Skelhøj

Facts

Bronze Age cooperative building

By Flemming Kaul, Museumsinspektør, mag. art. (31 stories)

Near Tobøl lies a very large Bronze Age burial mound called Skelhøj, built in about 1350 BC. Several settlements from the same time have been registered on the opposite bank of the river Kongeåen. When Skelhøj was excavated in 2002-2004, it turned out to be built of grass turf piled up, grass side down. It was also clearly divided into several sections reflecting the work of various teams of builders. People from various farms had worked together and everything had been carefully planned. Each team had its own road and ramps into the building and collected grass turf from a different part of the landscape.

Public place

Selected entry

Radiant burial mound

Story written by Flemming Kaul

Time / Periode -1350

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The burial mound was surrounded by a border of stones. Between them and the burial mound itself, rows of hand-size stones had been put radiating out from the centre. Archaeologists found several layers of these small stones, which suggests that they were replaced again and again. The placement of stones could reflect repeated rituals, and the stones could have been intended as a magic image of the sun's rays. The burial mound may be a reflection of the firmament, while the edge of the burial mound marked the sun and its rays and power that brought new life to the dead. Heaven, earth and the force of the sun were united for the dead and the living when the sun's rays were recreated by replacing the small stones time after time.