| Burial Mounds
| | We find the largest burial mound field in Scandinavia in Steglarp in Vellinge south of Malmø.
Today the amount of burial mounds is heavily reduced. |
The Burial Mounds of the Bronze Age
A burial mound also known as a barrow is a burial place consisting of earth, stone or both. There are several types of burial mounds. They can be round or long. The height varies. The tallest burial mounds measure up to 20 metres.
The largest barrow field in the Sound region, actually in all of the North, can be found in Steglarp at Vellinge south of Malmø. Today most of the burial mounds have been removed or largely reduced in height. But the enormous building projects, which in magnitude can be compared to the church building of the Middle Ages, illustrated by the fact that there have been more than 5000 of these burial mounds just in Scania. Today around 2000 have been preserved. A map of the remaining burial mounds in Scania shows that they are mostly situated in the coast areas and by the larger navigable rivers.
Steglarp | 
The Largest Burial Mound in Scania | 
Burial Mound Map from Scania |
The Dating of the Burial Mounds
From burial mounds in Jutland we have made certain year ring datings, which indicate when the mounds have been constructed. These dates are surprisingly close to each other. Below is the list of the result of the year ring dating from the oak coffins, which were found in the burial mounds. The years, which are not precise, may vary with +/- 25 years.
Trindhøj around 1330 BC.
Trindhøj around 1333 BC.
Trindhøj around 1356 BC.
Borum Eshøj around 1345 BC.
Borum Eshøj around 1353 BC.
Egtved 1370 BC.
Lille Dragshøj around 1370 BC.
Storehøj in Barde 1373 BC.
Guldhøj around 1381 BC.
Guldhøj around 1381 BC.
Mølhøj in Uge around 1396 BC.
Since the wood coffins are from the time of the building of the burial mounds, we can establish that the mounds have been constructed within a very limited period of time, which only spans two generations.
The dead took food and drink with them to the land of the dead, but they also took precious objects like jewellery and weapons. Compared to the burial customs of the Stone Age this is an entirely new custom. This change, and the short time, indicates that there was perhaps a form of dynasty, which dominated the society of that time. In that case this dynasty had wide contacts in the south of Europe.
The Egtved Girl
In the burial mound, ”Storhøj” in Jutland they made a remarkable discovery in 1921. From the burial mound, which is situated at the village Egtved just south of Vejle, a 2 metres long wood log coffin surfaced during the excavation. A dendrological examination indicated that the coffin was from the older Stone Age around 1370 BC. The dead was a young woman 16-18 of age and at her feet there was a bundle with the burned bones from a 5-6 year-old child. By the girl´s head there was also a small box made from birch bark with bone parts from the same child.
The Egtved girl was lying on cow skin and was covered in a woolen blanket. The Egtved girl, who is exhibited on the National Museum in Copenhagen, is considered one of Denmark´s best preserved Bronze Age finds, although the girl´s skin and body parts are gone. Still the burial mound find is unique as the girl´s dress is very well-preserved.
The Dress
The upper body was covered by a short-sleeved jersey. The jersey was skimpy leaving part of the stomach bare. A nakedness, which was further accentuated by the fact that the miniskirt was hanging low on her hips. The dress was made from a string skirt and around the waist she had a woven belt, where a bronze belt plate with a spiral pattern was mounted. In the belt she had a comb made of horn. On both arms she had arm rigs and she had an earring in one ear. On her feet she had cloth moccasins lined with grass.
The dress in particular still gives rise to discussions and theories among the researchers. Mostly because is differs from all other similar finds from the period, where the women were much more practical and decently dressed for the hard field work. Was she a prostitute? A slave? Well, they would hardly have spent a burial mound and a burnt offering on her if she was. A closer examination showed that the child hardly could have been hers.
Falsification of History
For the researchers of that time (1920´s) the girl´s attire was a shock. Could it really be true that the young women of the Bronze Age dressed indecently? That must be wrong! They must have forgotten to put on the rest of her clothes, when they buried her.
In of the first reconstruction drawings of the deceased they dressed her in a decent foot long dress. On the dress they placed the miniskirt. Now the girl looked exactly like a house maid in the strait-laced middle-class of the 1920`s. The provocative miniskirt had become an appropriate apron!
The Egtved Girl | 
The Egtved Girl´s Miniskirt |
The Skrydstrup Girl
In southern Jutland around 1 kilometre from Vojens, they excavated a Bronze Age mound in 1935 in Skrydstrup field. In the bottom of the mound they found an oak coffin grave, however the coffin itself had crumbled. The coffin had been covered by some stones and here they found the body of a young woman. She had been lying in the coffin on cow hide and was dressed in a jersey with long sleeves and wrapped and covered in woollen, woven cloth. Next to her was an elaborately made cap.
However, most remarkable was the girl´s hairstyle. It was almost rococo in style. An impressive piece of work which she can´t have done alone. Moreover she had a gold ring in each ear.
The rich grave find strengthen they theory that it is people from the highest strata of society, we find in the burial mounds of the Bronze Age.
The Skrydstrup girl is, like her contemporary, the Egtved girl, are exhibited in the National Museum in Copenhagen.
The Skrydstrup Girl | 
The Skrydstrup Girl´s Reconstructed Haircut |
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