Nordic megalith architecture

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Nordic megalith architecture is an ancient architectural style found in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia and North Germany, that involves large slabs of stone arranged to form a structure. It emerged in northern Europe, predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC. It was primarily a product of the Funnelbeaker culture. Between 1964 and 1974, Ewald Schuldt in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania excavated over 100 sites of different types: simple dolmens, extended dolmens (also called rectangular dolmens), passage graves, great dolmens, unchambered long barrows, and stone cists. In addition, there are polygonal dolmens and types that emerged later, for example, the Grabkiste and Röse. This nomenclature, which specifically derives from the German, is not used in Scandinavia where these sites are categorised by other, more general, terms, as dolmens (Dysser, Döser), passage graves (Ganggrifter, Jættestuen) and stone cists (Hellekister, Hällkista).

Neolithic monuments are a feature of the culture and ideology of Neolithic communities. Their appearance and function serves as an indicator of their social development.^[1]

In the last years, information on Neolithic monuments has significantly increased in northern Germany.^[2] In Schleswig-Holstein, 3,212 megalithic monuments and 958 long mounds are reported. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, nowadays 5,991 megaliths are reported (in contrast to 648 in 2010). 1,155 in Lower Saxony. Altogether, 11,162 megaliths are known from these regions and with adding Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, we end up with 11,648 megaliths in northern Germany. In Denmark 5,001 monuments are registered, but probably many more exited once, 101 in the Netherlands, 18 in Poland, and 639 in Sweden. Johannes Müller suggests that originally in these regions, more than 75,000 megaliths have been erected.^[2]