Apassage grave orpassage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from theNeolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europe.[1] When covered in earth, a passage grave is a type ofburial mound[2] which is found in various forms all over the world. When a passage grave is covered in stone, it is a type ofcairn.
The building of passage graves was normally carried out withmegaliths along with smaller stones. The earliest passage tombs seem to take the form of smalldolmens, although not all dolmens are passage graves. The passage itself in a number of notable instances is aligned in such a way that the sun shines through the passage and into the chamber at a significant point in the year, often at sunrise on thewinter solstice or at sunset on theequinox. Many later passage tombs were constructed at the tops of hills or mountains, indicating that their builders intended them to be seen from a great distance.
The interior of passage graves varies in number of burials, shape, and other aspects. Those with more than one chamber may have multiple sub-chambers leading off from the main burial chamber. One common interior layout, thecruciform passage grave, is cross-shaped, although prior to theChristian Era and thus having no Christian associations. Some passage tombs are covered with a cairn, especially those Passage tombs of the cairn type often have elaboratecorbelled roofs rather than simple slabs.Megalithic art has been identified carved into the stones at some sites. Not all passage "graves" have been found to contain evidence that they were used for burial. One such example isMaeshowe.
The passage tomb tradition is believed to have originated in the French region ofBrittany. It was introduced to other regions such as Ireland by colonists from Brittany.[3]
In a 1961 survey ofmegalithic tombs in Ireland, Irish scholars Seán Ó Nualláin andRúaidhrí de Valera describe four categories of megalithic tombs:court cairns, portaldolmens,wedge-shaped gallery graves, and passage tombs.[4] This appears to be one of the first uses of the term. It is likely that the writers borrowed from the Spanish termtumbas de corredor, "corridor tombs", which is used for tombs inCantabria,Galicia and theBasque Country. Of the megalithic tombs in Ireland, only passage tombs appear to have widespread distribution throughout Europe.
Passage graves are distributed extensively in lands along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe. They are found inIreland,Britain,Scandinavia, northernGermany and theDrenthe area of theNetherlands. They are also found inIberia, some parts of theMediterranean, and along the northern coast ofAfrica. InIreland and Britain, passage tombs are often found in large clusters, giving rise to the term passage tomb cemeteries.
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