Karums alvar

The Karums alvar burial ground is located in a treeless limestone steppe ( Alvar in Swedish ) east of Högsrum on the Swedish island of Öland . The spectrum of his stone setting ranges from the Bronze Age to the Viking Age (around 1000 BC to 1050 AD)

Bronze age

Noahs Ark ( Swedish noaks ark ) on Karums Alvar

The approximately 26.0 m long ship setting on Karums alvar is popularly called Noah's ark ( Noaks ark in Swedish ). The oldest monument on this burial ground dates back to the younger Bronze Age between 1000 and 500 BC. Dated. The ship, indicated only in flat outlines, has peculiarities that other Swedish ship layouts do not have, but finds correspondences on Bornholm :

The stern stones are made of limestone and the side stones are made of granite .
It has a mast stone that may have been brought in later.
The fuselage is divided transversely at intervals, which probably represents row benches or ribs .

Later eras

13 erected limestone building blocks date from the Nordic Iron Age (500 BC to 500 AD). The 55 round and four square stone settings belong to the area between the Iron Age and the Viking Age .

The 30 examined graves within the stone setting were mostly cremation graves . The unpretentious additions consisted of bronze rings , whetstones and combs . They are in the State Historical Museum in Stockholm .