Simple dolmen

The term was defined by archaeologist, Ernst Sprockhoff, and utilised by Ewald Schuldt in publicising his excavation of 106 megalithic sites in the north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The simple dolmen emerged in the early days of the development of megalithic monuments of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) and around 3,500 BC they appeared across almost the entire region covered by the stone cult structures of Nordic megalith architecture, but not in the Netherlands, in Lower Saxony west of the River Weser nor east of the River Oder and only once in Sweden (Lejeby Laholm).

This small size led researchers such as Hans-Jürgen Beier, to refuse to give simple dolmens the status of a megalithic site.

Also in Sicily, in recent years, are being found small dolmen monuments, because around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the west coast of the Mediterranean island was caught up in a cultural wave (bringing the bell-shaped goblet) coming the Sardinian coast, which in turn had imported from the peninsula Iberica.

The prototype of the simple dolmen is the so-called block cist, enclosed on all sides and dug into the ground.

The block cist in the Tykskov of Varnæs near Aabenraa and the one in the Nørreskov on Alsen lie diagonally within the enclosure.

Subsequently, the first rectangular dolmens (Grammdorf in the municipality of Wangels) and passage graves (Deinste) were built, still sunk in pits.

In the next step, the neolithic builders understood how to lay the foundation of the three or more supporting stones (which in simple dolmens were always placed on their longest sides) in such a way that their base of the structure could be closer to the surface of the ground.

The effort was made to reduce the size of the slab covering the opening of the re-usable simple dolmen to one that could be manhandled by the settlement community.