Archaeologists have excavated a dolmen, a stone burial chamber, at Tiarp near Falköping in Sweden. Archaeologists believe that the tomb has remained untouched since the Neolithic period. Preliminary analysis confirms that the tomb at Tiarp is one of the oldest stone burial chambers in Sweden.
“This is an early burial dating to the Early Neolithic period, around 3,500 BC,” says archaeologist Karl-Göran Sjögren. But the strange thing is that some of the skeletons of the people buried are missing.
“Skulls and large bones are missing and may have been removed from the grave. We don’t know if this is related to burial rituals or what is behind it,” says Sjögren.
When the researchers analyzed the material from the tomb, they found that it contained hand and foot bones, rib fragments and teeth. But larger bones, such as skulls and bones of the thighs and arms, were scarce.
“This is different from what we usually see in megalithic tombs, stone burial chambers from the Neolithic period,” explains Sjögren. “Usually the bones that are missing are smaller bones of the feet and hands.”
Torbjörn Ahlström, Professor of Osteology at Lund University, examined the bone finds. His conclusion is that the bones belong to at least 12 people, including infants and the elderly. But archaeologists do not yet know why they died.
“We didn’t see any injuries on the buried people, so we don’t think violence was involved. But we are continuing to analyze their DNA and that will show if they had any diseases,” says Sjögren.
The Falköping region has long been known for its numerous passage tombs dating from a slightly later period, around 3,300 BC. Agriculture reached Falbygden in about 4,000 BC, about 500 years before the tomb at Tiarp was built. Most likely, the people buried in the dolmen were farmers.
“They lived by growing cereals and keeping animals, and they consumed dairy products,” says Sjögren.
Are the people buried in the grave related?
During last summer’s excavation, a number of samples were taken, including DNA extracted from skeletal remains.
“The first DNA results show that the DNA in the bones is well preserved. This means that we can reconstruct the family relationships between the people in the tomb, and that’s what we are working on now,” says Sjögren.
Falbygden is known for its many human traces from the Neolithic period. There are more than 250 passage graves, i.e. large tombs made of stone blocks.
“But this dolmen is older. It’s about 200 to 150 years older than the passage graves, which makes it one of the oldest stone burial chambers in Sweden and in all of Scandinavia,” says Sjögren.
There is something else that makes the tomb unique.
“The way the tomb is built. There is a small niche at each end. This is unique for the tombs at Falbygden,” says Karl-Göran Sjögren.
Article: Sjögren, K.-G., Blank, M., Ahlström, T., Axelsson, T., Dreibrodt, S., & Müller, J. (2023). Tiarp Backgården. An Early Neolithic Dolmen in Falbygden, Sweden and Early Megalithic Tombs in South Scandinavia and Northern Central Europe. Journal of Neolithic Archaeology, 25, 213–242.
