Gallery Grave Research Articles

From the Afterlife to Architecture: Tracing the Nexus of Life and Death in Prehistoric, Egyptian, and Japanese Built Environments

This research explores burial architectures in prehistoric, Egyptian, and Japanese civilizations, unveiling a tapestry of practices and cultural implications. Prehistoric societies utilized Portal tombs, Gallery tombs, and Passage graves as repositories, revealing a connection between earthly rituals and cosmic rhythms through dolmens, gallery graves, and aligned passage tombs. Egyptian tomb architecture, from royal pyramids to decorated mastabas, transformed sepulchral temples in Thebes into sacred spaces. Each structure acted as a guardian preserving kings' mummies until souls reunited with earthly remains. The Kofun period in Japan introduced keyhole-shaped earthen tombs, like the Kofun, with complex geometries and symbolic haniwa representations. This period witnessed a cultural shift marked by the 6th-century CE disappearance of Kofun tombs, coinciding with Yamato court reforms and Buddhism's introduction. The exploration of burial architectures across these civilizations reveals an interplay between belief systems and final resting place design, emphasizing each society's spiritual and cultural values. As we journey through these tomb structures, practical considerations for preserving the deceased intertwine with intricate narratives of the living-dead dynamic, offering insights into the cultural tapestry woven by ancient societies. Key Words: Burial Architectures, Cultural Implications, Prehistoric Societies, Egyptian Tomb Architecture, living- Dead Dynamic

An interdisciplinary approach to Late/Final Neolithic coastal gallery graves in Brittany, Western France: The 3D structure, origin of stone material, and paleoenvironmental setting of the Kernic and Lerret monuments

AbstractThis article presents an interdisciplinary study of two Late/Final Neolithic gallery graves (Kernic and Lerret) located on the orthwestern coast of Brittany (Western France). These monuments show striking similarities in terms of architectural style and geographical position. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the construction strategy of these monuments by (i) determining the origin of the megalithic blocks using comparative petro‐structural analyses of blocks and surrounding rocks, (ii) reconstructing the coastal environment from sediment core analyses and (iii) defining the significance of these monuments in the territories from an intervisibility analysis. The study reveals marked differences between the two monuments studied. The Lerret gallery grave was erected close to a unique source of stone material on the margins of a marshland zone. In contrast, the Kernic monument, erected on the edge of an estuary, seems to have been built using a deliberate diversification of stone extraction sites. An intervisibility analysis shows a dense network of visual interconnections between a number of megalithic tombs present in the study area, where the two monuments occupy very distinct sites. The social implications of stone selection and the geographical location of Late/Final Neolithic funerary monuments are also discussed in an enlarged regional context.

Interdisciplinary analyses of the remains from three gallery graves at Kinnekulle: tracing Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies in inland Southwestern Sweden

In this paper, we investigate the Scandinavian Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Kinnekulle in southwestern Sweden. The above-mentioned periods in the study area are poorly understood and the archaeological record consists of a few stray finds and a concentration of 20 gallery graves. This study focuses on three of the gallery graves where commingled skeletons from successive burials were recovered. The human remains and the artefacts from the graves were used for discussing individual life stories as well as living societies with the aim of gaining new knowledge of the last part of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Sweden. We focused on questions concerning health and trauma, mobility and exchange networks, and diet and subsistence of the people using the graves. Chronological, bioarchaeological, and biomolecular aspects of the burials were approached through the application of archaeological and osteological studies, as well as stable isotope, strontium isotope, radiocarbon, and mtDNA analyses. The study provides evidence for high mobility and diverse diets, as well as inhumations primarily dated to the transition between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. We suggest that the mountain plateau of Kinnekulle was mainly reserved for the dead, while the people lived in agriculture-based groups in the surrounding lower lying regions.

Expansion and Abandonment in the South Swedish Uplands: A Study of Late Neolithic Monuments in Göteryd Parish

Abstract A distinct concentration of 150 gallery graves dating to the Late Neolithic (2400–1700 BC) occurs in Göteryd parish in the South Swedish Uplands. This study investigates why such a concentration of gallery graves exists in this region and why these were not exchanged by new monuments in the Bronze Age. In order to discuss these issues, the distribution of the monuments and the stray finds have been analysed and correlated to the results of local pollen analysis. The results support the impression of abandonment at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The processes of expansion and abandonment seem to reflect general population trends, as discussed in recent works on population dynamics. Göteryd parish is a highland region and marginal from an agricultural point of view, but it borders on fertile and plain coastal areas, which are easily accessible through river valleys. In periods of population growth, Göteryd parish would absorb people from the coastal plains, a process that probably was reversed when the population shrank. The geographical position of the Göteryd area created a particular dynamic and made it vulnerable to changes in population dynamics, social networks, and climate.

HIGH-PRECISION BAYESIAN CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING ON A CALIBRATION PLATEAU: THE NIEDERTIEFENBACH GALLERY GRAVE

ABSTRACTWe combine the results of a radiocarbon (14C) dating program with archaeogenetic, osteological and sparse stratigraphic data, to construct a Bayesian chronological model for a multi-generational sequence situated entirely on a plateau in the 14C calibration curve. Calibrated dates of individual human bones from the Late Neolithic gallery grave at Niedertiefenbach, Hesse, Germany, span the entire calibration plateau in the late 4th millennium (ca. 3350–3100/3000 cal BC), but our model restricts the overall period of burial to 3–6 generations centered on the later 3200s, and provides narrower absolute date ranges for specific individuals and associated events. We confirm the accuracy and robustness of this model by sensitivity tests of each of its components. Beyond providing a more dynamic narrative for the formation of the heterogenous burial population at Niedertiefenbach, our results show that calibration plateaus are suitable periods for Bayesian chronological modeling of even relatively brief sequences, provided that all the information employed is correct. Prior information constraining both the order of events, and of potential date differences between them, is essential for the model to give accurate, unimodal estimates of the dates of these events.

Old bones or early graves? Megalithic burial sequences in southern Sweden based on 14C datings

Megalithic tombs have since long been a focus of debate within the archaeological research field, not least regarding their emergence, use life and the various bursts of building activity in different regions and periods. The aim of this study is to investigate the temporal span of the main burial sequences in the conventional megalithic grave types of southern Sweden, with special focus on the less studied gallery graves. In Scandinavia, megalithic tombs are divided into three main types: dolmens, passage graves and gallery graves. Here, this prevailing typological seriation was tested. The study was based on 374 14C dates from unique individuals selected from 66 tombs. The form, layout and dating of the different types of tombs were studied in order to examine regional and chronological variation in the use of megaliths. By comparing sum plots, KDE models, individual 14C dates and typology of artefacts, the existing chronologies were evaluated. The 14C dates from dolmens and passage graves more or less agreed with the conventional chronology, while the presence of early skeletons in gallery graves was unexpected. The results indicate that megalithic graves appeared more or less simultaneously in southern Sweden and were first used around 3500–3300 cal BC. The dolmens and passage graves were used contemporaneously, although the proportion of early dates supports a slightly earlier start of the dolmens. Some of the gallery graves may also have been introduced at this time, although reburial of old bones cannot be ruled out.

New Perspectives on the Late Neolithic of South-Western Sweden. An Interdisciplinary Investigation of the Gallery Grave Falköping Stad 5

AbstractThis article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study combining archaeology, osteology, and stable isotope analyses. The geological conditions and richness of megalithic graves in Falbygden is suitable for studies of Neolithic human remains. Nevertheless, the Late Neolithic period (2350-1700 BC) is poorly investigated. This paper explores new knowledge of the Late Neolithic megalithic population in Falbygden. In-depth osteological and archaeological studies focusing on a single gallery grave (Falkoping stad 5) were conducted. Radiocarbon dating and carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotope analyses of teeth from twenty-one individuals revealed the time of the grave’s use, as well as the subsistence and mobility practices of the buried individuals. The grave was already in use during the first part of the Late Neolithic and used into the second part of the period by individuals of different origin. Furthermore, the results indicated changing population dynamics in the Late Neolithic Falbygden, with increased human mobility, variability in subsistence strategies, and growing population density.

Diffusion du silex crétacé des minières de Saint-Gond (Marne, France) au Néolithique récent et final

La région des Marais de Saint-Gond (Marne) comporte un très grand nombre de sépultures collectives en hypogées et en allées couvertes, d’épandages de silex et d’habitats néolithiques. L’abondant corpus de silex taillés qui provient de ces sites n’avait pas encore fait l’objet d’une étude détaillée. 17 minières et plusieurs dizaines d’affleurements de bancs de silex ont été identifiés. Existe-t-il un lien entre les silex déposés dans les sépultures collectives et les exploitations locales ? La provenance des silex de six sites régionaux datant du Néolithique récent et final (hypogées, allée couverte et habitats) a été déterminée par l’analyse des faciès sédimentaires. Cette méthode permet de reconstruire les conditions de sédimentation du paléoenvironnement marin dans lequel la craie s’est déposée et les silex se sont formés. Le faciès Saint-Gond a été caractérisé à la loupe binoculaire à partir de cinq affleurements du Campanien supérieur visibles dans cinq minières. Ce faciès est subdivisable en cinq sous-faciès correspondant à chaque affleurement étudié. Il est alors possible d’identifier la diffusion de ces cinq secteurs miniers. Les résultats montrent que le faciès Saint-Gond est majoritaire dans les sites régionaux, à l’exception d’une allée couverte dans laquelle un faciès crétacé exogène domine. Les différents sous-faciès sont présents dans tous les sites étudiés, en proportions variables. Ces résultats impliquent qu’au Néolithique récent et final, le silex des habitats et des sépultures collectives provient de plusieurs minières locales. Cela implique que tous les secteurs miniers étaient en exploitation au même moment. L’organisation sociale et économique de l’acquisition et de la diffusion des matériaux est discutée et comparée à d’autres modèles. Les modalités précises des exploitations minières et de la diffusion des productions révèlent ainsi la complexité de l’organisation sociale des sociétés du Néolithique récent.

From one ritual to another: the long-term sequence of the Bury gallery grave (northern France, fourth–second millennia BC)

Abstract

"Fuera de la caja": explorando el potencial del modelado 3D a partir de antiguos archivos de imágenes

<p>3D reconstructions for research and conservation of archaeological sites and objects are becoming increasingly common as laser and photogrammetric techniques are now more readily accessible to non-specialists. Most of these imaging techniques have been applied to sites and/or objects that can be physically visited, handled, measured and studied in various ways. However, little or no attention has been paid to the potential of modern 3D modelling techniques for obtaining new quantitative and qualitative information from sites and objects which have been destroyed or are no longer accessible. This paper explores the potential of Structure from Motion (SfM) to provide fresh insight into the scientific exploitation of ancient image archives. Two case studies from Western France will be used to illustrate this: a series of photographs of one decorated orthostate from the Neolithic gallery grave of Kermorvan (Le Conquet, Finistère), dating from 1911-12, and a 12-minute video of the excavation of a Bronze Age mound in Kervingar (Ploudalmézeau, Finistère), dating from 1953.<br /><br /></p>

L’allée couverte du bois d’Archemont à Méréaucourt (Somme)

This monument was erected in a trench, during the recent Neolithic, and was used for six or eight hundred years as a collective grave. It presents two funerary layers separated by an anthropogenic infilling. The burials in both layers were primary as well as secondary, with at least 34 individuals for the lower layer and 35 for the upper layer. During the course of this long period, various interventions occurred, including the removal of bones and even a partial emptying of the grave. The teeth are better preserved than the bones and complete the data provided by the latter. During this period, the monument was covered by a light roof. It is only after use that the grave was closed off by the megalithic table-style slabs. The monument was still visited for a while, before the intentional destruction of the upper parts, associated with a partial covering. Besides rather common objects, this gallery grave yielded several amber beads, one of which is exceptional ; as well as ten polished flint axes, nine of which were found in primary position. In this paper, these pieces are the subject of a technological and use-wear study, which reveals unexpected diversity, in both fabrication and use. As well as this diversity, their position in the tomb is of particular interest. The environment evolved during the history of this gallery grave : first it was relatively wooded, it then presented early indications of clearing, followed by transient renewed forest development corresponding to the closing off of the monument ; this was followed by renewed clearing, corresponding to historical periods. Today, the forest has reclaimed the land.

The megalithic collective burial of Cabrials (Béziers, Hérault). A very small below-ground gallery grave dating from the beginning of the Final Neolithic

La structure fouillée en novembre 2007 au lieu-dit « Cabrials » est un petit monument de la fin du Néolithique. Il a été installé dans une excavation oblongue d’environ 3 m par 1,50 m et se compose de 9 orthostates, tous retouchés, soigneusement ajustés et bloqués par de plus petites pierres. Tous les orthostates des parois sont des stèles frustes ou des éléments d’architecture remployés. Les dalles de couvertures ont été arrachées par les labours. Une seule a été retrouvée à proximité. Elle présente la même taille et forme que les autres. Par contre, il ne subsiste aucun indice relatif à une plausible signalisation.La chambre présente un plan rectangulaire de 1,50 m par 0,70 m et une hauteur d’environ 0,90 m. Son grand axe est orienté nord-ouest/sud-est. On entrait dans la chambre par le biais d’une fosse accolée à son petit côté nord-ouest, qui correspond à un couloir embryonnaire court ou, encore, au débouché d’un couloir en partie aérien. Cet accès et la chambre sont séparés par une dalle amovible, appuyée sur deux piliers. Cette configuration, chambre longue unique, enterrée, à laquelle on accède par un couloir frontal également excavé, se rapproche typologiquement d’une allée sépulcrale enterrée. Il s’agit en l’occurrence d’un très petit monument mais son caractère mégalithique est incontestable, de même que son fonctionnement collectif. Cette tombe concerne, en effet, 19 individus au minimum, dont les inhumations ont été échelonnées dans le temps. Les dépôts ont été remaniés de manière importante en au moins deux phases principales.La condamnation de la sépulture pose problème, car il s’agit d’une procédure réalisée longtemps après le dernier dépôt.Les jeunes immatures sont sur-représentés, ce qui est surprenant pour ce type de sépulture. Par ailleurs, la durée d’utilisation semble courte, ce que suggère aussi la forte cohérence typologique du mobilier, dont toutes les composantes se rapportent au Néolithique final 1. Les datations 14C évoquent de manière concordante une fréquentation située autour de 3300 B.C. Le mobilier se compose d’un grand vase de stockage issu de la sphère domestique, de quelques outils lithiques et de différents éléments dont la distribution est relativement conforme à celle observée pour de plus grandes sépultures collectives, notamment dans le nord de la France.Enfin, la chronologie de ce monument un peu antérieure au plein développement des sépultures collectives mégalithiques en Languedoc, sa taille modeste et son fonctionnement particulier évoquent des traits intermédiaires entre des petits coffres lithiques du Néolithique moyen et de plus grandes sépultures, plus longuement utilisées, du Néolithique final.

Le monde des morts au Néolithique en Aquitaine : essai de synthèse

This paper proposes to define the main characteristics of the burials and the evolution of funeral behaviours during the Neolithic times, between about 5500 and 2300/2200 B.C., in the present territory of Aquitaine. For the moment, no burial was found for early Neolithic. During the middle Neolithic, about 4500 B.C., appear the first megalithic graves, passage graves (Angoumoisin type) and barrow cists, as well as burial caves. Late Neolithic, between 3700 and 2300/2200 B.C. is the great period of megalithic graves. Single quadrangular dolmen (Caussenard type) were built in Dordogne and in the Entre-deux-Mers in Gironde, gallery graves, the “allées d’Aquitaine” as to the “allées girondines” extended in the centre of the Aquitaine country while in the western Pyrénées the single quadrangular dolmen increased. In return, caves and rock shelter were, it seems to me, less prized by the people during the end of Neolithic times to leave the dead.

L'évolution de la pratique funéraire dans la sépulture collective néolithique de La Chaussée-Tirancourt (Somme)

Evolution of funerary practice in the Neolithic collective tomb of La Chaussée-Tirancourt -The megalithic gallery grave of La Chaussée-Tirancourt was excavated from 1967 to 1975. Formerly the monument had been altered at various times, but probably never included any megalithic covering. Its long and contrasted stratigraphy has already been published. It reveals layers of human bones contrasting with layers of sediment, all due to human activity. The monument received the bodies of deceased people throughout the recent and late regional Neolithic, between the second half of the fourth millennium BC and the extreme end of the third. The excavations made it possible to observe a significant evolution of the mode of inhumation in the course of this long millennium. The changes did not take place on the occasions of the setting in place of the intercalary layers: they had to be deciphered in the heart of the burial layers. The point was always the implementing of the principle of collective burial, successive deposits of the deceased as they die; but this principle evolved over time. This evolution is principally revealed by an alteration in the structure of the burial area. After an early utilisation which only left tenuous evidence, the tomb was organised so that a contrast appears between a burial area,

Neolitisering i Västvärmland

”Neolithisation in the western part of Värmland. Settlements, subsistence and landscape”: The aim is to analyze the Neolithisation process in a marginal area of the Swedish Neolithic. The study area belongs to the Lake District of western Värmland. By combining archaeological data with pollen analysis in a landscape perspective I try to reveal the spatial organization of the StoneAge society. The result so far indicates a shift in subsistence from the Middle Neolithic onwards. The spatial organization of settlements near the Lake Stora Le seems to continue undisturbed by the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic. The only visible changes are new Neolithic symbols such as gallery graves, decorated pottery and rock art, but in similar places in the landscape as during the Mesolithic. The spatial organization does not change radically until the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, when a major shift in the importance of cultivation takes place.

Senneolittiske hellekister i Syd-Norge

”Late Neolithic stone cists in Southern Norway - a preliminary report”: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some six Late Neolithic stone cists or gallery graves were discovered and partly investigated in S Norway. The investigations were never properly published.In recent years, additional investigations have brought the number of known graves of this kind up to about twelve. Five of these have been dated to LN I and II; these are found widely dispersed in S Norway from Østfold to Lista. Another seven occur concentrated in eastern Østfold, these have been dated to LN II and ought to be considered together with those found in the adjacent Swedish districts.

Territorial behaviour and communication in a ritual landscape

Landscape research in the last decade, in human geography as well as in anthropology and archaeology, has often been polarized, either according to traditional geographical methods or following the principles of a new, symbolically orientated discipline. This cross–disciplinary study in prehistoric Östergötland, Sweden, demonstrates the importance of using methods and approaches from both orientations in order to gain reasonable comprehension of landscape history and territorial structure. Funeral monuments as cognitive nodes in a prehistoric cultural landscape are demonstrated as to contain significant elements of astronomy, not unlike what has been discussed for native and prehistoric American cultures, e.g. Ancestral Pueblo. A locational analysis with measurements of distances and directions was essential in approaching this structure. A nearest neighbour method was used as a starting–point for a territorial discussion, indicating that the North European hundreds division could have its roots in Bronze Age (1700–500 BC) tribal territories, linked to barrows geographically interrelated in cardinal alignments. In the European Bronze Age faith and science, the religious and the profane, were integrated within the framework of a solar cult, probably closely connected with astronomy in a ritual landscape, organized according to cosmological ideas, associated with power and territoriality. Cosmographic expression of a similar kind was apparently used even earlier, as gallery–graves (stone cists) from the Late Neolithic (2300–1700 BC) in Östergötland are also geographically interrelated in cardinal alignments.

Deux sous-populations dans une allée couverte "Seine-Oise-Marne " (Guiry-en-Vexin, Val-d'Oise)

Abstract The sample of bodies buried in a gallery grave in the Paris region presents bipartition as regards physical anthropology. The people united in the grave do not seem to have been so by marriage ; their matrimonial networks were quite separate. Those placed at the head of the grave seem to have enjoyed a better standard of living during their lifetime than the others.

Le dispositif de fermeture de l'allée couverte de Méréaucourt (Somme)

ABSTRACT The Méréaucourt gallery grave formerly had a stone cork kept in position by an original device resting on the side orthostats of the antechamber. Similar processes were perhaps in use in other collective burials, but not recognized by modern diggers.

La sépulture mégalithique à entrée latérale du Petit Vieux-Sou à Brécé (Mayenne)

Excavation and restoration of the megalithic monument of the Petit Vieux-Sou at Brécé (Mayenne) confirmed the pre-excavation identification of the ruins as a lateral-entrance gallery grave with mound. Charcoal from within the mound has been dated at 3960 _+_ 70 BP placing the monument in the Late Neolithic towards the middle of the third millennium BC (calibrated). The overall style - architecture, orientation... - makes significant comparisons possible with similar monuments in northern Armoriea. However, the position of the access passage at Brécé, exactly midway along the gallery, is noteworthy. The grave goods recovered include a main range of unornamented flat or round base vases with a lithic assemblage essentially of flint flakes and polished stone axes. These goods have their affinities with those of the Armorican lateral-entrance gallery graves : Quessoy and Saint-Quay-Perros may be cited though there are comparisons to be made with certain Paris Basin sites notably the Seine-Oise-Marne type trench graves and the Eteauville ossuary.