Chamber tomb

In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave.

Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were often used over long periods for multiple burials.

Most chamber tombs were constructed from large stones or megaliths and covered by cairns, barrows or earth.

In Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, stone-built examples of these burials are known by the generic term of megalithic tombs.

A wide variety of local types has been identified, and some designs appear to have influenced others.