Knøsen
Also known asØrby Runddysse
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
Photo Christoph Rieder · CC0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Knøsen, also called Ørby Runddysse, is a passage grave (jættestue) built of red granite near Vorres Hage on the east coast of the island of Samsø, Denmark, 2 km north of the south-eastern tip of the island. It dates to the Neolithic, about 3500-2800 BCE, and is a megalithic monument of the Funnel Beaker culture. It is a protected ancient monument.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
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.
Article
Knøsen
0 metre high, and the gaps between the supporting stones are filled with dry-stone walling.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
The oval burial chamber lies in a round mound about 1.5 metres high with a diameter of about 13 metres. The chamber consists of six supporting stones and a large capstone. The capstone carries cup marks on its western part and measures about 3.0 metres in length, 2.3 metres in width and 0.7 metres in thickness.
The chamber is about 2.1 metres long, 2.0 metres wide and 1.0 metre high, and the gaps between the supporting stones are filled with dry-stone walling. The entrance to the passage is on the south-eastern side of the chamber. The passage is 1.6 metres long and 0.6 metres wide and consists of four side stones with dry-stone walling between them. The burial mound Vorhøj lies 250 m to the north.
NameSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
The name Knøsen means "lad" (Danish knægt).
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
The monument was described as early as 1758 by Lauritz de Thurah. It was restored in 1930 by Julius Raklev (1878-1960).
FolkloreSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
According to a local legend, the capstone was thrown to the site by the giant of Røsnæs on Zealand.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
Denmark's megalithic tombs belong to the Funnel Beaker culture of the fourth millennium BCE. They fall into two main kinds, dolmens (dysser) and the larger passage graves, which have a long passage leading into a chamber. Nordic megalith architecture emerged mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Danish dolmens and passage graves (dysser and jættestuer)
Denmark's megalithic tombs belong to the Funnel Beaker culture of the fourth millennium BCE. They fall into two main kinds, dolmens (dysser) and the larger passage graves, with a long passage leading into a chamber. Nordic megalith architecture, the style found especially in Scandinavia and northern Germany, emerged mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE. In Scandinavia the sites are classed under general terms such as dolmens, passage graves and stone cists, in contrast with the many subtypes of the German tradition.
The great passage graves show how large these tombs could be. Kong Svends Høj on the island of Lolland is a large rectangular mound surrounded by kerbstones about 1.5 metres high, among the tallest recorded in a Neolithic tomb, and covers a chamber 12.5 metres long; the gable stones are almost 4 metres high. Excavation was first attempted there in 1780. Kong Asgers Høj on Møn has a chamber 10 metres long and 2 metres wide with a passage 7.5 metres long, and it was reused for secondary burial in the Corded Ware period. In 1839 the merchant Gustav Hage opened it hoping for treasure and found it empty.
Folklore: the king's names given to these graves come from later tradition and have nothing to do with the Neolithic builders. They show how people over the centuries explained monuments they could not date.
Dating combines radiocarbon dates on bone and charcoal in the chambers, pottery and the architecture. Many dolmens have lost their mounds, leaving the stone skeleton.
When visiting, look for the kerbstones around the base, the capstone and its supports, and the passage entrance.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Nordic megalith architecture, Wikipedia: Funnel beaker culture, Wikipedia: Kong Svends Høj, Wikipedia: Kong Asgers Høj, Wikipedia: Dolmen · CC BY-SA 4.0
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
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 dolmens in Denmark; this site has not been dated itself. Danish dolmens (dysser) 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
- 55°46′55″ N, 10°37′54″ EFor a GPS or map app: 55.78203, 10.63167
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.
Vorhøj3500–500 BCE
Ørby Huuslod Jættestue3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Mosemark Høj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Højenshage3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Øster Overdrev3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Øster Overdrev3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Brattingsborg3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Fredskov3500–500 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30150054wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- ØrbyRunddysseKnøsenC3.jpgChristoph RiederCC0
- ØrbyRunddysseKnøsenC4.jpgChristoph RiederCC0
- ØrbyRunddysseKnøsenC5.jpgChristoph RiederCC0
- ØrbyRunddysseKnøsenC2.jpgChristoph RiederCC0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Lore, kept apart
Legends and claims
These are stories and claims reported by the sources. They are not evidence, and they never stand in for the dating above.
- Tradition
For alternative betydninger, se Knøsen.
For alternative betydninger, se Knøsen. (Se også artikler, som begynder med Knøsen) Knøsen (også kaldet Ørby Runddysse) er en jættestue opført af rød granit nær Vorres Hage på Samsøs østkyst, 2 km nord for øens sydøstspids. Anlægget stammer fra yngre stenalder, ca. 3500–2800 f.Kr., og er et megalitanlæg fra tragtbægerkulturen. Navnet Knøsen betyder "knægt". Allerede i 1758 blev anlægget beskrevet af Lauritz de Thurah. Det blev restaureret i 1930 af Julius Raklev (1878–1960). Det ovale gravkammer ligger i en cirka 1,5 meter høj rundhøj med en diameter på omkring 13 meter. Kammeret består af seks bæresten og en stor dæksten. Dækstenen har skåltegn på den vestlige del og måler omkring 3,0 meter i længden, 2,3 meter i bredden og 0,7 meter i tykkelsen. Gravkammeret er omkring 2,1 meter langt, 2,0 meter bredt og 1,0 meter højt. Mellemrummene mellem bærestenene er udfyldt med tørmur. I kammerets sydøstlige side findes indgangen til gangen. Gangen er 1,6 meter lang og 0,6 meter bred. Den består af fire sidesten med tørmur mellem stenene. Ifølge et lokalt sagn blev dækstenen kastet hertil af kæmpen fra Røsnæs på Sjælland. 250 m nord herfor findes gravhøjen Vorhøj.
Source
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Knøsen (Samsø)" (Danish), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (Danish): Knøsen (Samsø)CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q30150054CC0