Cist lined with Petroglyphs: This is the burial site of one of the individuals in this tomb. A second cist was found in the 1930's. This tomb is special in Europe in that there are petroglyphs adorning the grave. By the time the tomb had been properly excavated and restored, only a few artifacts were found dating from the late Stone Age and the Bronze Age, namely some flintstone, bronze, and teeth fragments.
Cist definition:
a neolithic or Bronze Age burial chamber typically lined with stone.
Petroglyph Chariot: Did you know that the word Petroglyph comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone", and glyphein meaning "to carve"? This is a way cool petroglyph showing a horse-drawn chariot, complete with wheels, an assortment of animals, some people in long robes, and some people dancing the Watusi (as far as I can imagine)! Gee...isn't it exciting to be seeing stones carved in 1,000 BC? TOTALLY AWESOME ;-)
Petroglyph Axes: Those axes look rather fearsome. I wouldn't want to fight anybody wielding those weapons! The circles could represent shields. What do you think?
Petroglyph Horses: Ya gotta love horses! I was particularly taken with this petroglyph.
Petroyglyph Omega: This was one of my favorite petroglyph designs. I wish I could have gotten a better photo of it, but space was tight within the tomb. We cannot fathom the meaning of the sideways Omega symbols. It looks like the robed individuals are standing on either side of a fire, and two of the top figures look to be holding weapons of some sort, like hammers (could one of them be Thor?), while one individual looks to be blowing some kind of horn. The two top, left-hand figures may be buried in a tomb. What do you think? FUN!
Petroglyph Shields: Your guess is as good as mine as to what these symbols are supposed to represent. This was the last of my favorite designs lining this cist.
Jonathan and Rune Stone in Odensbacken: We walked down the road from Amanda's parents' house to visit this rune stone. There are several in town, and this is the best preserved one. The paint keeps getting renewed, but the stone carving is very old. The tradition of carving these stones began in the 4th century, but most of them date from the Viking Age. Note: We collapsed on August 10th and slept, did laundry, played games all day. We were very tired and were re-charging for the next leg of our journey. (Click on picture for a closer view.)
Runestone in Odensbacken: This rune stone has been at this location since the 1100s. It marks the grave so someone who died, most probably a Viking. (Click on picture for a closer view.)
Rune Stone Close-up: The rune stones were carved and colored. The paint has been renewed to make the pattern easier to see.
Rune Stone in Uppsala: We found this rune stone in a small park near the cathedral. Its inscription is from the 11th century AD. This stone was raised in the memory of women (highly unusual). It represents the building of bridges for a dead person's soul. Click on the photo for a slightly larger view.
Cist lined with Petroglyphs: This is the burial site of one of the individuals in this tomb. A second cist was found in the 1930's. This tomb is special in Europe in that there are petroglyphs adorning the grave. By the time the tomb had been properly excavated and restored, only a few artifacts were found dating from the late Stone Age and the Bronze Age, namely some flintstone, bronze, and teeth fragments.
Petroglyph Chariot: Did you know that the word Petroglyph comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone", and glyphein meaning "to carve"? This is a way cool petroglyph showing a horse-drawn chariot, complete with wheels, an assortment of animals, some people in long robes, and some people dancing the Watusi (as far as I can imagine)! Gee...isn't it exciting to be seeing stones carved in 1,000 BC? TOTALLY AWESOME ;-)
Petroyglyph Omega: This was one of my favorite petroglyph designs. I wish I could have gotten a better photo of it, but space was tight within the tomb. We cannot fathom the meaning of the sideways Omega symbols. It looks like the robed individuals are standing on either side of a fire, and two of the top figures look to be holding weapons of some sort, like hammers (could one of them be Thor?), while one individual looks to be blowing some kind of horn. The two top, left-hand figures may be buried in a tomb. What do you think? FUN!
Jonathan and Rune Stone in Odensbacken: We walked down the road from Amanda's parents' house to visit this rune stone. There are several in town, and this is the best preserved one. The paint keeps getting renewed, but the stone carving is very old. The tradition of carving these stones began in the 4th century, but most of them date from the Viking Age. Note: We collapsed on August 10th and slept, did laundry, played games all day. We were very tired and were re-charging for the next leg of our journey. (Click on picture for a closer view.)
Rune Stone in Uppsala: We found this rune stone in a small park near the cathedral. Its inscription is from the 11th century AD. This stone was raised in the memory of women (highly unusual). It represents the building of bridges for a dead person's soul. Click on the photo for a slightly larger view.
