TIARP, SWEDEN—According to a statement released by the University of Gothenburg, an unusual dolmen with a little niche at each end has been dated to 3500 B.C. and excavated in western Sweden by archaeologist Karl-Göran Sjögren and his colleagues. Although the stone burial chamber appeared to be undisturbed, the researchers determined that parts of the skeletons were missing. “Skulls and large bones are missing and may have been removed from the grave,” Sjögren said. “We don’t know whether that has to do with burial rituals or what’s behind it,” he added. The researchers did identify bones from hands and feet, fragments of rib bones, and teeth. These smaller bones are usually the ones missing from megalithic graves from the Neolithic period, Sjögren explained. DNA analysis will look for traces of disease and reconstruct any family relationships between the individuals buried in the dolmen. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Neolithic Archaeology. To read about two burials unearthed at a Viking cemetery in Sweden, go to "Standing Swords."
