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Overview
About this site
Overview
Stenstuen (also called Mjels Dysse, Stenstuen Ferslev or DKC 120102-SB 7, German Steinstube, stone room) is a dolmen east of the Ellidshøj dolmen and south-east of the hamlet of Mjels, south of Aalborg in the Region of Nordjylland, Denmark. It dates from the Neolithic, about 3500 to 2800 BCE, and is a megalithic monument of the Funnel Beaker culture.
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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
Stenstuen
The chamber consists of five supporting stones and a large capstone bearing more than 24 cup marks.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stenstuen (Mjels)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stenstuen (Mjels)CC BY-SA 4.0
The well-preserved hexagonal polygonal dolmen is partly embedded in the remains of a damaged long mound (langdysse) that still measures about 15.0 × 20.0 m. The chamber consists of five supporting stones and a large capstone bearing more than 24 cup marks. The entrance to the chamber lies in the south. Two passage stones and three kerbstones of the mound survive.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stenstuen (Mjels)CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stenstuen (Mjels)CC BY-SA 4.0
In Denmark and southern Sweden long barrows typically used stone in their construction. 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.
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
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 2800 BCE
Der Dolmen stammt aus der Jungsteinzeit etwa 3500–2800 v. Chr. und ist eine Megalithanlage der Trichterbecherkultur (TBK).
Source
Photographs
5 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
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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
- 56°55′22″ N, 9°55′09″ EFor a GPS or map app: 56.92287, 9.91911
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)Ferslev3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Ørnhøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Volsted3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Volsted3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Gunderup3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Klausbjerg3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Følhøj3500–500 BCE
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Volsted3500–500 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30119287wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Stenstuen (Mjels) H2.jpgHelge Klaus RiederCC0
- Stenstuen (Mjels) H1a.jpgHelge Klaus RiederCC0
- Stenstuen (Mjels) H3.jpgHelge Klaus RiederCC0
- Stenstuen (Mjels) H4x.jpgHelge Klaus RiederCC0
- Stenstuen (Mjels) H6.jpgHelge Klaus RiederCC0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Stenstuen (Mjels)" (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): Stenstuen (Mjels)CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q30119287CC0