The many burial mounds in the landscape of the island are testimony that Samsø was inhabited for thousands of years by humans. These burial mounds are burial places from the early Paleolithic period about 6,000 years ago to the end of the Viking Age, when Christianity gained a foothold in Denmark.
In the Paleolithic period, the tall people were often buried on a hill bordered by stones. They placed the stones in the rectangle, put the dead man in there and covered this formation with a large stone. Around these so-called chimney tombs a number of other stones were either placed in a circle or in a rectangle.
The dead were brought to the grave both weapons and food, so that he was prepared to make the journey to the realm of the dead. Sometimes sacrifices were made in front of the grave.
The places where you can still see traces of gangplanks and megalithic tombs, are mainly on private land in the area of the estate Brattingsborg. Along the Havvejen on the Sælvig bay is "Niels Halses Høj", a dolmen from around 3,500 BC. Chr., Which is open to the public.
Oak coffins from the Bronze Age
In the Bronze Age, the burial custom changed radically. The dead were put to rest in oak coffins covered with a thick layer of peat. Several of these coffins have been preserved to our times, as an Ortstein cap had formed, which preserved the moisture and prevented the rotting of the wood. "Egtvedpigen" (girl Egtved) was u.a. found in an oak coffin from the Bronze Age.
The burial mounds from the Bronze Age were often built on much-used paths. Especially beautiful are the grave mounds north of the campsite Sælvigbugten.