Tustrup Dolmens North Djursland

Tustrup Stone Age Grave site 

 

Most of our visible prehistoric memories are usually spread separately in the landscape,  but on a small plateau west of Tustrup village at North Djursland is another kind of memory from our ancient history. Here is a collection of grave monuments from Bondestenalderen, the socalled Tragtbægerkultur (Funnelbeaker-culture) . 

Bondestenalderen /Neolithic or New Stone Age marks the start of agriculture and domestic animals in Denmark. The period is known for its milled stone axes, fine ceramics and many of the numerous gravehills spread in the Danish landscape. 

The brook

When the grave site was in use about 5000 year since the landscape looked quite different. It was covered in hardwood forest which the Stone Age people was clearing for their fields. The brook was then a big water stream which a few kilometer away run out in a fjord-system connecting the sound with the sea of Kattegat. Some hills nearby were then an island in the Stone Age ocean, and the coast of Djursland was like a Swedish archipelago with small islands, sounds, isthmus, fjords and inlets.

The cult house (5x5,5 m) with an open northeast gable was probably the center of the activities of the grave site. Upon the floor by the back wall were found 28 pretty clay pots, identical to the ceramics which partly gave name to the Tragtbægerkultur and partly were used as sacrifices in front of the house and in the dolmens and the passage grave. The cult house is interpreted as some kind of temple where the diseased were placed while their graves were built -  and in which the rites were performed. Similar cult houses have later been found in other Danish localitities. 

At Moesgaard Museum by Aarhus are the finds shown in an exhibition and in a nearby field close to the beach is a reconstruction of the cult house. 

The passage grave has a 3x 10 m grave chamber.  It was built as a common grave and was used both  by the Tragtbægerkulturen and later cultures. Into the grave chamber leads a 6 m long passage . The passage was earlier covered with big stones like in the grave chamber. The stones are very large and impressive and the pasasage gave at Tustrup represents a giant working process.  Over 40 large stones between 1/2 and 20 tons were used in the building.

In the floor of the grave chamber's northern end are some flat stones which might be a mark for graves reserved for special people. In the passage grave is a special chamber which is popular among children. They can climb into a side chamber by the help of a flashlighr. Similar side chambers are found in only 26 out of 700 left passage graves in Denmark. The side chamber was built at the same time as the main chamber. There might be a purpose. Maybe it was reserved for the chief and his family ?

The two other big stone graves at Tustrup are

dolmens with polygonal grave chambers. The dolmens are traditionally considered as  forerunners of the big passage grave, but the ceramic-finds in the excavations were of the same character in both the cult house and the passage grave, so the graves must have been in use at the same time.

Northwest of the cult house is a freestanding dolmen chamber with 5 of originally 6 cover stones and a short chamber passage with 2 cover stones. In the floor  between the passage and the chamber is a socalled tærskelsten  (threshold stone) which marks where the inner wood- or stone door was placed. 

The fine round dolmen southeast of the cult house has no chamber passage. The opening to the chamber is just a space between 2 of 5 cover stones of the chamber. The round dolmen was restored in 1994 and rebuilt  according to the earlier excavations in order to give the visitor the experience of an intact round dolmen, contrarily to the rather desolated dolmen chamber. Along the foot of the earth hill which surrounds the chamber stand 13 big edge stones with a fine dry wall. The cover stone above the chamber and parts of the dry wall and the earth hill were added in 1994, and outside the chamber opening lies a stone from the dolmen with clear cleaving traces from present stone work in the area. Large stones were always a sought after building material. Maybe already used in the building of the nearby ashlar church in Nørager and as gravel in local roads or railways. 

Besides the prehistorics the Tustrup area has a pretty nature with marked paths and a primitive overnight/shelter close to the information-building at the western parking. The area undergoes constant natural care in order to restore a vegetation which harmonizes best possible with the vegetation of Stone Age and in order to visualize the varied landscape of the area. .

 

a creative farmer of today has made fine graphics in the field.

reconstructed cult house, Moesgaard, Aarhus.

Source Danske Fortidsminder/ Danmarks Kulturarvs Forening 


photo Tustrup-dysserne 2002 og 2015:  grethe bachmann

Moesgård Park and Skovmøllen...........

south wing corner of Moesgård.

The large area around Moesgård and Skovmøllen is one of the most popular places to go in the Århus district. Here is the high beech forest, the beach, the park with lots of birds, here is the popular prehistoric museum.  They are now building a new museum upon a piece of land north of the old buildings. They need more space.

old avenue

The park is still the same with the same lovely old trees, the small lakes, the birds, the old houses, the old orchards.  It's a place where I have come very often. This day was a rather cold day, the warmth from last week had disappeared to a place I don't know where, and the north wind was sweeping around the face and through the bones. The winter clothes were in use again.

When we came to the old avenue in the park, two great tits were fighting violently, while a third was watching them. It really looked serious. They can kill each other, but when we approached they discovered us and flew up in the tree tops. I hope they forgot what they were doing and didn't start the fight again.

This is the time for frogs. In one of the small lakes were lots of frogs, and this was the common frog. (European Common Frog). They make a strange sound, such a deep roar - first I thought it was a faraway train I could hear, but it was the frogs. All those thousands of eggs! When the tadpoles come out most of them are eaten by fish, dragonfly larvae and birds, so most tadpoles will disappear I guess - or else the park would be swarming with frogs in summer! The number of frogs are being kept at a level, they are eaten by birds of prey, crows, ducks, herons etc.. Nature is smart.

frog eggs

bark of the biggest oak

At the corner just before we reach the Iron Age house are a couple of old oaks, one of the side-branches has been cut off, probably because it was broken by itself, and we counted the year rings. 150 years. The trunk itself is much thicker. The trees are probably 3-400 years old. Lovely old trees. Their old trunk is like stone. 

The Iron Age house lies on the socalled prehistoric hiking path, which is a part of the prehistoric museum of Moesgård. I usually don't think much about it, I have been here so often, but it's actually a 4 km hiking path, which tells a lot about prehistoric history. I'm sure you know this. If you live in a place with something special, it has become just a part of what you see.

The hiking path goes through the manor park, down across open pastures, through a high forest and swamps along the river Giberå down to Moesgård beach and back to the manor Moesgård through an evocative forest. On the path people will be passing  Skovmøllen, and some reconstructed prehistoric houses, memorials and dolmens. The tour ends at the reconstructed Viking church.

And here is the Iron Age house, which is reconstructed from a settlement in southern Schleswig. The house shows how people and cattle lived under the same roof. In the west-end lived the family around the fire place, and the east-end was for the livestock, they stood in boxes divided by intertwined walls. During the excavation of the house in Schleswig was found a wooden trough with the skeleton of a 10 months old baby. The settlement in Schleswig was developed ab. 100 A.C. and inhabited through 4-500 years.   

Opposite is a field I call  "Hestemarken",  the horse field, there are always some sweet Icelandic ponies here,  they are so friendly, and they love a little talk. I only saw two horses today, and they were in the other part of the field. It's freezing cold, but they've got a thick woolen fur, those cute Icelanders. Nature is smart!! ´ )

The Giberå river runs through the forest on this part of the hiking path, and here lies Skovmøllen, also a popular place for people to go. Here's a cosy restaurant decorated with old Danish antiques, and I love to go here and have hot cocoa and buns with butter. What you see on the photo is the mill itself, where we can buy flour. The restaurant is to the left and behind.

old orchard

I was not interested in walking further down to the beach, it was so cold, and my left knee was feeling bad.  So we turned and went back up along the road to the park, beside the park is a big field with lots of sheep. They looked like they had a conference on top of the hill. In the park is an old orchard from the time when a family lived on the manor. Still apples in autumn, they are sour, but they can be used in an apple cake with extra sugar! In a fine glade with a flowering mirabelle stands the pretty Thai house.

The rests of trees and branches are left all over the park, they form good places for birds, insects and reptiles.

   

The Thai house came to Denmark as a gift from the Thailand state in 1975 in connection to a great exhibition about Thailand. It's about 100 years old and stood originally in Siam's old capital Ayutthaya ab. 200 km north of Bangkok. You'll enter the house by using a staircase up to the veranda in front of the house. The inhabitants probably used a ladder, which could be drawn up at night and prevent intruders from entering. Upon the veranda was kitchen and fireplace, and the family stayed here most of the time. The higher placed main room with sleeping places, storage furniture and altar was their private area.

Under the house the family stored various large tools like plough, rice grinder and fish traps. There was a fireplace too, and the place was especially used as a workshop. But when the monsun rain came from July till September, they had to clear the place and move the things elsewhere. 

Too cold for comfort. I feel like an icicle. Now it's back home................

the narrow road...

Spring signs:

buds on chestnut

yellow anemones

forsythia

photo Moesgård 31 March 2012: grethe bachmann