A gallery grave is a form of
megalithic tomb built primarily during the
Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main
gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an
antechamber or
hallway. There are at least four major types of gallery grave (complex,
transepted, segmented, and
wedge-shaped), and they may be covered with an earthen mound (or "
tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...
") or rock mound (or "
cairn").
About gallery graves
Archeologist T. Douglas Price argues that the gallery grave was a form of community burial site. Those placed in a gallery grave were most likely members of the same family or hamlet, and probably were intended to reinforce the sense of community.
Gallery graves may be straight, or they may form an
ell
An ell (from Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", and ...
. In some cases, a burial chamber exists at the end of the gallery. The walls of gallery graves were built of
orthostats, slab-like stones set upright in the earth. They were roofed with multiple flat stones, although the burial chamber (if one existed) was usually roofed with a single large stone. Multiple burials could occur all at one time, the grave could be reopened several times to accept new burials, or the grave could remain open over an extended period of time to accept multiple burials.
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Burials in gallery graves were made in the gallery itself, or in small burial chambers opening off the gallery. This is known as a "complex gallery grave". When the adjacent burial chambers are paired, the structure is known as a "
transepted gallery grave". Gallery graves may also have their galleries subdivided by interior stone slabs. These are known as "segmented gallery graves". When two parallel galleries lead to a single terminal burial chamber, this is known as a "parallel gallery grave".
Some gallery graves were not rectangular in shape, but rather narrowed toward the rear. These are known as
wedge-shaped gallery graves. The ceilings of wedge-shaped gallery graves often sloped toward the rear, and a sill of stone set some distance inside the away from the entrance or one or two slabs set upright in the earth defined a sort of antechamber. The wedge-shaped gallery grave was usually topped by a
cairn (covering of stones) rather than an earthen mound (or "
tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...
"), although an earthen mound was sometimes used. The cross-sectional shape of the cairn could be round, oval, or D-shaped, and often a
kerb (ring of stone) was used to help
revet
Revet (russian: links=no, Реветь; ba, Рәүәт, ''Räwät'') is a rural locality (a village) in Inzersky Selsoviet, Beloretsky District, Bashkortostan, Russia. The population was 61 as of 2010. There are 7 streets.
Geography
Revet is lo ...
the cairn and keep it in place. Some wedge-shaped gallery graves had curved rear walls, while others were linear. A few had the terminal burial chamber at the rear of the gallery, although this was usually blocked off. Wedge-shaped gallery graves sometimes had a set of outer walls. These could be parallel to the inner walls, or they could be set at an even stronger angle (emphasizing the wedge-like nature of the tomb). Wedge-shaped gallery graves usually faced west, and often had a pair of upright stone slabs linking the inner and outer walls at the entrance.
The tumulus (or "barrow") covering a gallery grave may be
ovate or
long. The sides of the tumulus may be parallel or not. The tumulus was designed so that the end of the gallery (or the terminal burial chamber, if one existed) was at the center of the tumulus. A tumulus may contain several gallery graves radiating outward from the center. Since the earth atop the gallery grave was only loosely piled up, it often washed away due to erosion. Many gallery graves today lie exposed to the air, when originally they would have lain deep within a tumulus.
Transepted
Transepted gallery graves have burial monuments with side rooms extending laterally from a central chamber. They are found at sites in the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
valley of France, south west
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and it is thought the builders had cultural links with one another.
Wedge-shaped

A wedge-shaped gallery grave or wedge tomb is a type of
Irish chamber tomb. They are so named because the burial chamber narrows at one end (usually decreasing both in height and width from west to east), producing a wedge shape in elevation. An
antechamber is separated from the burial area by a simple
jamb or sill, and the doorway generally faces west.
A distinguishing characteristic of wedge tombs is the double-walling of the gallery. They were often covered by
cairns, which could be round, oval or D-shaped, often with a
kerb to revet it. More are low sized, usually about 1.5 metres high, and are generally found on mountainsides, about three-quarters the way up.
Wedge tombs were built between the Irish late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
and middle
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
s (about 2500 to 2000BC). Today, between 500 and 550 known wedge tombs survive in Ireland,
and are found predominantly in the west and north west of the island.
Dating
Along with the
dolmen
A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...
and
passage grave, the gallery grave is the most common megalithic tomb in western Europe.
Gallery graves were usually constructed during the Neolithic Age, which began about 10,200 BC and ended in Europe about 3,200 BC. Some, however, were constructed in the Middle and Late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, about 2,300 BC to 600 BC. Dating of some gallery graves is difficult, as the tombs may have been constructed in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, but reopened and used for burials until the Late Bronze Age.
Gallery vs. passage grave
The difference between a complex gallery grave and a
passage grave (which also has smaller burial chambers opening off the main passage) is two-fold. First, the gallery grave gallery will be as high and wide as the side burial chambers, while in a passage grave the passage is not as high or wide as the burial chambers. Second, gallery graves are usually topped by a V-shaped tumulus, while passage graves are almost always covered by a round tumulus.
Recognized gallery graves
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Archeologists Ian Shaw and Robert Jameson argued in 1999 that the best-researched gallery graves are the
Severn-Cotswold tombs in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
South West England in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Other important gallery graves include:
*
Court cairn, found in western and northern
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and southwest
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
*
Giants' grave in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...
*
Glantane East wedge-shaped tomb in Ireland
*
Naveta grave in
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
*
Seine-Oise-Marne culture ''allées couverte'' in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
and southern
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
* Severn-Cotswold tombs in Wales and South West England in the United Kingdom
*
Wartberg culture stone cist group tombs in northern
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
, southern
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, and western
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
See also
*
List of Cork archaeological sites
A list of archaeological sites in County Cork, Ireland.
Bantry Area Bantry Archaeology
* Coastal Promontory Fort, Dromclogh
* Franciscan Friary, Abbey extant 1466 suppressed 1542
* Fulacht fiadh, Dromclogh,
* Holy Well, Beach 15th. August
* Iro ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallery Grave
Megalithic monuments
Archaeology of death
Burial monuments and structures
Tumuli
Stone Age Europe