A distinct concentration of 150 gallery graves dating to the LateNeolithic (2400–1700 BC) occurs in Göteryd parish in the SouthSwedish Uplands. This study investigates why such a concentrationof gallery graves exists in this region and why these werenot exchanged by new monuments in the Bronze Age. In orderto discuss these issues, the distribution of the monuments andthe stray finds have been analysed and correlated to the resultsof local pollen analysis. The results support the impression ofabandonment at the transition from the Neolithic to the BronzeAge. The processes of expansion and abandonment seem toreflect general population trends, as discussed in recent workson population dynamics. Göteryd parish is a highland regionand marginal from an agricultural point of view, but it borderson fertile and plain coastal areas, which are easily accessiblethrough river valleys. In periods of population growth, Göterydparish would absorb people from the coastal plains, a processthat probably was reversed when the population shrank. Thegeographical position of the Göteryd area created a particulardynamic and made it vulnerable to changes in populationdynamics, social networks, and climate.