Sunday 9 September 2007

Danish passage grave

For those interested in burial practices here are a few photos from a 5.000 year old burial mound in Øm in Zealand (Sjælland), Denmark. This is one of the largest passage graves (in Danish jættestue) of its kind in Denmark (7 meters long and 1.8 meters wide and so spacious that a man of about 1.8 meters like myself can stand up inside). Various objects were found inside the grave after it was discovered in 1832 (see the description in English and German below).

The Danish name, jættestue, refers to the notion that these mounds or hills were thought to be the residence of giants or other supernatural beings. In the area where this burial mound is located there are many other burial mounds of various sizes, and some of the names of the locations in the area reflect the presence of these mounds. Some have been excavated whereas others have not. There are about 2.400 of these mounds and barrows in Denmark.

Above the opening is seen from the inside, and below is a photo of the interior of one end of the chamber. Initially it is very dark inside the chamber, but within a few minutes your eyes get used to the darkness and you can relatively easily see the inside features of the chamber.

The above photos are from a visit I and my wife made to the grave today. Other photos are available on this web site dedicated to this particular burial mound.

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