Added September 19, 1999. Updated April 25, 2006, 14:03 hours.

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

A SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF MEGALITHIC TOMBS

11. COMPLEX PASSAGE-GRAVES

By

Maximilian O. Baldia

1993-April 25, 2006©
All rights reserved

---

Summary/Conclusion

The complex passage graves, classified in Table 11.1, are almost exclusively located in Denmark. Two factors lie behind the construction of complex chambers. One is the tradition to segment the chamber, or the passage, as the case may be. The other is the desire to find new ways to enlarge the chamber. The solution to these aims was expediently, and one must add, admirably solved with the creation of chambers, such as Gundestrup 20, Northeast Jutland. This was a single-capstone primeval passage-grave with a new feature – a side-chamber that seems to foreshadow the two-capstone passage-graves.

Chambers like Gundestrup 20 gave rise to a whole line of complex passage-graves with end-chambers. Among these is the primeval passage-grave of Fjelsø, in nearby Viborg Amt, Central Jutland. It demonstrates the relationship between side- and end-chamber.

TABLE 11.1

Complex Passage-graves Classification

Side-chamber passage-graves

End-chamber passage-graves

Double passage-graves

Triple passage-graves

Dual-passage chambers

Single chamber double passage-graves

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.