Sitting like a crown, atop a flat bluff
in Skåne, Sweden are the Ales Stenar, a beautiful ancient formation of
standing stones erected in the shape of a boat. However, there’s no one know why
the stone design was shaped but according to some legends, this was the resting
place of a mythic king. The Ales Stenar (Ales Stones) was placed on their
Swedish cliff just 1,400 years ago, though they stand over a burial site that
has been dated to 5,500 years old. There’re 59 tall boulders in the formation which
is made in the shape of a long-ship, and was perhaps symbolic of a craft that
would ferry the dead to their eternal fate. Moreover underneath the boat-stones
researchers have revealed the remains of an even more ancient burial chamber,
sans human remains, confirming their theories as to the funerary purpose behind
the ship formation, yet just who was to be buried there remains a mystery. Source: Charismatic Planet
In 1989, during the first archaeological
excavations performed in order to technically investigate and date the
monument, archaeologists bring into being a decorated clay pot with burned
human bones inside the ship setting. The bones are thought to come from a pyre
and to have been placed in the pot at a later date. In 2006,
archaeologists used magnetic sensors and radar to map the area's underground
terrain and found a larger circular structure about 541 feet in diameter, with
a 65-foot by 25-foot rectangle at its heart.
Legend says The King Ale a figure from Swedish
myth, is buried under the Henge, though there does not seem to be a great deal
on the site to confirm this. Therefore it is that a lesser-known viking
chieftain was buried, or meant to be buried in the spot and the stones were
erected to honor his eternal memory. Whoever the Ales Stenar were originally
meant to honor, they stand now as an inspiring and attractive site that make it
easy to see why someone would want to be buried there.
