According to a visit by the National Museum of Denmark in the late 1800s, the dolmen was part of a larger long dolmen, oriented northeast-southwest, with three chambers of the same type. This dolmen may have been 30-40 metres long, surrounded by large stones.
A dolmen is a burial chamber built of large stones and dates to the earliest part of the Neolithic period (3500-3200 BC). The earliest dolmens were small and designed for a single burial, but later they became larger and had entrances to accommodate multiple burials over time.
Neolithic graves, both dolmens and passage graves, rarely contain complete skeletons, but rather fragments of skeletons from many individuals, often buried over a long period of time. These graves served as places of interaction with the deceased, both physically and ritually.
Discover Herslev and the ancient monuments of Langeland
On a stretch of just 2 kilometres north from the Dolmen, in the past you would have seen at least 31 burial mounds and dolmens. This may sound like a lot, but it’s not an atypical picture, and in many parts of Denmark you can see long rows of burial mounds on hilltops in the landscape, on the border between low-lying areas such as plains and wetlands, and higher moraine soils.
Today, 2,300 dolmens have been preserved in Denmark - only a tenth of the original more than 23,000 dolmens and passage graves throughout the country. 500 metres south of the Herslev Dolmen is the Passage Grave Annemosehøj.
The walk on the map is 8 km past Klæsø Naturhavn, Lindelse Inlet and Langeland's largest stone.
More Hidden Stories
Discover more hidden stories from Langeland at www.govisitlangeland.com/past
The project Langelands Hidden Stories is supported by the Danish Outdoor Council and developed by VisitLangeland and Langelands Museum.
