Previous Home Next

Added September 18, 1999. Updated April 25, 2006, 11:47 hours.

  • Figures are complete. If no figures are visible, it is a browser problem
  • The conversion caused problems with the footnote links.


The dissertation has a copyright. Please give proper credit when quoting its content.

A SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF MEGALITHIC TOMBS

                                                                                                   5. ALTERNATIVE MEGALITHIC TOMB ORIGIN THEORIES

By

Maximilian O. Baldia 1993, 1995, 1999-April 25, 2006©
All rights reserved

 

 

 

5.1         Introduction

Egypt, Greece, the Cyclades, Iberia, Brittany, the Paris Basin, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe have all been considered as centers of megalithic tomb origin (e.g. Daniel 1958, Fischer 1979a, Midgley 1985). Clearly, the TRB burial architecture is controversial. Archaeologists  are divided into three major camps, subscribing to a Western, Eastern, and a Northern European or autochthonous place of origin. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate these theories.

 

 

Figure 5.1. Idealized megalithic tomb distribution (after Fischer 1979 and Kowalczyk 1970). Atlantic tombs = chambers with long passage. Note that there are several problems with this map. 1. The Scandinavian TRB boundary should include the Island of Gotland and Oslo Bay, where megalithic tombs are found. 2. The entire coastal region of Norway ,up to Trondheim, may also be included in the TRB boundary based on various TRB-like artifacts. 3. In the south, the boundary needs to be expanded to include Austrian Baalberge pottery and there are similarities between the TRB and the Mondsee pottery. 4. The connection between the Paris Basin tombs and the German gallery-graves is based on only a few tombs, most of which are undated, have later dates than the TRB tombs, and are of uncertain cultural affiliation.  5. The location of megalithic tombs must be extended beyond the Oder River, because there are numerous megalithic tombs in Poland (and in the Czech Republic?).

5.2         The Western Origin Theories 

A myriad of arguments for the western origin of megalithic tombs have been circulated over the centuries. Many of them have been outlined by Daniel (1958, 1980).  U. Fischer (1979a) furnished one of the best documented surveys of the diverse architectural connections between TRB tombs and similar struc­tures in the west, while Schrickel (1966, 1976) did the same for the German gallery-graves.

Western Origin Theories have their roots in Goguet's view that northern Europe was always cul­turally retarded when compared to the Mediterranean. Thus Montelius concluded in 1899 that the eastern Mediterranean was the most logical place of origin for megalithic tombs. The idea was taken to its logical extreme by G. Elliot Smith, who in 1911 proclaimed that  all megalithic structures came from the Nile. When the majority of antiquarians and archaeologists realized that the tombs predated the Roman Empire, a century old western mind-set still inhibited their acceptance of an autochthonous development (Daniel 1980:78). Instead it led to an alternative concept - the Theory of Diffusion. Thus even in the mid 20th Cen­tury, the diffusionists, led by V. G. Childe, expressed ideas developed a hundred years earlier by people like Wächter (1841:9).

Diffusionists imagined that people from Crete and the Aegean Islands introduced megalithic archi­tecture to Europe in form of a religious cult. Regional differences in architecture were simply attributed to different sects (Childe 1947:46) and local differences were dismissed as domestic peculiarities arising from latent indigenous traditions (cf. U. Fischer 1979a:27).

In the absence of a detailed chronology, architectural and cultural differences observable in the structure and content of the tombs often were overlooked as the myopic focus concentrated on general dis­tributions, lumping all sorts of structures together. Charts reminiscent of Westendorp's 1822 geographic tomb boundaries failed to take into account the actual locations, glossing over considerable gaps between regional tomb clusters (Fig. 5.1).[1] Based on such idealized maps it is still held that tombs occur no more than 400 km from the coast (e.g. Beier 1991a:28, U. Fischer 1979a:27). This observation legitimized the claim that tombs diffused from the eastern Mediterranean along the Atlantic coast (Daniel 1958; ­Ren­frew 1983:154 left hand map).  Yet in western Europe there is virtually no place more than 400 km from one ocean shore or another. Even TRB tombs are in an area, where the maximal distance from the center of Europe to the shore ranges only from 520 to 475 km (Fig. 5.2).

 

 

Figure 5.2. Maximum distances to coast from the center of Europe. Measurements based on the follow­ing: Bremerhaven-Genoa (1000 km) Bremerhaven-Venice (950 km), Travemünde-Venice (950 km), Trzebież -Trieste (900 km), Gadańsk-Trieste (1040 km). 

 

 

This is not to deny that human interaction was facilitated by the sea, encouraging the popularity of monumental tomb architecture, once established. But its origins appear in separate places at different times (Renfrew 1983a), when various cultures reached the necessary social complexity to warrant the expenditure of time and energy. In Brittany and the channel islands monumental tomb building may have started bet­ween 4800-4500 B.C. with humble graves and mounds (Boujot and Cassen 1993). This was followed by small dolmen-like structures that evolved into polygonal dolmen-like chambers, passage-graves, and gal­lery-graves (Fig. 5.3). In and around the western Baltic a similar process started five to eight centuries later, probably ending earlier than in the west, and having a different evolutionary trajectory.

The western oriented mindset led to overly zealous mapping procedures that favored western con­tinuity, reversing this trend in the east so that megalithic chambers were only recorded up to the Oder (Fig. 5.1).[2]  The megalithic chambers and stone-lined long-mounds to the east of that region were often ig­nored or seen as unrelated. Similarly, the southern and northern tombs were often neglected.[3] Daniel (1980:87-88) recalled the diffusionists' efforts to maintain their point of view even in light of new and contradictory facts:

Even in the days before carbon-14 dating it was becoming clear that the idea of ... deriving ... tombs ... from the domed subterranean tombs of Mycenae was chronologically impossible. As second line of defense the hypothesis was adjusted backward in time to the vaulted tombs of the Messara in Crete and the rock-cut tombs of the Cyclades. Now both carbon-14 and thermoluminesnece determinations show that European megalithic chambers antedate any collective tombs in the eastern Mediterranean.

These facts did not deter MacKie (1977a, b) to proclaim that wise men from predynastic Egypt and Meso­potamia built the tombs.

Renfrew (1973) pointed out that C14 dates made the diffusionist theory untenable. L'Helgouach (1973) used C14 dates to declare the passage-graves on the French Atlantic coast the oldest tombs and the center of origin for European monumental megalithic architecture. This matched with Giot's (1960) opinion that the tombs in Brittany developed from Mesolithic antecedents, leading ­Re­n­frew to consider primarily local origins,[4] but others now interpreted the antiquity of the tombs in Brittany to mean that the origins must be sought there (e.g. J. Müller 1987). The proposals can be divided into primary and secondary (indi­rect) western origins.

3.1.2         Primary Western Origin Theories

The primary western origin theories suggest that some if not all aspects of megalithic tomb archi­tecture must have reached the TRB culture area directly via France and/or the Atlantic coast. They focus on the two basic chamber types: the origin of dolmen and the origin of passage-graves.

 The Atlantic origin theory of dolmen rejects the Autochthonous Theory outright. It assumes that even the earliest megalithic TRB tombs must be derived from the west.

J. Müller (1987:72, Fig. 1) compiled C14 dates from northern European tombs, listing the inter­quartile C14 ranges for early tomb types: Amorican 3640-3030 b.c., British 3230-2560 b.c., Danish 3010-2655 b.c. Based solely on the C14 dates, he suggested a diffusion model starting from the Amorican region of the northern Biscay bay and adjacent west central France. Germany's gallery-graves were said to be derived from the Paris Basin in the “second half of the third millennium,” while other kinds of interactions (Wechselbeziehungen) influenced “Ireland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, North Germany and the Netherlands ... up to ca. 2400bc,” i.e. 3000 B.C. (J. Müller 1987:74).

He  placed blind faith in an insufficient number of C14 dates (ibid. 1987:73 Fig. 1), especially when dealing with the TRB. For Denmark he used nine dates from varying unspecified types of long-mounds and one lone date for a passage-grave. For Germany an interaquartile range without the number of C14 dates or any reference to a tomb is provided for dolmen. The same is true for Danish urdolmen, yet he stated that in Denmark the construction of the simple dolmen begins in the EN C at 3100bc (1987:72), i.e. ca. 3900 B.C. - a statement contradicted by P. O. Nielsen (1984) based on the earliest C14 date of a dolmen  (Ølstykke = 3600/3450 B.C.) in Denmark, where most archaeologists argue that the beginning to megalithic tomb construction dates to about 3400 B.C., as discussed elsewhere. No effort was made to develop a typology that explains the sudden appearance of Atlantic/Amorican passage-graves and their evolution into the several tomb types, including allees couvertes and Nordic dolmen, through time and space.  Nonetheless, Beier (1991a:21-22), referencing J. Müller's brief article, explains the German menhirs, gallery-graves and other structures as resulting from French impulses and attributes the dawning of collective burial practices (in the TRB's MN) to such western influences (ibid. 174).

 

 

Figure 5.3. Evolution of French tombs and ceramics (Boujot and Cassen 1993:489 Fig. 3).

 

The Atlantic origin of passage-graves accepts the Autochthonous Theory only for the original megalithic chambers (urdolmen). Consequently, it assumes that the custom of collective burials in passage- and gallery-graves is the key evidence for western influence (e.g. Beier 1991a, Clark and Piggott 1965/1970, Daniel 1958). The introduction of these new chamber types must have occurred after the true urdolmen with supposedly single interments were already built in the north (e.g. Knöll 1975:371). The initial construction of passage-graves, which, as it was argued, did not occur until the MN Ib, reinforced this view.[5]

TRB passage-graves with long passages were thought to be the oldest type (e.g. Kælas 1956, 1967) although they occur only in or near the TRB North Group, leaving a large, unexplained gap between them and Amorican tombs (Fig. 5.1). The diffusionist paradigm saw passage length as a genetic western trait and explained its occurrence in Scandinavia as follows: “Again, the Iberian Peninsula could have been the place of origin and the French coast along with Great Britain would have been intermediate locations.”[6] It was, therefore, assumed that long passages, together with collective burial practices, were introduced by sea (e.g. Daniel 1958, U. Fischer 1979a). The notion was reinforced by the previously men­tioned observation that megalithic tombs are within 400 km of the ocean.

There was yet another twist to the Western Origin Theory. It was based on the same preconcep­tions as those just outlined, but assumed that the TRB West Group's passage-graves were older than dol­men. These chambers were thought to be the only type in Netherland (cf. Bakker 1979a with references). Such a purity of type was viewed as evidence that the TRB West Group was the first place of introduction. The greater variety of chambers to the east and north was, therefore, seen as reduced contact leading to imperfect dupli­cation of the ideal chamber type.

This theoretical perspective received a further boost when it was observed that the West Group's passages (whose lack of length was overlooked) are sometimes funnel-shaped. The shapes is also found among a few long passages in Sweden. The trait was supposedly inherited from the long Atlantic passages in Brittany. But this funnel-shape is the functional result of trying to integrating the passage walls with the oval to kidney-shaped mound enclosures and/or accommodation of the ceremonial area. It seems to have developed separately in Sweden and the TRB West Group. Besides, there may be over 1200 uncalibrated C14 years difference between the building of the French and the TRB tombs with more or less funnel-shaped passage.[7] 

At the heart of this theory is the assumption that urdolmen were designed for a single supine, extended burial, in contrast to the passage-graves, which were supposedly designed for collective inter­ments (e.g. Beier 1991a:174-177, 191; Clark and Piggott 1965/1970:254). Whether or not dolmen were really designed for single interments is another question, because even though they usually contain no evidence of human interments at all, while some contain more than one individual, as described later. That passage-graves were ossuaries is controversial (cf. Grupe 1984, Knöll 1980, Raddatz 1979). Grupe (1984) observed that natural processes, including animal action, were responsible in the distribution of skeletal parts. Likewise, Bennike (1985b) attributed the disarticulated state of the skeletons in the passage-grave of Huldbjerg, southern Langeland, to natural decomposition and the addition of later interments, rather than culturally determined disarticulation of the body before or during interment.

Häusler accepted the traditional assumption that passage-graves and collective burials are derived from the west, seeing them mainly as ossuaries (Häusler 1992:291).  He contrasts this supposedly western custom of multiple burials with the traditional earth-graves, assuming that the earliest mound covered Baalberge and Salzmünde stone cists (Plattengräber and Blockkisten), and the Nordic urdolmen were also designed for single interments (Häusler 1992:291; 1994:47). Extended burials further occur in the Kujavian long-mounds (ibid. 1994:47). The northern part of the Central German Walternienburg culture likewise follows this tradition and in the gallery-graves of Hesse extended burials may also predominate (ibid. 1994:50). Häusler thus attributes the predominance of single, extended, supine burials, commonly found in the disparate earth-graves of the TRB, to a Mesolithic substratum.

In German the gallery-graves, such as Altendorf, extended burials predominated, but piled up skulls, perhaps from earlier interments, were frequently found, especially near the sides of the chambers (Jordan 1954, Kappel 1979:25-31, Fig. 22-28). Likewise, fifteen skulls and numerous long bones were piled near the northeast side wall of the four-yoke passage-grave Sieben Steinhäuser 807/B.[8] This has suggested to Laux that the gallery-grave builders from the Hercynian Zone were interred in this TRB tomb (Laux 1991:51-52). But a similar pile occurs in the closed urdolmen of Hjortgårde 9 (Fig. 8.2), probably indicating that this practice occurred in Scandinavia as early as the EN C, which would negate a western origin of this custom.

Laux further presumes that Passage-grave 810/D (ID 3703; Fig. 7.1, 10) was constructed in imita­tion of Loire-type dolmen and similar forms in Brittany (Laux 1991:51). His view is based on the chamber form and the selection of angular quartzite blocks that could imitate the limestone slabs used in the French tombs. But the use of thin limestone-like slabs together with some granite erratics is also common in the Falbygden area of Sweden, so that the architecture was most likely dictated by local raw materials rather than ill-defined long-distance cultural influences. Therefore, a simpler solution is that Tomb D may have been constructed first when the most ideal construction material, including the oversized, flat capstone were readily available. Moreover, having to cope with leftovers would explain the undersized third capstone of the largest and presumably latest 4+4 side-stone passage-grave B. An identical capstone arrangement can also be found in the northern Falbygden area at Axval, Skärv 81, which is part of a loose group of three tombs (Rooseveltsson 1992). This may confirm Weber's (1993a) model predicting that architectural changes would be dictated by changes in the availability of raw material.

Laux points out that the extra-wide Karlsteine near Osnabrück are made of sandstone, while others consist of the heavier and bulkier glacial erratics. Thus Laux sees the origin of the so-called extra wide passage-graves in the Loire-type dolmen (Laux 1991:58-59). How and why these dolmen evolve into pas­sage-graves is not explained in the literature, and similarly wide chambers occur as far away as Sweden. In fact, the mean width the six largest passage-graves in the current data base actually exceeds that of the gallery-graves. In addition, the width of both chamber types fit into the range of TRB tombs, implying a single statistical population. Generally, the determining factor for capstone dimensions was not the size, but rather the weight, leading to wider passage-graves in Västergötland and western Lower Saxony, as well as the wide gallery-graves in the Hercynian Zone. Last, but not least, the physical evidence for a geographic and chronological relationship between German and French gallery-graves, to be analyzed later, is exceed­ingly speculative.

3.2.2        Secondary Western Origin Theories.

Rössen and  Michelsberg are traditionally defined as western cultures. Theoretically, they could have influenced the development of TRB tombs and gallery-graves.

Rössen Origins: Bosinski (1961:171-185) discussed the possibility that many if not most German menhirs and certain megalithic chambers are associated with the Rössen culture. A logical extension of his ideas would mean that the gallery-graves and perhaps even the megalithic tombs of the TRB have their roots in the subterranean tombs of the Rössen culture.

Bosinski excavated the vicinity of the ca. 1.20 m high menhir in Einselthum. He found several stone artifacts and features which could have been associated with the menhir. These included a stone pavement, post holes, evidence of fire, several poorly preserved bones, including pig bones, teeth, pits, and what could be interpreted as a megalithic chamber (Fig. 5.4). The dimensions fall in the range of the Nordic urdolmen. An undecorated Rössen globular pot was found. Most sherds belong to the older Rössen.

 

Figure 5.4.  Megalithic-like reconstructed chamber at the Langer Stein menhir by Einselthum, Kr. Kirch­heimbolanden, Germany (1.8-1.6:1.1-0.9:0.8-0.6 m), possibly dated to the Rössen culture  (Bosinski 1961 Fig. 7).

 

He concluded that the pit, the pavement and the megalithic construction, as he calls the chamber, were all of the same age. All stones were of the same local limestone and there was no evidence that the menhir was erected separately. All structures were probably part of a related complex, which may have had ritual significance due to evidence of fires in several areas. Thus the chamber may have been a below ground burial site that was marked above ground by the menhir. The lack of human remains and burial goods is, à la Kirchner, interpreted as possible evidence that menhirs are associated with cenotaphs.

Bosinski (1961:179-184) compared the above site to several others, suggesting a Rössen affilia­tion. To demonstrate the likely connection between menhirs and the Rössen culture he cautiously provided a map that indicates a strong correlation between Rössen sites and menhirs (ibid. Fig. 8). A large menhir was reported to have been associated with a trapezoidal mound and megalithic chamber at Muschenheim (Menke 1993, personal communication May 1994). However, the dating of those few comparative exam­ples is generally rather questionable[9] and archaeologists in the Rheinland question both the reconstruction of the Einselthum chamber and the association of megaliths with Rössen (U. Fisher verbal communication 1994, Kriese 1979:32).

Michelsberg Origins: All Western Origin Theories have one thing in common. They focus on the megalithic chambers and largely ignore the origin and evolution of the mounds. This is precisely the re­verse of the Eastern Origin Theory, which focuses on the mounds and ignores the chambers. But if the western origin of the TRB's tomb building activity has any basis in fact, there should be evidence of mound building immediately to its (south)west.

Indeed, it is possible that the Belgian MBK built such mounds.  Bakker et al. (1969 Fig. 13) provided a map which includes two possible Belgian long-mounds originally described by De Laet (1967:340 as referenced in Bakker et al. 1969). The idea that the Belgian mounds were already built in the MBK deserves further attention, since they could have been built between 3600 and 2900 b.c.[10]

If one assumes a late date, the Belgian monumental architecture may have been a result of contacts with the TRB interaction sphere, negating a western origin. However, if one presumes an early date, the mounds may provide at least a theoretical bridge between the Amorican tombs (J. Müller's 1987 interquar­tile range of 3640-3030 b.c.) and the early non-megalithic TRB mounds of Jutland. If one adds J. Müller's contention that the Sarnowo date is later than those of the Amorican tombs and accepts it as a terminus post quem (J. Müller 1987: 72), one cannot entirely rule out an early, but ill-defined, tomb building activity derived from the west. But Brittany is over 1000 km from East Jutland, Poland is even  more distant, and the Belgian mound's cultural affiliation is unclear (Bakker personal communication 1981). Thus a link between Brittany via the MBK of Belgium can probably not be supported, although a MBK origin may yet be demonstrated by the ongoing Muschenheim tomb excavations (Menke 1993:313 Table 2).

In summary, the Western Origin Theory ignores that, in the rare cases when human bones are present, collective burials can be demonstrated in some urdolmen and tiny cists, not just in passage-graves.[11] The notion itself requires a distinction between single interments and collective burials, which is not easily done, given the often far too meager osteological remains, frequent secondary interments, and the likely rearrangement and even removal of primary interments. Further more, there is a lack of scientific evidence for direct temporal, geographical and cultural connections between the TRB tombs and similar tombs along the Atlantic. Nor are there at present demonstrated solid chronological and geographic con­tinuities between other parts of France, such as the Paris Basin, and the Hercynian tombs (cf. Beier 1991b:417 Fig. 1).

Therefore, it must be concluded that the reasoning behind the Western Origin Theory is question­able at best, especially  in light of the widespread use of non-megalithic graves which may have given rise to similar structures in stone in different places at disparate times. Besides, the construction of the box -like urdolmen does not require extraordinary architectural training. The notion that such ideas and skills had to come from outside the TRB, a culture that produced massive causewayed camps and had wheels and wagons is, to say the least, surprising. There is nothing in the tomb architecture nor its distribution that precludes an autochthonous development. The distribution of urdolmen around the western Baltic and in the vicinity of the Elbe, which cannot be explained by the Western Origin Theory, instead implies a con­centrated, cohesive geographically and chronologically independent autochthonous development.

 

5.3         The Eastern Origin Theory

Promulgated by Midgley (1985), the Eastern Origin Theory focuses on a special tomb type - the so called earthen long-barrow with timber enclosure in a bedding trench and without megalithic chamber.[12]  Unfortunately, the term as used by Midgley includes mounds with megalithic enclosures (German: Kammerlose Hünenbetten) of Denmark, Germany and Poland, as well as a few true earthen long-barrows. The strict definition would exclude virtually all Polish and German long-mounds, because they are lined with megalithic and nearly megalithic stones, not timber. Only Jutland and immediately adjacent areas have a few real timber-lined earthen long-barrows (Madsen 1979a, Midgley 1985 Fig 10). Far to the south, the early phases of Mound 6, Halle-Dölauer Heide and some of the many Czech mounds fall into this category. In spite of this fact, Ashbee (1970), Madsen (1979) and Midgley (1985) follow Piggott ***Child???? in correlating the British earthen long-barrows and German long-mounds.

Continuing this tradition, the Eastern Origin Theory proposes that the Polish mounds were the prototype of the TRB's monumental burial architecture (Midgley 1985: 82, 205-219, 1992:481). The basis for this theory was four extremely early C14 dates, and her revival of the idea that the mounds were houses for the dead.

3.1.3         Houses as prototypes for tombs

Although ascribed to Childe, the idea that long-mounds are houses for the dead is a recurring theme since Westendorp's publication some 200 years earlier. According to Midgley (1985)  trapezoidal Danubian type Lengyel long-houses are the prototype for northern Europe's earthen long barrows and megalithic tombs from Poland to Great Britain, suggesting TRB/Lengyel coexistence. The C14 dates for the  Lengyel are 4000/3900 - 2800/2700 b.c. (4600/4540-3440/3340 B.C.). U. Fischer (1987 and verbal communication May 1994) doubts that Danubian groups, such as the Brzeíº Kujawski, still existed during the TRB (Fig. 2.29). Yet Midgley (1992:203), following Koíko, continued to argue for contem­poraneity with Sarnowo, Pikutkowo and Brzeíº Kujawski on the basis of two C14 dates from Long-house 56 at Brzeíº Kujawski (3580±210 b.c. / 4380±240 B.C. and 2565±210 b.c. / 3214±282 B.C.). She added that pottery with TRB-like ladder ornaments, an amphora (apparently imported from the TRB) found in a deeply stratified Brzeíº Kujawski pit (3310±190 b.c. / 4093±214 B.C.),  and a shell necklace of a female skeleton from Pikutkowo indicate not only contemporaneity, but also evidence of TRB/Lengyel interaction (ibid.).  Yet even if one ignores the huge standard deviations of the dates and accepts coexistence between Brzeíº Kujawski with the TRB at Sarnowo, one cannot explain the size and shape of the small TRB houses at Sarnowo.

Beneath Barrow 8, GabaÓówna discovered traces of 6:10 m daub concentration with post holes on one side, thought to be a house (e.g. Midgley 1992:329, 1985 Fig. 26a).[13] Adjacent to the mounds, in Site 1A which contained TRB A/B pottery, indisputable evidence of two other houses measuring 4.1:3.0 m and 6.0:5.0 m were discovered (Midgley 1992:329-30, Fig. 96; Wiklak 1986). These small, slightly trapezoidal houses bear no resemblance to the Brzeíº Kujawski Group's Lengyel-type long-houses (Midgley 1992:29 Fig. 8) or the large, nearly triangular Sarnowo long-mounds. The theory thus begs the question why the Sarnowo TRB people built their own small houses, yet copied a foreign house type for their mound architecture.

The small Sarnowo houses and similar ones throughout the TRB often have a porch or an an­techamber-like feature,[14] which may suggest an alternative hypothesis. The floor plan is akin to front entrance dolmen with antechamber or wide passage, as well as gallery-graves with antechamber. In fact, Schuldt (1972) called certain antechamber like constructions a foyer (Windfang) in analogy to house architecture designed to keep out the cold wind. The resemblance between the small Sarnowo houses, the burnt ritual building from the Gaj long barrow (Midgley 1992:329) and related wooden Kujavian cham­bers, as well as the TRB cult houses (e.g. Midgley 1992:441-43, Fig. 127), may mean that there was a rela­tionship between megalithic chambers, wooden chambers, small TRB houses and cult houses, but not Kujavian long-mounds. A similar relationship may have existed between round ended houses, such as Wittenwater (Schirnig 1979 Fig. 11) and the round-ended structures, identified as (mortuary?) houses, within the trapezoidal Bygholm Nørremark timber enclosure (Fig. 13.3).[15]

Finally it should be noted that even the interpretation of several of TRB long-houses has been questioned, so that the Barkær and Stengade houses are now generally regarded as tombs.[16] Also many barrows acquired their final shape by a series of extensions ... or by superimposition of a different shape (Midgley 1992:465) so that Midgley's (1992:481) conclusion that the connection between the central European long houses and the TRB burial mounds is not merely coincidental, is untenable.

               

3.2.3         Controversial C14 dates

The pottery from Sarnowo is EN A/B (Wiklak 1983), but Koíko dates the central Kujavian IA? (sic) ceramics as early as 3900 b.c. or even 4000 b.c.[17] Midgley (1985) used Koíko 's controversial 1981 chronology to date the tombs, stating as late as 1992:52 that the “earthen long-barrrows” of Sarnowo I, 8, Obałki, and Wietrzychowitce to date from this peroiod. Indeed, the Sarnowo date (Fig. 6._), calibrated at 4417±60 B.C. (Midgley 1992:20) and used by Midgley (1985, 1992), is a statistical outlyer, in spite of Midgley's (1992:201) protest that Lanting and Mook (1977:73) ignored  it on the grounds of being 'unacceptably old in comparison to other dates.' Given the controversy, it is imperative to  quote the original text (Bakker et al. 1969:211) regarding this date:

The Sarnowo C14 date, around 3620 b.c. ..., is not a priori unacceptable. Still, ... the mean value ... should ... have been one or two centuries later. Besides, some caution is to be recommended because the quality of the charcoal sample was of 'quality B', not 'A', and the sherds are not definitely diagnostic for TRB A/B.

A look at the stratigraphy (NiesioÓowska 1994, Voosteen 1996b:178-179) shows that the C14 date stems from a pit, that was overlain by the primary grave in the mound, confirming that it does not date the mortuary site. Although the pit contains early TRB pottery, it may not even date the ceramics. It could date older material not directly associated with the pottery. It may also simply be a fluke, due to the nature of radiocarbon behavior. For this reason it is recommended to date at least four samples from the same feature.

In addition, the chronological preeminence of the Polish tombs is due to an over-reliance on only four early C14 dates (U.Fischer 1987:138). Thus Midgley's literal interpretation of these dates causes six problems:

First, the lone C14 date from Sarnowo and a mere three dates (4110±80, 3780±45, and 2075±60 b.c.) from the Łupawa tombs[18]  were clearly insufficient to draw sweeping conclusions about the origin of megalithic tombs.

Second, the Sarnowo charcoal does not belong to the mound construction period. It is in reality from a pit cut by the central grave that was sealed by the later barrow (Midgley 1985:221; 1992:201).

Third, the youngest Łupawa date (2075 b.c.), taken from a hearth next to the barrow, obviously does not date the Łupawa tomb, because it would make this tomb 2035 to 1705 uncalibrated C14 years younger than the other Łupawa tombs as implied by Midgley's 1985 chronology.

Fourth, the Łupawa date of 4110 b.c. is 330 uncalibrated C14 years older then the remaining usable date of 3780 b.c.

Fifth, the Pomeranian dates are 490±80 to 160±45 uncalibrated C14 years older than the Kujavian date of 3620±60 b.c. If taken literally, this would mean that the origin of the Polish tombs occurred in Pomerania and not in Kujavia, contradicting Midgley's own Lengyel derivation. But Łupawa unchambered megalithic long-mounds contain pots from the EN C through MN II, dated by Piontek and Weber (1987:17, 20) 2800-2400 b.c. / 3424-3050 B.C. In fact, Hoika (1990: 204), who agrees with this view, dismisses all the dates cited by Midgeley as defining neither the beginning nor the end of the Łupawa group as a whole and Midgley (1992:70) herself ultimately had to conclude that the internal chronology ... is far from clear.

Sixth, all dates that pertain to the actual construction of megalithic tombs are at least 980 uncal­ibrated C14 years younger than the oldest Polish C14 tomb dates. Eleven Danish C14 dates are listed by Midgley herself. Only nine of these mark actual early tomb construction.[19] The dates have a mean of 2978 b.c. and a range of 270 C14 years. This differs markedly from her four Polish C14 dates, which have a combined statistical range of ca. 2000 uncalibrated C14 years.  Even when the youngest date is left out, the remaining three still have a range of 490 uncalibrated C14 years.[20]

3.3.3        Kujavia as center of TRB tomb origin

The Eastern Origin Theory argues that Kujavia was the center of origin for TRB tombs.[21] This means that Kujavia had the longest time to develop additional architectural forms and one would expect the greatest variety in tomb architecture in Poland.  Instead, the greatest variety occurs not in Kujavia, but in the North Group. Not even the change from nearly triangular (wood lined) Kujavian long-mounds to mounds with  mildly trapezoidal to rectangular megalithic enclosures has been demonstrated there. Nor has any evidence been cited for the coexistence of trapezoidal, rectangular, and round mounds (with megalithic enclosure). Even if one focuses only on the so called  earthen long-barrows, Kujavia is not the geographic center of tomb construction.[22]

But the Eastern Origin Theory also fails to explain the change from non- and sub-megalithic graves to the use of megaliths. Their use is quite pronounced in the centrally located North Group and continues in the West Group, but declines from north/west to east/southeast (Table 5.1). A century ago Krause and Schoetensack (1893) noted that this lack of megaliths in Poland could not be attributed to geological factors and the possibility of a different culture was questionable since Virchow had already shown that the pottery of the Kujavian mounds was the same as that in the west.

However, the availability of suitably large erratics must have influenced the location and size of megalithic tombs (Bakker 1988: 151-155, Gehl 1972:110, Schuldt 1972: Map 15). Thus the lack of suitably large boulders has been invoked by Bakker (1992:73 ff.) as causing the narrow width of the few known passage-grave-like cists of Poland attributed to the KAK by Wis_'lan_'ski. He further states that other than cul­tural differences, the absence of boulders large enough to serve as capstones for passage graves may have been the major factor in building only small tombs in the Uckermark on the Polish/German border (Bakker 1992:73-74).

Closer examination of the Uckermark tombs shows that Gehl's line, marking the Brandenburg End Moraine, ends west of the Uecker, where the major string of urdolmen and cists heads southwest to the main tomb cluster near the Randow. But here the location of erratics suitable for building megalithic tombs, as mapped by Gehl, again appear. Furthermore, the sub-megalithic cists (Schuldt 1972 Map 9 F) actually coexist geographically with urdolmen and extended-dolmen (but not the later grand-dolmen and passage-graves; ibid. Map 3-9). Of 287 tombs 38.68% are megalithic tombs, 7.32% are either urdolmen or cists, and 40.77% are cists, while only 1.39% are long-mounds without megalithic chambers.[23] Thus the architecture is almost evenly split between megalithic and sub-megalithic structures in spite of the supposed lack of large boulders. Similarly, Schuldt's West Group of unchambered mounds falls well within the moraine region that provided the building blocks for geographically coexisting megalithic tombs, Midgley's (1992:469) interpretation of Schuldt's 1972 Map 15 not withstanding.

Nilius (1979:28) explained the existence of small chambers by invoking cultural influences from Central Germany, while also observing chronological differences. Thus many of the sub-megalithic chambers of the Uckermark and the Central Elbe-Saale region are attributable to the Elb-Havel and KAK cultures (Beier 1991a:100). Similar chambers in Poland, such as Mierzyn, Szczecin also seem to belong to the KAK (ibid. Fig 9). In Central Germany megalithic tombs also decline numerically in favor of other forms and in the Czech Republic a few true earthen long-barrows exist.[24]

Thus the decline in the use and size of megaliths in the TRB's east and south is most likely due to a number of factors that may include a culturally determined regional trend. In the east the construction material for chambers changes from the principal use of megaliths to the dominance of timbers, which could simply be due to greater timber resources.[25] This is illustrated by comparing the number and types of chambers in Schleswig-Holstein with those of Poland (Table 5.1). The data indicate that the earliest mega­lithic chamber type (urdolmen) and its related forms never existed in Poland. Urdolmen were probably never built east of the Randow (Schuldt 1972, Map 5, Sprockhoff 1967), being mostly confined to the North Group. The small number of grand-dolmen and passage-graves in Poland corresponds to the declin­ing number of large megalithic chambers in Vorpommern (ibid. Map 5-6). In fact, Jankowska (1994:14-15, Fig. 4) concludes that this is the due to influence of the "Fuchsberg-Haaßel Group," which created the long-mounds without megalithic chambers of the Sachsenwald and the Lüneburg Heath, after in 2850 b.c. (ca. 3600 B.C.) or even a little earlier. This resulted in tomb development in Mecklenburg, Pyrcize and the £upawa region as indicated by the tomb distribution itself. Accordingly, the tomb architecture gradually changed with increased distance from the Elbe to the £upawa.

It must, therefore, be concluded that the incongruent C14 dates, the similarities in ceramic stiles, the occurrence of EN C and early MN pottery in most Polish tombs (e.g. Piontek and Weber 1987:15-20), and the decreased use of megaliths in the east, indicate that the Kujavian tombs are nothing more than a regional variant of the overall mound distribution. The observable differences in Polish tombs are  simply components of regional and interregional trends. These components permitted local and regional variation of common architectural (and ritual) themes. As such, the Polish tombs represent the eastern most manifes­tations of the TRB's monumental burial architecture and symbolize the intricate communication network of the whole TRB culture area, suggesting an autochthonous evolution.

 

 

Table 5.1

Number of identifiable chambers

Chamber       Schleswig-Holstein                     Poland

 

UD                                56                                         0

PD                                   7                                         0

ED                                 94                                         4

GD                                  9                                         2

GG                                 98                                       *9

NC                                36                                        80

? ?                                 74                                      140

UD = urdolmen, PD = Polygonal-dolmen, ED = extended-dolmen, GD = grand-dolmen, GG = passage-grave, NC = non-megalithic chamber or unchambered long-mound, ?? = mound with unknown chamber, *includes passage-grave-like KAK cists.

 

5.4         The Autochthonous Origin Theory

The Autochthonous Theory, addressed more fully in the following chapters, compensates for many of the shortcomings in the other origin theories. Kossinna observed that the TRB developed from the Ertebølle culture. This would imply that the TRB burial architecture also evolved from Late Mesolithic antecedents. Indeed, the Mesolithic graves show considerable architectural complexity and Häusler sees the TRB's extended burials as a continuation of this ancient tradition. The Swedish archaeologist Malmer even suggested that the dolmen developed from small, little known Mesolithic stone cists in Scandinavia. 

That the graves preceded and coexisted alongside megalithic tombs is indisputable (e.g. Madsen 1971, 1979; Jørgensen 1977, Tempel 1972, 1979a; Schwabedissen 1979a). Given the small likelihood of locating the sub-megalithic burials, they, rather than megalithic tombs, should be viewed as the standard burial architecture. After all, the sub-megalithic graves are distributed throughout the entire TRB culture area including Poland and the Czech Republic (e.g. Houëtˇová 1960), while the megalithic tombs have a more restricted distribution.

The use of monumental long-mounds without megalithic chambers began sometime around 3900 B.C. Among the oldest Danish tombs is the Lindebjerg long-mound, belonging to Svaleklint Group dated at 3060±100 b.c. / 3814±109 B.C. (Midgley 1992, Tauber 1970:135). The oldest monuments of the Volling Group are Barkær, averaging 3200±80 b.c. / 3961±97 B.C., and Mosegården, whose earliest date is 3130±90 b.c. / 3887±103 B.C. The wooden A-frame chamber from Konens Høj  (Volling Group) and the wooden façade in the Svaleklint Group's Rude long-mound were built around 2900 b.c. / 3645 B.C. Fur­thermore, Rude and Barkær contain sub-megalithic cists, recalling Malmer's Mesolithic cists.

T. Madsen (1982:212) points out that, although the  closed urdolmen is consistently dated to an early phase (3100-2650 b.c. / 3900-3360 B.C.), only a couple of dolmen out of 204 known tombs, including earth graves, belong to this phase in Eastern Jutland. This would have coincided with Schwabedissen's (1979a) eighteen C14 dates for the Satrup ceramic group (3100-2770 b.c. µ=2930 b.c.). However, T. Madsen's modified this chronology, as addressed previously. It dates the begin­ning of megalithic tomb construction to 3400 B.C., which still coincides with the later Satrup dates (cf. Midgley 1992:496) and Hoika 1990, 1994 observes that the reused extended dolmen Rastorf LA 1 contains Satrup like sherds. But P. O. Nielsen (personal communication 1996) minimizes this view and observes that the  Fuchsberg/Virum C14 dates imply “a likely date of the EN II date of 3550/3500‑3300 BC.” He justifies his view by pointing to Koch’s dissertation research and observes that Sarup I has five dates yielding a “mean value uncal. 2700 bc; cal. 3490-­3370 BC" and “Toftum (eleven dates), (has a) mean value uncal. 2650 bc; cal. 3360 BC.”

Regardless of the precise beginning of megalithic tomb construction, which I would place between 3650-3500 B.C., non-megalithic tombs have generally earlier dates (Persson and Sjögren, 1996) and often contain EN I pottery, but continued to be constructed during part of the EN II. This means that megalithic architecture developed gradually and was neither the most popular, nor the only form of burial architecture in the beginning. It is, therefore, quite likely that megalithic chambers were gradually added to the normal graves in geographically and economi­cally strategic areas, as demonstrated in the Flintbek LA 3 long-mound and many other tombs.

The island of Sjælland must have been among the most strategic areas in the TRB. Here some 70% of Knöll's (1976) earliest dolmen, oriented parallel to the long-mound and containing EN C pottery, are known, suggesting that the use of this primeval chamber may have spread from there to adjacent re­gions (Aner 1963), or developed there in concert with other western islands as well as the adjacent main­land. This spread probably occurred along ancient thoroughfares, expanding south across the Elbe along the Fuchsberg-Haaßel-Wolkenwehe interaction routes,[26] for which Schwabedissen suggested an C14 date of ca. 2800 b.c./3600 B.C. In Sweden a similar northward trend may also be demonstrated.

Therefore, it must be concluded that  the Autochthonous Theory can be supported by a logical, geographic and chronological evolution of tomb types as demonstrated in the following chapters.


5.5         Related Links


Central and North European Neolithic Chronology with summaries of individual cultures. The Comparative Archaeology.

Neolithic Chronology. The Comparative Archaeology

Neolithic/Copper Age Link Index: Links to News Bulletins, Articles, Site Reports, Databases, etc. about the Neolithic/Copper Age in Europe. The Comparative Archaeology




 

Previous Home Next

 

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.

 

 

 

 



[1] e.g. U. Fischer 1979a Fig. 1; Renfrew 1983:154 right hand map; Schwabedissen 1979a Fig. 1. Bakker (1979a) termed the practice of synchronizing similarities over long distances, without good evidence of chronologi­cal and/or intermediate geographic connections being demonstrable, telesychronization.

[2] U. Fischer 1979a Fig. 1; Renfrew 1983:154 left and right hand map; Schwabedissen 1979a Fig. 1.

[3] cf. Beier 1991a:18 Map 1, 1992:417 Fig. 1; Midgley 1991:418 ff., Fig. 111 and 121.

[4] Renfrew 1983:154 right hand map. Area 1: île Longue, Golf of Biscay [Müller's Amorican region (1987)]; 2: Denmark (TRB); 3a: Lusitanian tomb group (Portugal) 3b: Millaran tomb group (Spain); 4: Irish tombs; 5: British tombs.

[5] An MN Ia date for a passage-grave (Mound 7) at Schwesing was suggested by Schwabedissen (1968) based on Hinz's earlier publication (Hinz 1954:191, 24-25) according to Bakker (1979a:174 Note 7.1). However, Bakker (ibid.) and Bokelmann (1972) find the argument inconclusive, because the excavation of the destroyed mega­lithic tomb brought no evidence of the location of the chamber's side stones (extraction holes).

[6] Knöll, 1975:371 (my translation). Laux (1970) believed he recognized western influences in polygonal-dolmen. Kælas (1967) derived the polygonal dolmen, which are generally thought to be older than the passage graves, from prototypes in Brittany.

[7] Given the basic premise of diffusion and the lack of a well established chronology at that time, there were good reasons for such an interpretation. Thus the round tumulus with a polygonal dolmen-like chamber and long passage of Kercado (Carnac) (e.g. Müller-Karpe 1974 Fig. 584 N), now dateable to 3890±140 b.c., passed as a likely candidate for the TRB passage-grave origin. There are indeed some homologous similarities between Kercado, the chamber in the nearly kidney-shaped long-mound with a short off-center passage at Cerc'h-Quillé (ibid. Fig. 590 A), the two central chambers with long passage in the trapezoidal mound at Barnenez (ibid. Fig. 580 N), the rectangular long-mound of Kerlescant (ibid. Fig. 589 A), and the short passage TRB tombs of Sögel 831, the Giebichen Stein by Stöckse (Cosack 1981:79-83 Fig. 4-7), D49, D48, Langen 873, Thuine 874, Westerholte 896, as well as the Swedish tombs of Rössberga (Cullberg 1963) and Bokenäs 43 (Bägerfeldt 1993:87, Bägerfeldt and Kihlstedt 1985) and perhaps Glumslöv 4 (Bägerfeldt 1993:88).  But there are differences that were simply overlooked. For example, the French tombs use a large number of sub-megalithic stones, resulting in corbel architecture from the start. Minor corbel-like filling occurs rarely in larger, presumably later TRB passage-graves and only as support for megalithic capstones that would not otherwise have covered the chamber properly. The theory does not account for regional differences in TRB tomb architecture, including the fact that Swedish tombs have long passages that seem less well integrat­ed with the enclosure than some of the short passages in the West Group.

[8] ID 3700, Jacob-Friesen 1927, Raddatz 1979:137-139, Fig. 4 bottom, and 5.

[9] Kappel (1978:61) dates the menhirs to the third century b.c. which would bring them in line with her dating of the Michelsberg culture and the gallery-graves. The last have an overlapping distribution. The menhir of Ellenberg. Gem. Guxhagen, which was decorated with triangles must be excluded altogether, because it was found in a Bell Beaker tomb (ibid. Fig 64). No similar observations were made for the second menhir at Ellenberg (ibid. Fig 63) and another at Wellen, Gem. Edertal, Kr. Waldeck-Frankenberg (ibid. Fig 62). Both are decorated with continuous chevrons. Similar chevrons are found on the inside upper right of the port hole entrance stone of Züschen (ibid. Fig. 5)

[10] Dates for the Michelsberg culture vary: Schwabedissen (1979b) 3500-2800 b.c.; Ottaway (1986 Fig. 5) ca. 3600-2900 b.c. ca. µ3200 b.c.; J. Müller (1987:74) lists ca. 3700-3000 b.c.

[11] The urdolmen is Hjortgårde/Hjortegaardene, Horns h., Frederiksborg a. (A. P. Madsen 1868:4 No. 9). For cists cf. Beier 1991a Plate  37, 6; Nilius 1979.

[12] Ashbee (1970:1) states that “the term 'earthen long barrow' is ... a misnomer because other materials are or were involved, but retention is urged to separate the class from barrows with stone chambers. The term 'unchambered' long barrow should be discarded ... ”

[13] There seems to be some difficulty in discriminating between the house structure and the plow marks  below Sarnowo’s Mound  8 (Vossteen 1996b:178-179).

[14] Dohnsen, Kr. Celle, Lower Saxony (e.g. Midgley 1992:332 Fig. 97; Schirnig 1979d:241-43, Fig. 9); Penning­büttel, Kr. Osterholz (Assendorp 1989). Rectangular to mildly trapezoidal houses, apparently without an­techamber- or porch-like feature, are known from Flögeln (Zimmermann 1979) and Bornholm (Nielsen and Nielsen 1990). The earliest house at Bornholm measures 9.5:6 m and dates to MN I (ibid. 60-63). The MN V houses are lager and evolve into LN houses up to 44 m long (ibid. 70). A slightly trapezoidal long-house with antecham­ber- or porch-like front (and associated burial pits) is known from Niedüwiedü, Poland (Burchard 1991), has been reinterpreted as the wooden enclosure of a burial site (Bogucki personal communiction 1996).

[15] Nonetheless, Bakker (personal communication December 1993), apparently a former skeptic, is inclined to see a relationship between Pomeranian houses and mounds, pointing out that local TRB houses have a similar size and shape as the adjacent tiny trapezoidal mounds. But the average mound size in eastern Pomerania is amongst the smallest in the TRB and contrasts sharply with the majority of Kujavian mounds (Baldia 1987b). The mildly trapezoidal “House” 2 from Niedźwiedź (Burchard 1991:181-183, Fig. 2), measuring 23.20:7.70-7.10 m hand pits dating to 2690±190 and 2520±190 b.c. The shape and size compares with well with several long-mounds, having free-standing guardians, particularly Nobbin A345/B95, Rügen (ID 5355, Schuldt 1972:164 Plate 10), which is only a few meters longer than Niedźwiedź and has nearly identical widths. Burchard has recently concluded that Niedźwiedź is a mortuary structure (Bogucki personal communication 1996). The questions raised about many of the several of the rare TRB long-houses (e.g. Midgley 1992:318-349) makes the derivation of TRB long-mounds from long-houses unlikely.

[16] In addition to Barkær, controversy over features interpreted as long-houses has erupted over Sigersted, As Vig, and Troldebjerg (cf. Midgley 1992:325-26).

[17] e.g. Koíko 1981 Fig. 1-9. It should be noted that Czerniak, Domeńska, Koíko and Prinke 1991:69 now argue for a beginning at 4000 b.c., while their two earliest C14 dates for Phase I, listed in their Fig. 2, are 3620±60 b.c. (Sarnowo I) and 3620±110 b.c. (Ł·cko 6A). This is followed by 3280±180 b.c. (Wietrzychowice 1), a date assigned to Phase II. This date leaves a 340 year gap, which is not even bridged by the huge standard deviations.

[18] Midgley 1985:221. (The more recently reported Ł·cko date was not used by Midgley (1985) and has no bearing on dating the tomb construction.)

[19] 3130, 3060, 3020, 2970, 2960, 2960, 2940, 2900, and 2860 b.c. (Midgley, 1985:222)

[20] Statistically speaking this means that the questionable early Pomeranian tombs have twice (1.81) the range of the remaining tombs while they provide less than half (.44) the dates.

[21] The not uncommon supposition that the Kujavian long-mounds are earthen long barrows, i.e. a separate and distinct form of  monumental burial architecture, leaves the Danish, German, and the Kujavian long-mounds as culturally isolated enigmas. This is because the true earthen long-barrows  of Jutland and the pseudo earth­en long-barrows of Kujavia would be separated by up to several hundred kilometers from their nearest neigh­bors in Germany as illustrated by Midgley's distribution map (Midgley 1985 Fig. 4). This fact would not be altered by the likelihood that some sub-megalithic structures, e.g. Zislow 5, were originally probably covered by a long-mound and some mounds may have had a megalithic chamber inserted into them later (Beier 1991a:80-83). Yet, if one maps all forms of TRB monumental burial architecture, megalithic or otherwise, the gaps between major tomb clusters largely disappear and the Polish tombs become part of the overall TRB tombs distribution, even though it seems quite likely that not all Polish tombs have yet been discovered or at least mapped. Furthermore, it becomes evident that individual tomb clusters usually share architectural features in varying degrees with adjacent clusters. This sharing or mixing of different architectural at­tributes, and particularly the mixed use of megaliths and timber, has been documented in several cases throughout the TRB culture area. Thus Midgley herself concluded in 1992 that it is difficult to maintain the distinction between the earthen long-barrows and tombs with megalithic chambers, pointing out that wooden and stone chambers occur together in the tombs of Barkær, Troelstrup and Tosterglope.

[22] The majority of true earthen long-barrows is found in  Jutland and Great Britain (Ashbee 1970:1, T. Madsen 1978a, 1979), thus having a western distribution. Even Schuldt identified the German long-mounds without megalithic chamber as a West Group (Schuldt 1972:256 Map 9 A). This together with the location of various hybrid tombs in Denmark and western Poland makes it unlikely that the Polish unchambered long-mounds with admittedly often rather diminutive stone enclosure were the prototypes of Danish and even British earthen long-barrows, as Midgley (1985:202) claimed.

[23] The minute remainder belong to other mostly sub-megalithic tomb types. Statistics based on Beier 1991a:139 Table 17.

[24] U. Fischer 1956, Preuß 1980 Map 2, Beier 1991a:88-107. The Czech tombs include those in Bohemia and perhaps the tombs in Central Moravia, which are, however, surounded by (megalithic?) enclosures (Gottwald 1925, 1926; Hous_vt_venova 1960, Medunová 1967, personal communication Dec. 12, 1994).

[25] It is not unlikely that the heavy use of megaliths, especially noticeable in the Danish islands, Rügen, and parts of Jutland is due to a scarcity of large, high quality timbers. Such a scarcity could have been created by a fairly dense population engaged in Neolithic agricultural practices and the use of large timber in the construction of fortifications, houses, wagons, wheels and track ways.

[26] Andersen and Madsen 1977, Bakker 1979:111-127, Gebauer 1978, Schwabedissen 1979a and b.