SCANDINAVIA KING KUNGAGRAVEN TOMB DATED 1000 B.C

SCANDINAVIA KING KUNGAGRAVEN 

TOMB DATED 1000 B.C 

Kungagraven – A Grave Fit for a Nordic Bronze Age King, But Who Was Buried Inside?

The number of mysterious stone constructions and burials left by ancient Nordic people is impressive. However, the King's Grave near Kivik has a special place in history. It's one of the most striking archaeological sites related to the people who lived in the area during the Bronze Age.

The Nordic Bronze Age people left many surprising and enigmatic monuments and megaliths, such as burials in the form of stone ships. But in the city of Kivik, close to Scania in southern Sweden, researchers also found a unique burial which sheds some light on the region’s ancient rulers.



A Tomb for Kings

The tomb is located only 320 meters (1,000 ft.) from the Scania coastline. The site was apparently seen as a good source for stones over the years, and many elements of the construction have already been lost. Therefore, it was really hard to conclude what the strange stone building was before it was excavated. However, when researchers found two burials, it became obvious that it was a special place in the past

The tomb is dated back to c. 1000 BC. There were two cists in the mound of the tomb and stone slabs measuring 0.65 meters (2.1 ft.) wide and 1.2 meters (3.9 ft.) long near them. The construction is circular, but very different from most other known European burials from the Bronze Age. In total, it is 76 meters (250 ft.) in diameter – a big archaeological site.

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The cists are decorated with petroglyphs which show people and animals. For example, there is a depiction of a chariot drawn by two horses. Apart from the horses, the animals presented in the petroglyphs are birds and fish. Researchers also found images of ships and mysterious symbols






In Search of Treasure

The story of the tomb’s discovery starts around 1748 when the site was still in use as a quarry for construction materials. One day, two farmers discovered a tomb, which was 3.3 meters (11 ft.) long and positioned north-south. It was made of stone slabs, but the farmers started to dig in it thinking that they may find treasure underground. It is hard to hide something like this in a small community, so very soon the story that they discovered a wonderful treasure became hot gossip.

The two farmers were arrested by the authorities, who were annoyed that they weren't informed about the discovery beforehand. The time in jail made the men tell the truth – they found nothing interesting in their dig. The farmers were released, but the story about the site didn't end there.

Official excavations began in 1931. The works were led by Gustaf Hallstrom, an archaeologist who dug there between 1931 and 1933. Archaeologists discovered that the stone slabs found by the farmers are more than just stones – they are treasures from ancient times with messages presented via the petroglyphs. 

Unfortunately, some of the priceless stones with petroglyphs had been damaged by the local community when they removed them from the site for other buildings.
Hallstrom’s team excavated the remains of a settlement dating back to the Stone Age, but underground they found only a few items related to the Bronze Age, like pieces of bones, teeth, and some bronze fragments.

A Land of Megaliths and Forgotten Kings

Scandinavia is a territory full of lost ancient treasures, tombs, and megalithic structures which were misunderstood for years. But the work of many researchers is enabling us to understand the meaning of the constructions and life for the people who lived in the region in ancient times.

Archaeologists have tried to reconstruct the site, but the truth is that nobody knows for certain what things were like in the Bronze Age. Kungagraven is now a museum and all of the artifacts discovered at the site are presented in a beautiful exhibition. Every year, thousands of tourists visit this place, which is one of the greatest attractions in Sweden from the Bronze Age. However, what they see is the effect of the effort and imagination of archaeologists.