Moth

Featured in The Megalithic European (TME) page 165.

Access: Good paths to the cemetery, which isn’t far from the carpark. Once among the graves there are no paths but nice smooth grass. The site is on a very distinct slope, so may be quite ‘hard work’ for some people to get back to the top from the bottom!

Lindholm Høje is in the northern suberbs of Aalborg. The route Julian gives in TME looks a little longer than a more direct route, but having started to try to find my own way, I think he may have recommended it because it’s simpler & doesn’t get you ‘caught up’ in more complicated bits of Aalborg.

Leave the E45 at junction 21 and head towards Aabybro on the 11. It is pretty well signposted from the 11, but you need to take a left (south) at Hvorup. Continue along this road (Gamel Hvorupvej) for less than 2km, turning right onto Vendilavej where you will find the carpark for the site.

Visited 6 April 2006
I was expecting quite a lot from Lindholm Høje and wasn’t disappointed! A huge selection of about 700 graves probably ranging from the bronze-age to around 1000ce.

The oldest graves are the triangular settings (for males) and the oval or rectangular (for women) and are mainly found towards the top of the hill. Spread over the hillside there are also 140 later Viking ship-settings and overall, the variety is fascinating.

In TME, Julian recommends the museum & coffee-shop, but unfortunately when I visited, the museum was shut. The coffee-shop was open, but I had a lot more to see today...!

A spectacular place though!

Access: A very short walk of a few metres from the road.

Ringlehøj i Snave Skov langdysse is on Langeland. Cross the bridge to Langeland and travel just over 2.5km along the 9. Take a left turn (north) onto the 305 towards Tullebølle, Tranekær and Lohals.

Travel along the 305, passing Bjerrebygaard and going through Tullebølle to Frellesvig. I estimate this is just over 5km from the junction with the 9. Take the left turn (NW) to Frellesvig and then left again (west) to head for the forestry.

At first the trees are only on your left (south), but about 100m after they are on both sides, you should find the monument through the trees on your left – I think there’s a sign.

7 April 2006
An impressive but badly damaged monument, it still has quite a few of its kerbstones, but the chamber stones are badly deranged.

The remaining mound is pretty long (60 metres), but looks as if its height has been drastically reduced and its profile has become blended into the ridge it seems to be built on.

Well worth a visit on a sunny day – a peaceful and relaxing spot. I reckon it’d be pretty drab & depressing in bad weather though!

Access: Walk of something like 50 metres gently uphill across (ploughed when we visited) field.

Very near Dyssekammer i Herslev – on the west of the 305 about 500 metres further south. I think there was a signpost and ‘official’ parking place but can’t quite remember. If not, it was certainly easy to park on the same side of the road as the monument.

Visited 7 April 2006
A bit of a showcase site this one! And it deserves it because it’s beautiful – not perfectly preserved by any means, but very nice.

A very short passage (nowadays anyway) and a long low accessible chamber set in a pretty dramatic steep mound. Assuming that it was originally completely covered by its mound, this may have been even larger.

Approximate long/lat coordinates, as I couldn’t see the site among the trees on the aerial photomap. Shouldn’t be too far out though and is on a waymarked path through woods.

Access: A pleasant walk of 0.5-0.75km through woodland from carpark.

We took the 305 south across Langeland as far as Lindelse, taking a left (east) to Hennetved about halfway through the village. As the road enters Hennetved, you can bear right or left – take the left (east) and after around 100 metres, take another left (onto Kågårdsvej).

Follow this for around 2.5km and turn right (south) towards the woods and into the carpark in the woods.

Check out the info boards for the colour-coded waymarked paths and if you’re as lucky as we were, there may even be leaflets with a map. Follow the paths to the monument in the SE of the woods.

Visited 7 April 2006
In a tiny glade sits a (fairly) tiny bronze-age stone boat setting of low stones. It’s not that spectacular, but there aren’t actually all that many skibssætnings around.

As a result, although not nearly as spectacular as Glavendrup on Fyn, this place is worth searching out if you have time. Very pretty with the sun through the trees dappling the stones.

Access: Carpark right next to the monument.

Hohøj is at Mariager, near Hørbo, which is about halfway between Århus and Aalborg. We actually went here from Tustrup, but from the E45, I’d say you need to get off at junction 36 to avoid having to go through the town and simply follow the 555 to Mariager.

Once on the 555 and heading east, keep an eye out just past Katbjerg, as you will be passing the Katbjerg complex – don’t miss it, as I thought Kongehøjen ved Voldstedlund was one of the best 3 or 4 sites we saw!

Continue east and you will find that after about 3.5km, the road turns left (north) towards Mariager, and after about 500m enters some trees. Soon after these trees, take a right at the roundabout onto Klostergade. If you miss this, it gets complicated – we did, so we know!

Klostergade meanders into the town, and you could probably take a shortcut to the right if you had a good map. We didn’t however, so I’m going to send you the way we went, as we know it works. At a distinct bend right, you will pass Kirkegaden – you need to take the next left (in fact it may feel like just following the same road) onto Kirkegade.

At the end of Kirkegade, turn right onto Teglgade and then right again almost straight away onto Torvet which becomes Fuglesangsgade and then Havndalvej, climbing the hill. Follow this for a little over 1.5km, taking a right onto HohøjSkovvej as you enter trees. The carpark and Hohøj are off this to the right after about 0.5km.

Visited 4 April 2006
Blimey, it’s big!!!! The largest høj in Denmark is 12 metres high and 72 metres across at the base. They’re just numbers though – take a look at the picture of Jane standing at the top to get a real idea of it. It feels considerably ‘more Silbury than West Kennett’! (Of course, it’s still nowhere near as big as Silbury.)

Other than just the impressiveness in terms of size, there’s only really one other attraction to Hohøj – the views, which are stunning. Unfortunately, I found it impossible to really capture them in photos, so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself....

Featured in The Megalithic European (TME) page 160.

Access: Good – carpark very close to monument. On the Mols peninsula, fairly near Århus.

From the E45 , we left at junction 44 to avoid getting too ‘involved’ in Århus – not knowing what traffic would be like there. We headed east on the 587, hitting the 15 just north of Løgten, following the 15 to go to Rønde.

From Rønde we headed south towards Egens & Vrinners. After about 3km, we took a right to Vrinners and then on to Knebel. At Knebel turn left, signposted Agri 3 (according to Julian in TME). The monument is just under 1km along this road, on the right – you can’t miss it!

Visited 6 April 2006
This was one of the sites that had really captured both me & Jane on practically our first glance through The Megalithic European.

In the ‘flesh’, it certainly lived up to the anticipation!

A beautifully proportioned and beautifully positioned thing, rather than dominating from a hilltop, it nestles at the bottom of a gently sweeping valley.

Neatly denuded, the runddysse features a spectacular kerb and nicely preserved chamber – apparently there is evidence that there were originally 2 chambers, which accounts for why the existing one is not central.

Jane wandered around taking in the stones & looking for an angle to paint from, while I headed up the hillside to the south and then the north to properly check out the monument’s landscape.

A fantastic couple of hours & then off to catch as many of the numerous monuments in the surrounding area as we could!

Access: See Ormhøj.

Visited 4 April 2006
I want to cry!!! (See Ormhøj for explanation.) Jordhøj and Ormhøj look like real beauties, but we had no time....

If you’re lucky enough to visit, the only information I’ve found is that Jordhøj has a passage 6 metres long and it was excavated in the 1890s. Finds of earthenware post and flint knives are in the Danish National Museum (Copenhagen).

It looks as though you can get into the chamber(s).

Access: Area to park right next to Kongehøjen ved Voldstedlund.

Katbjerg is on the 555 between Hørbo and Mariager. Hørbo is about halfway between Århus and Aalborg. We actually went here from Hohøj at Mariager, but from the E45, I’d say you need to get off at junction 36 to avoid having to go through the town and simply follow the 555 towards Mariager.

Once on the 555 and heading east, the Katbjerg complex is just past the village of Katbjerg, on the left (north). Kongehøjen ved Voldstedlund was one of the best 3 or 4 sites we saw in Denmark and one of the ‘best’ long barrows I have ever seen!

Visited 4 April 2006 Complex consisting of Kongehøjen ved Voldstedlund – a superb langdysse (long barrow), Rishøj – a dug-out barrow (probably a runddysse, or round barrow), and Jordhøj and Ormhøj – 2 more complete-looking barrows that we only saw from a distance, due to time constraints.