Abstract
Two impressive megalithic complexes, dated to the early and middle Neolithic periods, have been discovered on the archaeological sites of Döserygg and Skegrie in south-western Scania. At least 20 megalithic monuments (dolmens) have been found at Döserygg as well as a palisade and other complex structures. The site has yielded a rich find of material consisting of grave goods, ritual deposits and votive offerings. A few kilometres south of Döserygg, a dolmen not far from the still standing Skegriedösen (Skegrie dolmen) was also discovered. These sites contribute to an entirely new understanding of the way society was organized during that era. This article gives a brief presentation of the two sites and their contexts. The analysis of the material from the excavations is still in its infancy. Several years of analysis remains, and more detailed studies will be presented further on.
Keywords: Neolithic, Döserygg, Skegrie, Megalithic monument, Dolmen, Palisade Monuments of stone
More than 6000 years ago, people in the Stone Age societies of Western Europe began to build monuments and graves out of large stones; these are known as megalithic monuments or megalithic tombs (from the Greek mega, large, and lithos, stone). More or less complex monuments and tombs occur along the whole coast of Western Europe, in the British Isles, and in the Mediterranean area.
The most famous examples are Stonehenge in England, Newgrange in Ireland, and the long rows of stones at Carnac in France. In southern Scandinavia there are megaliths above all in Denmark, but also in Scania, along the west coast of Sweden, and in the Falköping district (e.g. Burenhult 1999, 284ff.).
Megalithic tombs were erected in southern Sweden at the start of the Neolithic, between 5600 and 5300 years ago (e.g. Tilley 1999, 3). They were built of large, unworked stone slabs, and they are usually divided into dolmens and passage graves.
A dolmen consists of several slabs making up a burial chamber. The chamber is enclosed in a rectangular or round mound of earth and stone – long dolmens and round dolmens respectively – edged by lying or standing stones. The passage grave is a development of the dolmen with the addition of a covered passage leading into the burial chamber. Dolmens are chiefly assumed to have been tombs for a
single person, but they may sometimes have been used for several burials. Passage graves, on the other hand, were always intended for several people, perhaps the inhabitants of a farm or a kin group.
Megalithic graves in Söderslätt, south-west Scania
In Scania, in southern Sweden, megalithic graves can be found above all in the coastal regions, where they occur in a number of concentrations (e.g. Andersson 2004a, 170; Burenhult 1999, 288ff.; Strömberg 1980; Tilley 1999, 4) (Fig. 1).
These coincide with areas of settlement density and sacrificial sites from the same time (Karsten 1994) and probably correspond to the settlement regions at the start of the Neolithic. A concentration of megalithic graves can be found in south-west Scania. Dolmens are particularly numerous in this part. Of the roughly 45 surviving dolmens in Scania, almost half are in the south-west plains also known as Söderslätt (Sköld 1968, 33). Moreover, studies of the degree of preservation of megalithic tombs, partly through analyses of old field names and maps, shows that there used to be even more. It is calculated that just 200 or 300 years ago there were nearly a 150 megalithic tombs in south-west Scania (Larsson 2007; Sandén
Fig. 1. Distribution of megalithic graves in Scania, southern Sweden. Denser hatching indicates concentrations (revised after Andersson 2004a, 170).
Fig. 2. South-west Scania, with Döserygg and Skegrie marked (illustration: Magnus Andersson).
1995). Despite this density of megaliths, not one of them has been excavated in modern times.
Now, however, when the National Road Administration is planning to rebuild the very busy E6 highway between Vellinge and Trelleborg in south-west Scania to motorway standard, we archaeologists have an opportunity to gain new insight into this megalith-rich setting. In 2006–2008 The Swedish National Heritage Board, Southern Excavations Department conducted excavations along the planned course of the road. At two sites, Döserygg and Skegrie (Fig. 2), excavated in the autumns of 2007 and 2008, there were significant remains from the Neolithic, including traces of a large number of megalithic tombs (Andersson and Wallebom 2011a; Söderberg in press).
Döserygg
Under the soil, a dolmen landscape
The most striking thing we found was at the small village of Södra Håslöv. In the preliminary studies preceding the excavation a map from the 1770’s was found to show a dark, oblong patch with four dots in the middle, drawn in the middle of a field. The place was called “Döserygg” on the map. It seems obvious that this indicates a ploughed-out megalithic tomb, and the name meaning
“Dolmen Ridge” suggests a dolmen. Yet even if there is nothing left above ground, we know that there are almost always traces surviving under ground.
We thus expected to find traces of a dolmen. This is how they occur today, above all in Scania: separately, scattered like solitary islands in the arable landscape.
But the mark on the map revealed not just one dolmen but a whole dolmen
Fig. 3. The earth is stripped to reveal a dolmen. In this case several of the kerbstones still survived (photo: Cecilia Cronberg).
landscape. Under the topsoil cover were the remains of no less than 20 dolmens.
The dolmens had suffered varying degrees of damage but were still surprisingly well preserved. Virtually all the wall slabs and roof slabs in the chambers were missing, as were the kerbstones. The majority of the dolmens nevertheless consisted of stone packings and were surrounded by a rim of small stones places in a rectangular form around the tomb. Most of these were completely intact, clearly revealing where the dolmens had once stood (Fig. 3 and 4). Gaps in the rims and dark impressions in the earth showed where the kerbstones had been placed. In most of the dolmens there were also remains of the mound that had originally covered the burial chamber. The chambers themselves were indicated by impressions of the wall slabs. In one of the larger long dolmens the impressions revealed a structure that had been divided into two burial chambers. Dolmens with more than one chamber are unusual in Sweden. Only one was known previously (Blomqvist 1989). It too has two chambers and is located in Söderslätt, in Skegrie Parish.
In the dolmens we unearthed a great many interesting finds (Fig. 5). The most common finds were flint objects, chiefly axes, scrapers, and blades. A considerable proportion of the flint objects displayed damage that suggested deliberate destruction. Moreover, a large share of them were burnt. We also found a lot of pottery of varying type and quality. Most of the finds
Fig. 4. Ground plan of one of the dolmens at Döserygg (illustration: Henrik Pihl).
Fig. 5. Examples of finds from one of the dolmens: thin-bladed axe, scraper, two flake axes (the small one is made from a fragmented polished flint axe) and pottery (photo: Staffan Hyll).
occurred around the burial chambers and beside the kerbstones. No traces of human remains were found, however, which can be easily explained by the generally poor preservation conditions for organic material on the site.
Altogether, the finds and radiocarbon dates (appendix 1) indicate activities above all connected to the construction of the dolmens on the site at the start of the Neolithic, and also show that the burial monuments were highly significant later in the Neolithic.
The palisade through the dolmen landscape
Apart from all the dolmens, perhaps the most spectacular find was two parallel trenches filled with stones, running in a north-south direction the whole length of the excavated area (Fig. 6). As we gradually exposed them by machine, their course became increasingly clear. The width between the trenches varied between 3 and 8 m.
We were able to follow them for almost 640 m and could see where they disappeared outside the excavated area in both directions, without revealing either a start or a finish. The excavation showed that there had been closely spaced posts and standing stones at places in the trenches (Fig. 7). The posts had been buried to depths varying between 0.3 and 0.8 m and were stabilized with large amounts of stone. The diameter of the posts varied between 0.15 and 0.25 m. The variation in the depth of the trenches and the thickness of the posts may mean that the palisade varied in height and thickness at different stages of its length, although the effects of ploughing may have affected the degree of preservation to some extent. An estimate of the number of posts required to build the palisade can be based on a section of three to four posts per metre, which gives roughly 5000 posts for the length of the trenches within the excavated area alone.
Cutting through the trenches there were also three distinct openings which we interpret as entrances (or exits), that is to say, breaks in the otherwise fairly regular and continuous line of posts in trenches. Two of the openings had a width of about 2 m and were marked with retracted posts or standing stones and other adjacent structural devices. The openings appear to have been monumental in character and placed in strategic locations. The third opening had a width of about 1 m and only broke the eastern palisade trench. In the trenches we found copious flakes from axe manufacture, axe fragments, scrapers, and a lot of burnt flint. In addition we found several broken whetstones for sharpening axes. The finds and the datings (appendix 1) suggest that they are contemporary with the dolmens. The trenches with the closely spaced posts probably belong to the first phase of construction at Döserygg and were perhaps also the first manifestation on the site together with the first dolmens. Between the trenches there were only a few features along the entire course: some foundations for standing stones, occasional stone packings and a few hearths. With regard to the latter, it should be noted that they all contained large amounts of burnt flint pieces, a feature often associated with ritual activities (e.g. Larsson 2000).
Moreover, also worth mentioning is that, in the central part of the excavated area, where the palisade curved slightly over a small rise, there was a hard-packed area of stone, resembling a floor, which was an integral part of the palisade. Gaps along the edges of the stone packing revealed places where there were probably originally
Fig. 6. The palisade trenches viewed from the south after the removal of the topsoil (photo:
Conleth Hanlon).
Fig. 7. Part of the western trench after excavation. In the trench there were clear impressions of posts which were stabilized with large amounts of stone (photo:
Björn Wallebom).
standing or laying stones. A larger area without stones in the middle of the feature may have been the site of a larger block. The stone packing forms an open but nevertheless defined space in the palisade. However, the function of the structure is not known.
It is perfectly obvious that the dolmens and the trenches were constructed in relation to each other. The dolmens were clearly oriented along and on either side of the trenches (Fig. 8 and 9). The trenches are thus not a limit in the sense of an enclosure. Based on this, our initial interpretation was that the structure could be part of a palisade-lined road that passes through the burial area (Andersson and Nilsson 2009; Andersson and Wallebom 2011a). Perhaps a processional road or a way to distinguish the living passers-by from the dead in the graves.
The link between more or less magnificent graves, often from several different periods, and particularly important pieces of road is well substantiated today in archaeology (cf. e.g. Rudebeck 2002). The palisade follows the course of the old highway between Trelleborg and Malmö that goes back at least to the seventeenth century. It is striking that there are several dolmens right beside this highway.
The highway is possibly an ancient transport route linking the megalithic tombs in the area. According to our initial idea, the palisade at Döserygg, in this perspective, could be a part of this route which was given this monumental design where it passed the tombs. It is worth noting, moreover, that the site is at the location of a fork in the road. Junctions and crossroads have been natural meeting places and have often been symbolically charged sites (cf. Rudebeck 2002).
However, after the two seasons of contract archaeology in 2007 and 2008, two smaller complementary research excavations have been conducted in the vicinity to the Döserygg site. The site was excavated during two days in the late summer
Fig. 8. Part of the excavated area viewed from the west. In the foreground and beside the palisade, two dolmens are being excavated. The palisade trenches can be discerned between them (photo: Conleth Hanlon).
of 2009 (Andersson and Wallebom 2011b) and for a period of five days in the autumn of 2011 (Andersson and Wallebom in press). The aim of the excavations were primarily to investigate the direction of the two palisade trenches to the south, outside the already excavated area, on the other side of the old motorway.
In this respect, the excavation in 2009 was not successful, although the remains of yet another dolmen were discovered. In 2011 we finally rediscovered the palisade trenches and were also able to follow them for another 95 m in an eastward direction. However, we did not have the opportunity to continue the excavation at this time. Although it is still open for discussion whether the palisade trenches will turn to the south (as it turns to the north in the northern part of the excavation area, see Fig. 9), in a course to other megaliths situated in the southern region, the most reasonable interpretation is that it crosses the ridge and in fact forms an unusual type of early Neolithic enclosure, similar to those unearthed for example in Sarup, Denmark (cf. e.g. Andersen 1997; 1999a; 1999b). To find out the answer,
Fig. 9. Schematic plan of the excavated area, marking the dolmens, the palisade, and other features (illustration: Henrik Pihl).
the intent is now to continue the research in the autumn of 2012, and follow the palisade trenches both to the south and to the north of the site.
Stones in lines and other stone structures
Clearly oriented along the palisade there were also several rectangular and continuous ditch-like dark features which followed the palisade along the whole edge of the western palisade trench. Looking at the plan of the site, these ditches are very similar to the so called system-ditches. These were made use of at many enclosed structures in the European Neolithic in the second half of the 5th millennium and throughout the 4th millennium BC (cf. Andersen 1997, 284ff.). However, in most parts the ditches within the excavated area at Döserygg, showed few similarities with the character of system-ditches as seen at Sarup and other enclosed sites. The ditches proved to have very few finds, almost none, but they did contain foundations for and impressions left by large stones which had been raised upright along the palisade. The impressions were of exactly the same character, with packing stones and homogenous filling, as the impressions of the kerbstones and chamberstones in the dolmens. The impressions of stones in the ditches tended to be distributed in groups of two and four, but they also occurred in continuous longer series of seven to ten (Fig. 10). The size varied from 0.5 m up to over 1 m in diameter. The number amounted to at least 300 within the excavated area alone.
The phenomenon of standing stones in long rows like this was not previously known in Scandinavia. The closest parallels can be found in the British Isles and in France, with sites like Avebury (e.g. Gillings et al. 2008;
Harding 2003; Smith 1965) and Carnac (e.g. Burl 1993; Roughley et al. 2002).
Foundations for and impressions left by standing stones are now known not just along the palisade but at several places in the excavated area. They were found both as solitaries and in groups, for instance at and around the burial monuments.
Fig. 10. Plan and section of one of the ditches with a series of ten impressions of stones (illustration: Björn Wallebom).
In some places the fallen stones were even lying where they once stood. Perhaps they served as dividers or boundary markers between the dolmens, as some kind of plot borders for the graves of different farms or families.
A boundary between land and water
Döserygg is located on a former ridge that once had wetlands on either side.
Today we cannot see any traces of the wetland since it has been drained. On the former shoreline we found several interesting things. These included a long, narrow stone packing of varying density, well-laid in places in recurrent square formations, constituting a boundary between land and water (Fig.
11). We were able to follow it in every place where the former wetland was included in the excavated area, corresponding to a stretch of almost 500 m.
Beside the stone packing there were some places with small stone foundations sticking out into the former wetland. It is possible that there were jetties here.
The most bewildering thing about the stone packing was that it cut across the palisade at a couple of places. At the same time the trenches for the palisade could be clearly discerned at the intersections, which suggests that the palisade existed when the stone packing was laid. The function is not entirely obvious, but the stratigraphic conditions suggest that the stone packing was constructed after the palisade and the dolmens, but still during the time when the site was actively used. The interpretation that is currently preferred is that this was constructed in connection with a flood as an attempt to save the structures close to the wetland from the rising water level.
Fig. 11. Part of the stone packing on the former shoreline viewed from the south (photo: Anders Edring).
Wet and dry deposits
In the wetland we discovered several finds that can be dated to the Neolithic.
They were above all objects of flint, including several flint axes and large numbers of scrapers, some of which had been subjected to destruction or had been burned to pieces. In the central part of the excavated area, where one of the dolmens was adjacent to the edge of the wetland, we found, right beside the dolmen, out in the wetland, a deposit of two pots containing burnt animal bones. The pottery is of early Funnel Beaker type with simple impressions under the rim and can be dated to the start of the Neolithic. Beside the pot there were numerous flint objects, including several concentrations of scrapers.
We interpret the finds from the wetland as deliberate depositions or sacrifices.
The phenomenon of votive deposits in wetlands is known from much of prehistory, not least the Neolithic. Moreover, cultic and votive sites with deposits in wetland increase significantly at the start of the Neolithic, simultaneously with the start of megalithic tomb construction in southern Scandinavia (Andersson 2004b, 187ff.;
The phenomenon of votive deposits in wetlands is known from much of prehistory, not least the Neolithic. Moreover, cultic and votive sites with deposits in wetland increase significantly at the start of the Neolithic, simultaneously with the start of megalithic tomb construction in southern Scandinavia (Andersson 2004b, 187ff.;