A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – The big stone cairn often called Bredarör (generally referred to as the King’s Grave), situated exterior Kivik in Scania (Skåne), served as a quarry for native residents for a few years.
One among ten slabs of stone exhibits a horse drawn chariot with two four-spoked wheels. Picture credit score: Sven Rosborn – CC BY-SA 3.0
On June 14, 1748, two peasants gathering stones from the location unexpectedly uncovered a peculiar burial chamber.
Hoping to seek out treasures, the 2 males dug all evening however discovered nothing. Rumors among the many locals unfold, and plenty of believed that they’d found a treasure. Quickly, the 2 had been imprisoned, suspected of stealing the grave’s contents.
Kivik’s Bredarör, constructed roughly 3,000 years in the past, measures 75 meters in diameter and is thought to be one in every of northern Europe’s largest Bronze Age graves.
Its appreciable dimension earned it the identify “King’s Grave.”
Archaeological research have revealed that Kiviksgraven has functioned as a burial floor for no less than 600 years. This discovering underscores the location’s historic significance and its long-standing function in historic burial practices.
Drawings of the Kivik Grave from the 18th and nineteenth centuries. Source; Picture credit score: Christopher Sommerfeld – CC0 1.0
The King’s Grave’s widespread recognition is attributed not solely to its spectacular dimensions but in addition to different components. Notably, this fame was established even earlier than the later discovery of two burials inside the website.
The restricted variety of artifacts found—reminiscent of double buttons, fragments of a spherical cauldron, nails, and an extended piece of steel—left archaeologists and peculiar individuals puzzled. The absence of extra objects solely added to the intrigue and suspicions surrounding the location.
In 1931, the grave was completely excavated for the primary time. Numerous objects had been found throughout this excavation, together with pottery, flint, animal bones, burnt bones, and human tooth.
The stones of the grave dealing with the grave of Kivik. Picture credit score: Uwe Glaubach – CC BY 3.0
The mound contained two cists, most likely, constructed concurrently. On the southern finish of the left cist, raised slabs of stone measuring 1.2 meters (3.9 toes) in size and 0.65 meters (2.1 toes) in width had been discovered.
Evaluation of bone fragments confirmed that they belonged to a number of people, no less than 4 or 5. Amongst them, one particular person died between the ages of 25 and 35, whereas the others had been younger people, all buried on the Kivik website.
This raises questions on their identities and connection to this location, which is believed to have been a big buying and selling hub as early because the Bronze Age.
Researchers are exploring whether or not Kivik’s Grave has any hyperlinks to the copper and amber transactions that occurred there.
Stones inside the cairn of Kivik. Picture credit score: Schorle – CC BY-SA 3.0
Expressive Carvings In Bronze Age, Bredarör
Bredarör, also referred to as Kivik’s Grave, is a notable round construction distinguished by its distinctive building and dimension. Not like most European burials from the Bronze Age, Bredarör stands out attributable to these distinctive traits.
Beneath the mound with a diameter of 75 m, an elongated burial chamber measuring 4.4 × 0.9 m erected from stone slabs was discovered.
Contained in the burial chamber, eight stones had been discovered leaning like a coffin and coated with carvings depicting a sacrificial scene with musicians enjoying wind devices, processions, chariots with harnesses, four-spoked wheels with an inscribed cross (image of the solar), cows, different four-legged animals, birds and fish, photographs of ships, and battle axes. No human stays or grave items had been discovered within the burial chamber (apart from burnt bones, and human tooth), and it’s believed that the grave was robbed, probably shortly after it was constructed.
Aerial view of the Kivik grave. Picture credit score: L.G.foto – CC BY-SA 4.0
It’s undoubtedly some type of an vital message that prehistoric artists of the King’s Grave wished to current for future generations. Did they solely need to be remembered?
Understanding their message is difficult. What’s the really helpful order for deciphering the scenes recorded on the cists of the Bredarör burial chamber?
This Burial Place Is A Thriller
There are numerous questions: Who was buried below all of the stones, and why did he, she, or they get such an enormous burial floor? Who’re all of the figures on the rocks? How did the devices they blew sound?
What sort of dance are they transferring in? Is it a sacrificial procession, a summoning of the gods, or maybe a burial ritual?
Written by – A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com Senior Workers Author
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