Section of a barrow at Barsebäck investigated during the 1930s (Andersson 2017)

Truls Hoj – A Passage Grave and Related Monuments

Main Article Content

Magnus Andersson

Abstract

According to an old oral tradition, there were once two burial mounds in the south-western part of Barsebäck foreland in west Scania in southern Sweden. No traces of the mounds have been seen above the topsoil. Since Svenska Kraftnät AB (an electricity transmission system operator in Sweden) planned to build a new substation in the area, we archaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the truth of the oral tradition. When the topsoil was stripped off by machine an area with stone impressions in earth and stone packings was revealed. The subsequent manual excavation revealed that the structure constituted the bottom layer of a destroyed and ploughed-out passage grave. Later years of agricultural work have seriously damaged the structure, but traces of two border chains, a chamber and the passage as well as a pit could be discerned. Previous years’ archaeological investigations have only investigated surfaces around dolmens. At Barsebäck the picture is supplemented because this is the first time we could also study larger areas around a passage grave. The monument at the location, just like the dolmens in other places, was surrounded by ritual activities, in the form of façades (standing stones), a cult house and a flat-earth grave. This article presents the site and the remains are placed in a Scandinavian perspective.

Article Details

How to Cite
Andersson 2017: M. Andersson, Truls Hoj – A Passage Grave and Related Monuments. JNA 19, 2017, 29–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12766/jna.2017.2.