Heimdall's stones at Vitemölla in Sweden and the chronology and stratigraphy of the surroundings

• Heimdall's Stones at Vitemolla is an archaeological monument of stones   arranged in circles and where sightlines can be identified of the   sunrise and sunset at winter and summer solstices and spring and autumn   equinoxes. Therefore, this stone monument is likely to have served as   an archaeoastronomic observatory. It is founded in a fossil land   surface now covered by half a metre of eolian sand. In order to date   this sand drift, sediment coring was performed in the nearby Sandefloen   bog. Seven levels were subjected to AMS C14 dating. The first sand   drift, correlated with the sand drift covering Heimdall's Stones, was   dated at 500-600 cal. bc. Consequently, the observatory has to date   back to the Bronze Age, fitting well with its Sun cult and with the   rock carvings recorded on the individual stones. At the seashore 500 m   east of the observatory and the bog, we were able to reconstruct the   sea-level changes. In conclusion, we combine the recorded sea-level   changes with the C14-dated bog stratigraphy and the observed   stratigraphy at Heimdall's Stones (covering an area of 500x500 m) into   one unified picture. The chronostratigraphic position of Heimdall's   Stones agrees well with the dating of the Kivik grave. The Vitemolla   area is likely to have been an important cultural centre in the Bronze   Age.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Bronze Age

archaeoastronomy

sightlines

rock-carving

sand drift

sea level changes

chronostratigraphy

SE Sweden

Earth sciences

Geovetenskap

Ion Physics

Jonfysik

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