Evje, Norway -- stones and mounds

Galtelandssteinen or Evjesteinen

While we were visiting Evje og Hornnes, Norway last summer one of the places Alf took us was the old Nickel Works down by the Otra River near Fennefoss.  The standing stones shown in the photo above caught our eyes and we stopped to walk around and read the placards explaining about the site.  The stones are replicas of the original stones that were moved to the University of Oslo.  The original central stone dates from about 1016 and was on the Galteland farm for approximately 700 years.  It was surrounded by eight smaller stones.  It is called the Galteland stone (Galtelandssteinen) or the Evje Stone (Evjesteinen).  

Runes on the large standing stone

The runes are most likely some of the oldest ever found from around the time Christianity came to Norway (1000 AD).  The inscription faced the southeast.  A rough translation:  “Arnstein erected this stone in memory of Bjør his son who lost his life when Canute was defeated in battle in England.  There is only one God.”  Canute the Great set out from Agder in 1016.

Another large stone with the date 1872 stands just outside the ring of stones. 

As we continued walking down toward the river we noticed something else interesting.  Looking back up the hill we realized that the hill was a mound or part of a mound similar to the Conus Mound in the Mound Cemetery, Marietta Ohio.  

Map on the information placard showing the positions of the old mounds

There was a map or diagram on a placard showing the placement of 45 mounds dating from the Roman Iron Age (0-300/400 AD).  The one we had walked down and around is known as the King’s Mound.  It was the largest mound and is the only mound still easy to see.   Most of the other mounds were destroyed or obscured by the industrial activity at the Evje Nickel Smelter.  The King’s Mound, 30 meters in diameter (98 feet) and 2.5 meters high (8 feet), is probably the oldest with the smaller mounds placed later around it and eastward.  The majority of the mounds were round with just six as oblongs instead of circles.  The King’s Mound had a small depression around it just like the moat surrounding the Conus Mound in Marietta.  Results of excavations show that both men and women were buried here.  Some ceramics were found in the graves also.    Today law protects the remaining mounds.  Below are some pictures showing the King's Mound and surroundings.

The last picture shows Fennefoss the rapids in the river near the mounds.

It would be interesting to learn if any of the Norwegian cousins know more about the standing stones or the mounds.

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 185

 Newgrange interior, County Meath, Ireland

This interesting photograph is of the interior of Newgrange, a prehistoric monument that dates to around 3200 BC or about 5000 years ago and is located near the River Boyne in County Meath, Ireland.  The card was published by the Office of Public Works, Ireland and sent by a friend in 1995. 

The exterior is a large circular mound with a stone passageway to the interior chambers.  There is a retaining wall at the front that is ringed by 97 engraved kerbstones.  The interior can only be visited as part of a guided tour.  Newgrange is particularly noted for the way the winter solstice sun illuminates the interior chamber at sunrise through a roofbox above the passage entrance.   There has been speculation that this site has some ancient religious significance as it is aligned with the rising sun.  Newgrange is the most famous monument in this region but there are two other similar tomb mounds, Knowth and Dowth that form this UNESCO World Heritage site.  It shares many similarities with other Neolithic constructions in Western Europe. 

After the original users left Newgrange it was sealed for hundreds of years although it was remembered in Irish mythology and folklore.  Archeological excavations took place from the 17th century beginning with a farmer who ordered a stone removed from the mound that uncovered the entrance.  Michael J. O’Kelly is responsible for the most extensive recent efforts.  He reconstructed the front of the site in 1970.  His book, “Newgrange:  Archaeology, Art and Legend” was published in 1982 by Thames and Hudson and is about the work undertaken between 1962 and 1975.  Today Newgrange is a popular tourist destination and is regarded as a great national monument in Ireland. 

The mound is built of alternating layers of earth and stones with grass growing on top.  There are flat white quartz stones together with large rounded cobbles studding the mound at intervals.  The interior passage is 60 feet (19 meters) long and goes about one third of the way into the mound.  There is one large central chamber and three smaller chambers that branch off from it.   These smaller chambers are thought to possibly be burial sites.

There is carved rock art in the form of circles, spirals, arcs, chevrons, radials, parallel lines etc. for a total of ten different design shapes.  Archaeologists believe the carvings were made prior to the stones being put in place.  The people who lived here grew crops and raised animals.  Their tools would have been made of stone, wood, and bone. 

Coins, pendants, and rings dating from Roman times have been found in the mound indicating that there was interest in Newcastle for many years. 

Now I am curious what this mound, the mounds in Marietta, Ohio and the one we saw in Evje, Norway have in common. 

For more information, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
http://www.newgrange.com/kerbstones.htm