Passage tomb (passage grave)The Copper Age
Stendyssegård
DatedEst. 3500–2800 BCE
No licensed photograph yetWe have no photograph we may publish for this site, so the interpretive 3D view leads instead.
Overview
About this site
Overview
Stendyssegård, also known as Tørslev Marker Jættestue, is a passage grave of the Neolithic Northern Group of the Funnel Beaker culture, in Gerlev parish, Frederikssund Municipality, Denmark. It is a protected ancient monument, dated by typological estimate to between 3500 and 2800 BCE.
Two passage-grave chambers stand about 8 m apart. The mound that once covered them has been completely removed.
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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
Stendyssegård
The grave lies south-west of Tørslev and north-east of the small settlement of Birkely, on the southern edge of a small wooded area.
SettingSources for this section
Sources for this section
The grave lies south-west of Tørslev and north-east of the small settlement of Birkely, on the southern edge of a small wooded area.
DescriptionSources for this section
Sources for this section
The monument originally had a probably round mound, which has been completely removed, and no remains of a possible kerb survive. Two chambers stand about 8 m apart, and both are classed as passage graves.
The southern chamber is oriented north-east to south-west and has an oval plan, 4.4 m long and 2.1 m wide. It consists of ten wall stones; of three original capstones, one survives. The entrance is in the middle of the south-eastern long side, and in front of it lies a passage oriented north-west to south-east, at least 1.5 m long and between 0.6 and 0.7 m wide. The passage has six wall stones and one capstone.
The northern chamber is also oriented north-east to south-west and has an oval plan, 4.9 m long and 2.2 m wide. It originally had eleven wall stones, of which nine survive, and five capstones, of which three survive. Its entrance is likewise in the middle of the south-eastern long side. The passage in front of it is so badly destroyed that its dimensions can no longer be determined, and only one of its wall stones is visible.
Research historySources for this section
Sources for this section
Staff of the National Museum of Denmark documented the site in 1873 and 1942, and staff of the Forest and Nature Agency carried out a further documentation in 1984.
ContextSources for this section
Sources for this section
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. Passage graves are one of the main types of Nordic megalith architecture, which emerged mainly between 3500 and 2800 BCE.
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
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°48′24″ N, 12°00′41″ EFor a GPS or map app: 55.80671, 12.01143
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)Gadehøj3500–500 BCE
Møllehøj3500–2800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Vihøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic long barrowOnsved Marker3500–2800 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Maglehøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Hesselhøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Bjerren3500–500 BCE
- Passage tomb (passage grave)Drysagerdys3500–2800 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30146895wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Großsteingrab Stendyssegård (Frederikssund Kommune)" (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