Have you ever held the key to a 5,000 year old tomb?

From the road it looks like any other small hill in the middle of an ordinary wheat field. Which, when thinking about it makes that suspect on its own, since there are very few hills in Denmark. Denmark being a relatively flat country and all.

Those that live here, though, know that this is no ordinary pile of dirt. It is actually a 5,000 year old burial mound, or passage grave, from the Neolithic Period, or Late Stone Age, known as Lundehøj.

The Neolithic Period, which started in the Middle East around 9500 BC and spread to northern Europe around 4500 BC, is characterized by a huge cultural shift in which the people from this era transitioned from a food-collecting society (hunting and gathering) to a food-producing culture (raising crops on farms). Small villages began to dot the landscape, and the people began to use stone tools.

It is also a time when the people of Europe began to build the passage graves to bury their dead. These passage graves, constructed from large stones, or megaliths, consisted of a narrow entrance which opened up to one or more rooms, or burial chambers. Once the stone structure was finished, it was then completely covered in dirt. Graves like this can be found all over Scandinavia, and even in Britain and Ireland.

Experts estimate that there were once around 40,000 of these passage graves around Denmark alone, dating from between 3500-3000 BC. Out of these, only around 500 have been preserved. One of the notable and mysterious things about these passage graves is their entrances. Each entrance had been oriented in the landscape to point toward the east, and new research suggests that the openings had been oriented in that direction according to the rise of the full moon.

This particular passage grave, Lundehøj, had been discovered by accident in 1837. Two young boys were on their way to church to attend their confirmation and decided to take a short cut across a field. As they neared the mound, they saw what looked like a fox hole dug into the ground. Curiosity got the best of them and they decided to investigate.

They began to dig around the hole and after an hour uncovered large stones underneath the ground. Not being able to continue digging, they decided to continue on to church, where they were met by an angry priest. After explaining the reason they were late, the priest dismissed everyone and had the boys show him what they had found.

The discovery ignited the curiosity of several people, and soon a small portion of the grave had been excavated. Many people came to see it, among them a local school teacher who surveyed the chamber and made several sketches. He wrote a long letter to the Royal Commission for Antiquities in Copenhagen about his observations, including the discovery of 2 stones with sketches and some human bones.

After receiving this letter, they Commission asked for more information. Several priests and other locals called for the Commission to turn the passage grave into a monument so that it and its contents would be under the protection of the State. In the meantime, several people had convinced the landowner, Jens Christian Nielsen, not to touch the passage grave or do anything to it until a preservation agreement could be made between him and the State.

Why all the fuss?

During the 1800's large stones such as the ones used in passage graves were a highly sought commodity for building roads and other construction projects. Thus, many passage graves had been dismantled and their stones sold to the highest bidder. Many of the locals were worried that such a fate would befall Lundehøj.

Fortunately, the Commission in Copenhagen agreed to the importance of the passage grave and agreed to pay the landowner the price he demanded for the small parcel of land. The passage grave was finally put into the care of the National Museum in 1838.

Once that was all said and done, the tomb was largely ignored until 1890, when the entire tomb was finally unsealed and excavated. In all, some human bone fragments, a battle ax, and some pottery shards were found in the tomb. In the ground outside the tomb, some small bronze objects and a clay urn containing some cremated remains were found, dating from the late Bronze Age.

Here are some of the letters and sketches preserved by the Danish National Museum:







Today, 119 years later, you can tour the passage grave by simply asking the farmer for the key, and making a small donation. The farmer cannot ask outright for an entrance fee, since the land is owned by the Danish government. But a donation is appreciated.

Here are some satellite photos of the passage grave and surrounding farm land.





And here is the key.



Overall, the passage grave remains the way it did 5,000 years ago, except for the lack of artifacts. There are no neon signs or huge billboards advertising it's existence.

As I had mentioned earlier, there is a narrow passage to get into the tomb...







...and then you are inside.









As you can see, I was very excited to be sitting in a tomb that was constructed 3,000 years before Jesus walked the earth. And besides, I am probably the only American that has stepped foot inside. Who else would spend thousands of dollars to sit amongst a pile of rocks?



Peter, on the other hand? He hates to have his picture taken. At least Emilie seemed to share my enthusiasm.



And Emma? She refused to step inside, claiming it was spooky.



After a short tour of the interior, we went outside to have a look around and then eat lunch. From the top you can get a good view of the area around the grave.







It was rather windy, so after lunch I did a quick tour around the field, wondering about the people that put the grave there. Who did they put in there, and why right here? What significance does this particular location have?





Soon it was time to head off. I briefly wondered what would happen if I kept the key, but then remembered that Peter had signed the guest book.