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Kuyavian Pyramids (Polish:Piramidy kujawskie), known asKuyavian Mounds (Kopce kujawskie),Graves of Giants (groby olbrzymów) orPolish Pyramids – enormoustombs,megalithic structures inKuyavia,Poland. They were built in the late stages of theYounger Stone Age (ca. 3000–2200 BC), over a period of no more than 500 years. They demonstrate a relatively high level ofarchitectural knowledge, the ability to use simple devices such aslevers, and good organization of their builders' work. The orientation of the graves relative to thecardinal directions (east-west) indicates knowledge of certain basicastronomy.[1]
In Poland, outside EasternKuyavia, they occur inWestern Pomerania. These structures are elongated trapezoidal in shape, less frequently circular.
Two tomb clusters are located nearIzbica Kujawska – currently archaeological reserves inWietrzychowice andSarnowo, Gmina Lubraniec. Individual tombs have survived in the villages ofGaj Stolarski [pl] andObałki. Until the 1920s, they survived in the village ofŚmieły and on the border of Wietrzychowice andOsiecz Mały.Oskar Kolberg reported that tombs were still very numerous in Kuyavia in the 19th century.
The stone enclosure of the grave likely reflects the shape of the large houses of the first farmers of this region, dating from around 4300–3000 BC, belonging to theKultura polgarska [pl] (Danubian culture) orFunnelbeaker culture. Some of the individual boulders forming the eastern wall weigh up to several tons. Their size gradually decreases as the grave narrows westward. The entire structure may have been up to 100 meters long, and the base (eastern wall) 8–10 meters wide. At the top of the grave, in a designated rectangle and in a special pit, was the skeletal burial of one person (presumably the leader – the patriarch of the family), surrounded by stones in a mound. The entire enclosure was covered by a stone and earth mantle up to 4 meters high. It is estimated that the construction of an average-sized structure of this type required up to 600 tons of earth and over 200 tons of stone. In the1970s,Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk [pl] fromPoznań, represented by Prof. T. Wiślański, conducted a series of archaeological works, examining, among others, two megalithic graves located next to each other, situated at the present border of thePomietów andKarsko, Pyrzyce County fields, and others located in theKrępcewo fields and nearDolice.[2]
