The King's Grave

The King's Grave lies near Kivik in southeastern Scania, Sweden [1]. The monument is a cairn, a burial mound constructed largely from stone, and is one of the largest known burial monuments in northern Europe [1]. In its restored form, the circular cairn measures about 75 metres across and 3.5 metres high [1]. Near its centre is a cist, a stone-built burial chamber approximately 4 metres long and 1.5 metres wide [1]. The principal cist is formed from ten upright stone slabs, eight of which are decorated with petroglyphs on the surfaces facing the burial chamber [1]. The carvings depict people, ships, birds, fish, horses, axes, circular symbols and figures playing lurs [1]. Only a small quantity of human remains survived within the principal cist because the monument had been looted before archaeological excavation [1]. Radiocarbon dating showed that the burials took place during at least three separate periods between approximately 1400 and 800 BCE [1].