The many burial mounds in the island's landscape are evidence that Samsø has been inhabited by people for thousands of years. These burial mounds are burial sites dating from the early Stone Age, approximately 6,000 years ago, to the end of the Viking Age, when Christianity took root in Denmark.
During the Stone Age, people of higher standing were often buried on a hill surrounded by stones. The stones were arranged in a rectangle, the deceased was placed there, and the formation was covered with a large stone. A row of additional stones was placed around these so-called chimney graves, either in a circle or a rectangle.
Weapons and food were placed in the grave with the deceased so that they were ready to begin their journey to the realm of the dead. Sometimes sacrifices were also made in front of the grave.
The places where traces of passage and megalithic tombs can still be seen today are primarily on private land within the Brattingsborg estate. Along Havvejen at Sælvig Bay is "Niels Halses Høj," a dolmen dating from around 3,500 BC, which is open to the public.
Bronze Age Oak Coffins
During the Bronze Age, burial customs changed radically. People began to lay their dead to rest in oak coffins covered with a thick layer of peat. Several of these coffins have survived to this day, as a stone cap had formed that retained moisture and prevented the wood from rotting. "Egtvedpigen" (the body of a girl from Egtved) was found, among other things, in an oak coffin from the Bronze Age.
Bronze Age burial mounds were often built along well-used roads. The burial mounds north of the Sælvigbugten campsite are particularly beautiful.