Skei burial ground
The grave field of Skei is located south of Steinkjer near Trondheim in Fylke Nord-Trøndelag in Norway on an elongated ridge that runs from northeast to southwest.
The huge burial ground from the Iron Age is one of the most in Norway. In total there are around 150 monuments: long hills, round hills, Treudds ( Norwegian Treodde ), a round settlement and three building stones .
In the middle there is a Ringtun (round settlement) with nine foundations arranged in two semicircles. It is of the same type as the Tunanlegg from Åse, Mo, Værem and Vollmoen. The highway runs north-south through the settlement with a semicircle on each side of the road. There are five foundations to the east and four to the west of the road. The foundations are 6.0 to 7.0 meters long and 3.0 to 4.0 meters wide. The settlement is surrounded by several cooking pits.
It is difficult to separate the burial grounds that surround the settlement. There are countless smaller and larger burial mounds between the separable parts. In the northeast there are about 30 burial mounds on both sides of the road, some larger and many smaller round mounds, some oval and some small long mounds. The hills vary between 4.0 and 15.0 meters in diameter and 0.5 to 3.0 meters in height. Some are in a private garden. The long hills are 6.0 to 10.0 meters long and 0.5 to 1.0 meters high.
In the middle there are three large Treudds (star-shaped burial mounds). Their 0.3 to 0.5 meter high “arms” vary in length between 15.0 and 20.0 meters from the center. Two are right next to the country road.
In the south of the site there are five large burial mounds with diameters of 20 to 25 meters and heights of 2.0 to 3.0 meters. There are also several small burial mounds with diameters of 10.0 to 15.0 meters and heights of 1.0 to 2.0 meters. Some have deep trenches around the edges.
There are three building stones in the south of the site. The first is about 2.0 meters high, 1.0 meters wide and 30 cm thick. It has the shape of a standing plate with a point pointing upwards. The second stone is in the shape of a long and thin column. It is about 3.5 meters high and 20 to 30 cm wide. The third stone is about 1.2 meters high and about 40 to 50 cm wide. The menhirs and the largest burial mounds are overgrown with low vegetation. Most of the burial mounds do not seem to have been disturbed by later excavations.
Some of the larger round mounds were dated to the late Iron Age and some of the Treudds to the early Iron Age (around 500 AD).
The menhir of Hommeldalen and the burial ground of Verdal are located nearby .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tunanlegg (loosely translated: courtyards) are also available as kretstun , ringtun or ringtun-anlegg known
Web links
Coordinates: 63 ° 55 ′ 52.8 " N , 11 ° 29 ′ 39.5" E