Overview
About this site
Overview
The Langdysse of Raklev is a long barrow with the remains of three dolmens, roughly oriented west to east, at Raklev, a suburb of Kalundborg on the island of Zealand, Denmark. It was built between 3500 and 2800 BCE as a megalithic tomb of the Funnel Beaker culture and is a protected ancient monument.
Only scattered kerbstones remain around the barrow, and the best-preserved chamber retains two supporting stones and an end stone.
Read on Wikipedia1 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
Raklev dysse
Beside the best-preserved chamber lies part of a capstone with cup marks; it shows traces of attempts to blast it.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
The long barrow has only scattered kerbstones. Beside the best-preserved chamber lies part of a capstone with cup marks; it shows traces of attempts to blast it. Three large stones stand 40 to 50 cm out of the ground on the barrow and are the remains of former chambers.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
Several other monuments lie in the same locality: the Raklev Vriedysse, an Urdolmen; the Raklev Underdyssen, another long dolmen with three chambers; the Nostrup Runddysse (also called Kildekærgaard); the Slåenhøj; and the Raklev Troldedysse.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC 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.
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
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 2800 BCE
Die Anlage entstand zwischen 3500 und 2800 v. Chr. als Großsteingrab der Trichterbecherkultur (TBK).
Source
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
2 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
.jpg){kind=link}
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°41′54″ N, 11°03′44″ EFor a GPS or map app: 55.69841, 11.06211
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)Skydhøj3500–500 BCE
- DolmenTroldedyssen3500–2800 BCE
- DolmenVriedysse3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Tornebjerg-Banken3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ulfshøj3500–500 BCE
- Passage tomb (passage grave)Slåenhøj3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ahlhøje3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ahlhøje3500–500 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q25379048wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Lundbye, Johan Thomas - En gravhøj fra oldtiden ved Raklev på Refsnæs.jpgJohan Thomas LundbyeCC0
- Dysse i Raklev (8960447886).jpgJacob KornerupCC BY-SA 2.0
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
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Langdysse von Raklev" (German), 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 (German): Langdysse von RaklevCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q25379048CC0