Since Stone Age times, people have tried to bury at least some of their dead with respect. In these early days it is likely that it was an honour simply for chiefs. For these special people they built some spectacular religious sites as early as the Middle Stone Age (the Mesolithic).
They made wooden, and later stone, coffins. Then they marked their entrances with gigantic standing stones. Later, they covered the burial chambers with long oval mounds of soil. These are called long barrows.
