Frejlev Langdysse
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
Photo Praeceptor · CC BY-SA 3.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
What the sources say
The megalithic long barrow known as Frejlev Langdysse lies in Guldborgsund Municipality, Denmark. Its entries are Wikidata item Q30109539; the position in the catalogue is 54.7022° N, 11.7883° E.
Built from structured records, not from an articleSources and licences
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
The full article
About Frejlev Langdysse
This kind of monument hereSources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
Further north, the long barrow tradition took its own form. In Denmark and southern Sweden the long barrows typically used stone in their construction, and in the Netherlands and northern Germany they also used stone where it was available. The long barrows in parts of Poland are typically earthen rather than megalithic. They belong to the Funnel Beaker culture, and the architecture of Scandinavia and northern Germany, called Nordic megalith architecture, appeared mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE. Further down this page, About this kind of monument gives the whole of “Northern European long barrows (langdysser)”.
DatingSources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
The Atlas shows 3500 BCE to 2800 BCE for this site, but that is a regional estimate for this kind of monument, not a date for this particular megalithic long barrow. No excavation, radiocarbon sample or other measurement is recorded for it, so the real age could fall anywhere within the range, or outside it.
The range rests on this regional background (source: the Wikipedia article “Nordic megalith architecture”): Danish long barrows (langhoje) belong to the Nordic megalith tradition which emerged predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC.
Landscape and neighbours
Counting outward from Frejlev Langdysse, there are 4 catalogued sites within 1 km, 77 within 5 km and 220 within 10 km, and 11 of them are also classed as megalithic long barrow. That puts it inside a dense cluster of monuments. It is one of 15 megalithic long barrow records among the 39 sites catalogued in Guldborgsund Municipality, Denmark.
Nearest to it are Freilev (0.6 km north-east, megalithic mound); Freilev (0.7 km north-east, megalithic mound); Freilev (0.8 km north-east, megalithic mound); Boyes Høj (0.9 km east, passage tomb). The catalogue is assembled from open records and is not complete, so unrecorded monuments may lie closer.
Records and protectionSources for this section
Sources for this section
Wikidata lists the site with the heritage status protected ancient monument in Denmark. The open records for it are Wikidata (Q30109539), where corrections and further identifiers can be added. Access varies from open common land to private fields; check local access rules, ask where needed, and take care not to damage the monument.
How this page was madeSources for this section
Sources for this section
This page was built automatically from Wikidata (CC0), the heritage register named above and the regional article “Northern European long barrows (langdysser)”, written for the Atlas from the Wikipedia articles it cites (CC BY-SA 4.0), plus distances and counts computed from the catalogue coordinates. It contains no AI-written text.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Northern European long barrows (langdysser)
Further north, the long barrow tradition took its own form. In Denmark and southern Sweden the long barrows typically used stone in their construction, and in the Netherlands and northern Germany they also used stone where it was available. The long barrows in parts of Poland are typically earthen rather than megalithic. They belong to the Funnel Beaker culture, and the architecture of Scandinavia and northern Germany, called Nordic megalith architecture, appeared mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern many dolmens lie inside a trapezoid frame of standing stones that the Germans call a Hünenbett, "giants' bed". Excavators there recognise the "unchambered long barrow" as a type of its own, along with simple dolmens, extended dolmens, passage graves and stone cists.
The purpose of early Neolithic long barrows is not known, though archaeologists can make suggestions based on recurring patterns. One argument is that they were religious sites, perhaps erected as part of a system of ancestor veneration; an alternative is that they were primarily economic or territorial markers.
Folklore: the German name Hünenbett, "giants' bed", reflects the old belief that giants lay in such graves. The barrows were in fact built by Neolithic farmers.
Dating relies on pottery and on radiocarbon dates from the few that have been excavated.
When visiting, look for the long outline of the mound, any kerbstones, and the chambers within it.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Long barrow, Wikipedia: Nordic megalith architecture, Wikipedia: Megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Wikipedia: Funnel beaker culture · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
4 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 3500–2800 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for megalithic long barrows in Denmark; this site has not been dated itself. Danish long barrows (langhoje) belong to the Nordic megalith tradition which emerged predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
Denmark
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 54°42′08″ N, 11°47′18″ EFor a GPS or map app: 54.70222, 11.78829
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Freilev3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Freilev3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Freilev3500–500 BCE
Boyes Høj3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Frejlev Skov3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Frejlev Skov3500–500 BCE
Råhøj3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Frejlev Skov3500–500 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30109539wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Frejlev Langdysse-1.jpgPraeceptorCC BY-SA 3.0
- Frejlev Langdysse-2.jpgPraeceptorCC BY-SA 3.0
- Frejlev Langdysse-3.jpgPraeceptorCC BY-SA 3.0
- Frejlev Langdysse-4.jpgPraeceptorCC BY-SA 3.0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
This page is assembled from open records (Wikidata, CC0; OpenStreetMap, ODbL) and a tradition article paraphrasing Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). No article exists for this site, and nothing here is written by a model.
- Wikidata Q30109539CC0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0