Närliggande Megalitgravar på västkusten - En jämförelse av grupper med närliggande gravar

Abstract

During studies of the megalithic graves on western Orust, I noticed that some of the graves were located in the vicinity of each other, in one case less than 100m. These graves must have some sort of relation to each other. They are built during a rather short period, a few hundred years, meaning that those who build the second and sometimes also a third grave, must have related to the first. Along the entire west cost of Sweden there are approximately 90 megalithic graves, dolmens and passage graves. There are 12 sites where two or in a few cases more than two graves can be seen as "close”. Close is here defined as within a few hundred meters and in the same geographical context. This paper investigates possible similarities between these 12 groups. All graves were first visited to be able to see how they are located in the landscape and how they relate to each other. Then most of the available information on the graves was studied to examine which type of grave it is. In some cases, the graves have been excavated giving more detailed information on the design of the grave. Sweden has 3 major areas with megalithic graves and a few graves located outside these areas. These locations are: The southern part of Sweden, primarily Skåne, Falbygden in southwestern Sweden and along the west coast. Almost all graves, apart from the graves at the west coast, are built in limestone landscapes. This gave the grave builders at the west coast different prerequisites for the graves compared to the other areas. There are also indications that the megalithic grave builders on the west coast were influenced from northern Jutland, while Skåne and Falbygden was influenced by the eastern part of present Denmark. It has been anticipated from the very start of the modern research in this field, that there is a development in design of the megalithic graves from dolmens to passage graves. From simple constructions to larger and more complex graves. This is still the prevailing opinion in Denmark and there is a detailed description of the different steps of the development, with dating partly based on C14. When C14 data for several graves in Sweden became available to the researchers, the surprising result was that dolmens and passage graves seems to be built during the same period, not in a sequence. The C14 data are almost entirely from the limestone areas since bones are better preserved in that ground. The Swedish C14 data cannot be used to draw any conclusions regarding the west coast building sequence. When analysing the groups of close graves on the west coast, it is thus not known if dolmens and passage graves are built i sequence or in parallel. Analysis of the 12 groups shows that there are similarities between most of the groups. In 6 of the groups there are one dolmen and one passage grave. The dolmen is closer to the (at that time) seashore and the passage grave further inland and closer to possible farmland. In the other groups there are either dolmens or passage graves. But there are in almost all cases notable differences in design between the graves in a pair. One is more advanced. It is not possible to draw any reliable conclusions regarding whether dolmens and passage graves were built in sequence or in parallel on the west coast based on these results. The difference in design, with one smaller and one more advanced construction, may point at a development over time and that they were built in sequence, but there are other possible explanations.