, part of the pottery from Konens Høj and from Thorsø was found in the post holes. Secondly, the superstructure of the Konens Høj grave had been destroyed by fire. Thirdly, the alternating layers of broken flint and stone which covered the Jattrup grave cannot have covered the wooden construction, to fall into the grave when this collapsed; their arrangement is too regular. It would thus appear that the wooden superstructure was a temporary construction, deliberately destroyed before the final covering of the grave. If this interpretation is accepted, an explanation of the purpose of this construction may be forthcoming. It seems to have protected the dead man and simultaneously made possible communication between him and the living. Not until the need for such contact ceased to exist did the final burial occur by covering the grave with earth and stones after removing the superstructure. The dead were apparently not placed in coffins in these graves, just as it is doubtful whether coffins were used in the corresponding graves lacking the superstructure. It would, for example, take an enormous coffin to fill the Forum and Sædding graves. It is also difficult to explain how some of the amber beads in the Ølstrup no. 6 grave had become dispersed over the stones of the edging, if this had been a support for a coffin (19). The clearest evidence in this respect is provided by the Årslev grave, which will be described in detail here, although it has been published previously (20).The grave (fig. 9), which was moundless, appeared as a large oval pile of stones, with a depth of c. 0.75 m, a width of c. 3 m and a length in a N.N.W.-S.S.E direction of c. 5.75 m. The uppermost layer consisted of small rocks; under this was a c. 10.1 m thick layer of large cobbles. The rocks were, however, confined to an oval frame nearly 0.5 m broad, which left an open space in the centre c. 3.75 m long, c. 0.75 m broad and c. 0.5 m deep. Towards one end of this space, which was occupied by coarse gravel, three stones stood on edge to resemble a little cairn without a cap-stone. The burial furniture was a lugged flask (fig. 10,1) and a collared flask (fig. 10,2), and a thin-butted axe (fig. 11,7), two blades (fig. 11, 5-6), a flake (fig. 11,1), two knives (saws) (fig. 11, 3-4) and a blade with scraper retouch on one side (fig. 11,2). On account of the three stones placed on edge in the grave, the Årslev grave cannot possibly have contained a coffin. The excavator also held that the stone frame had itself formed the sides of the cist, while a wooden lid from edge to edge was held in place by the gravel. However, the clear stratification of gravel and large stones respectively and the apparent lack of subsidence in the stone heap also make this interpretation unlikely. Here too, two stages in the burial provide a solution: the grave was first covered by a wooden superstructure; this was later removed and the grave covered with stones. One of the supporting posts for the superstructure must have been placed in the foundation provided by the three stones on edge, while other post foundations may have been overlooked by the excavator.There is thus reason to believe that important details of construction have been overlooked or could not be registered in a number of excavations of earth graves. It is not simply a question, however, of post holes at the ends of the graves being systematically overlooked. This is shown by an excavation at Østergård near Langå, (21), which is still in progress. The grave here, which occurs in a large habitation area containing non-megalithic C pottery, is oriented roughly N.N.E.-S.S.W. and measures at its greatest extent c. 5 x 2.5 m. The floor of this entire area consists of a very close cobbled paving. On it, a 0.9 m wide and 0.4-0.6 m high, very compact frame of medium stones occupies the two sides and the northern end, where the frame is highest. The grave proper measures 2.5 x 0.6-0.7 m. To the south there is no stone frame and the floor passes into a broader cobbled area. A row of stones forms a threshold between the grave itself and this 1 x 1 m cobbled »forecourt«. No unambiguous post holes were found when the grave was sectioned, but there were on the hest preserved side (the other side seems to have suffered from minor disturb­ance) four deep holes at an interval of about 1 m in the otherwise compact stone frame. In these holes, which measured 0.1-0.15 min diameter, there have undoubted­ly been posts, for the support of a superstructure.The earth graves with tent-shaped superstructure are yet another testimony to the highly developed cult of the dead which is so prominent in the Funnel Beaker culture. The graves described above, which are all dated to Period C of the Early Neolithic or to an early stage of the Middle Neolithic, can hardly be the earliest of their kind in Denmark. We must suppose that the rites which lie behind the use of these graves accompanied the first agriculture into the country and that they already manifested themselves at this time in at least analogous burial customs. In this connection, the so-called post pit in the Lindebjerg long barrow is not without interest (22). With its content of B pottery and a carbon 14 dating to 3060 ± 100 B.C. (23), it is very close to the introduction of agriculture to Denmark. The excavator's interpretation of the two posts in the oblong stone-filled pit as a kind of totem pole is hardly correct. One should rather seek an explanation in relation to the above-mentioned graves.As a grave form, the earth grave continues to be employed some way into the Middle Neolithic, as C. J. Becker has demonstrated (24). Ten of the thirteen graves known are situated in southern or central Jutland, and this is the very area in which clear connections with the Early Neolithic earth graves may be ascertained, both with respect to frames around the graves and stones covering them. A grave at Navndrup is particularly interesting (25). At one end of a 3.9 m long and 1.4 m wide cobbled grave, which was surrounded by a stone frame and covered by a pile of stones, was a 90 cm high triangular stone which may have been the gable of a low, tent-shaped, wooden superstructure (26). There is thus possibly an unbroken tradition for the use of earth graves with tent-shaped superstructure in southern and central Jutland from the Early Neolithic period down into the Middle Neolithic period up to at least Period II.When Becker published the Middle Neolithic earth graves, it was as a comparison with the late Middle Neolithic Stone packing graves, and he concluded that it is not possible to demonstrate a direct morphological link between the two forms, but that the possibility could not be rejected that it was a case of early and late forms of a single form of grave (27). By regarding the tent-shaped superstructure over the earth graves as a temporary element, the possibility is opened of linking these with the stone packing graves. The so-called mortuary houses in the stone packing grave complexes have apparently only been temporary and may have served communication with the deceased, the actual grave representing the final break with the world.Torsten Madsen