Passage tomb (passage grave)The Copper Age
Rishøj
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
Photo Patsimm · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Rishøj (Danish Rishøj jættestue) is a well-preserved passage grave in the hilly moraine landscape of Ronesbanke, near Ammendrup, south of Præstø on the Danish island of Zealand. It dates from the Neolithic, about 3000 BCE, and is a megalithic monument of the Funnel Beaker culture.
The chamber is about 6.5 metres long and the passage about 6.0 metres long. The grave was excavated by local farmers in 1816, who found nothing, and was protected in 1908.
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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
Rishøj
The surface of the supporting stones, levelled with shims, carries the four large stones that form the chamber roof together with the two somewhat smaller capstones at the north end.
DescriptionSources for this section
Sources for this section
Rishøj was first described in 1876. The particularly dry walls, with infill masonry between the supporting stones and flat stones above the chamber, were already noted, as was the paved chamber floor, which can no longer be seen. The surface of the supporting stones, levelled with shims, carries the four large stones that form the chamber roof together with the two somewhat smaller capstones at the north end.
The chamber is about 6.5 metres long, oriented southwest to northeast, and is formed by 14 supporting stones that lean slightly inwards. The passage, about 6.0 metres long and pointing southeast, opens into the middle of the chamber. There was formerly a small entrance closed by a stone or a wooden door. Except for the two innermost, the infill slabs of the passage are missing. The kerbstones that enclosed the high mound are not visible but may be hidden by the slipped mound.
SettingSources for this section
Sources for this section
The grave did not stand alone on the moraine hill. Seven further monuments, now vanished, are known from the register of the National Museum. A hill of the same name with three passage graves lies in Lejre municipality, and a burial mound of that name lies in Holstebro municipality.
HistorySources for this section
Sources for this section
According to information held by the National Museum from 1876, local farmers excavated the grave in 1816 in search of valuables, but found nothing. An old legend tells that a chieftain and his horse were buried in the mound.
ConservationSources for this section
Sources for this section
Rishøj was placed under protection in 1908 and restored in 1912. In 2005 the chamber was made more easily accessible.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Scandinavian passage graves
In Denmark and Sweden the passage grave is the grandest form of the Funnel Beaker culture's megalithic tombs. A passage grave has a chamber under a mound, entered by a long passage of large stones. Nordic megalith architecture, the style of Scandinavia and northern Germany, emerged mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE, and passage graves are one of its main types alongside dolmens, long barrows and stone cists.
Kong Asgers Høj on the Danish island of Møn is one of the best known. Its chamber is 10 metres long and 2 metres wide, with a passage 7.5 metres long. This kind of grave is found primarily in Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia, and only occasionally in France and the Netherlands. The tomb is structurally untouched since ancient times, though it may have been cleared at some time, and it was reused for secondary burial in the Corded Ware period. Passage graves were often used for generations. At Frälsegården in Sweden, genetic analysis of several dozen buried individuals suggests that the dead were largely male descendants of one ancestor, with women who had married in from outside, so such a tomb could belong to an extended family.
The passage grave tradition is thought to have originated in Brittany and been spread to other regions by colonists, a view found in the wider literature but one that remains debated.
Dating of Scandinavian tombs relies on the pottery of the Funnel Beaker culture and on radiocarbon dates from bone.
When visiting, look at the size of the capstones over the chamber, the kerbstones around the mound, and the line of the passage.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Passage grave, Wikipedia: Nordic megalith architecture, Wikipedia: Funnel beaker culture, Wikipedia: Kong Asgers Høj · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 3000 BCE
Der Rishøj stammt aus der Jungsteinzeit etwa 3000 v. Chr. und ist eine Megalithanlage der Trichterbecherkultur (TBK).
Source - 1876
Das Ganggrab Rishøj wird 1876 zum ersten Mal beschrieben, und die besonders trockenen Wände mit dem Zwischenmauerwerk zwischen den Tragsteinen und die flachen Steine über der Kammer werden bereits bemerkt.
Source - 1876
Die Informationen des Nationalmuseums von 1876 besagen, dass das Ganggrab 1816 von lokalen Bauern auf der Suche nach Kostbarkeiten ausgegraben wurde – aber sie fanden nichts.
Source - 1908
Der Rishøj wurde 1908 unter Schutz gestellt und 1912 restauriert.
Source - 2005
2005 wurde die Kammer leichter zugänglich gemacht.
Source
Photographs
3 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 passage tombs in Denmark; this site has not been dated itself. Danish passage graves 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°05′10″ N, 12°01′04″ EFor a GPS or map app: 55.08618, 12.01785
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)Beldringe3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Beldringe3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Teglstrup Skov3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Beldringegaards Jorder3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Mørkehøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Beldringegaards Jorder3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ammendrup3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ugledige3500–500 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30145183wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
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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
Das Ganggrab Rishøj wird 1876 zum ersten Mal beschrieben, und die besonders trockenen Wände mit dem Zwischenmauerwerk zwischen den Tragsteinen und die flachen Steine über der Kammer werden bereits bemerkt.
Das Ganggrab Rishøj wird 1876 zum ersten Mal beschrieben, und die besonders trockenen Wände mit dem Zwischenmauerwerk zwischen den Tragsteinen und die flachen Steine über der Kammer werden bereits bemerkt. Ebenso der gepflasterte Kammerboden, der heute nicht mehr zu sehen ist. Die durch Zwischenlagen eben gemachte Oberfläche der Tragsteine bildet die Auflagefläche für die vier großen Steine, die mit den beiden etwas kleineren Decksteinen am Nordende die Kammerdecke bilden. Die etwa 6,5 m lange, Südwest-Nordost orientierte Kammer wird von 14 leicht einwärts geneigten Tragsteinen gebildet. In der Kammermitte mündet der etwa 6,0 m lange, nach Südosten weisende Gang. Hier gab es früher einen kleinen Zugang, der durch einen Stein oder eine Holztür verschlossen war. Mit Ausnahme der beiden inneren fehlen die Platten der Zwischenmauerwerke im Gang. Die Randsteine, die den hohen Hügel eingeschlossen, sind nicht sichtbar, können aber durch den abgerutschten Hügel verdeckt sein. Die Informationen des Nationalmuseums von 1876 besagen, dass das Ganggrab 1816 von lokalen Bauern auf der Suche nach Kostbarkeiten ausgegraben wurde – aber sie fanden nichts. Eine alte Sage erzählt, dass ein Häuptling und sein Pferd in dem Hügel begraben wurden. Der Rishøj wurde 1908 unter Schutz gestellt und 1912 restauriert. 2005 wurde die Kammer leichter zugänglich gemacht.
Source
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ganggrab Rishøj (Vordingborg)" (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