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Stoune mounds at Vikingnes

Stoune mounds at Vikingnes (Svein Nord).

STONE MOUNDS ALONG THE FJORD

Alongside the Hardanger fjord there are lots of grave mounds of a special kind. They are built of stones and completely lack earth infill. Some of them may be several metres high and more than 20 metres across. They often lie on prominent, high rocks, close by the fjord, and seem dominating in the landscape, especially when viewed from the seaward side. These are the parallels of the fjord landscape to the coastal mounds, which mark the landscape along the coastal route.

On the 15km long stretch from Ljones to Eidesvågen there have been at least 25 of them. Many of them are still there. Some of the biggest ones lie at Vikingnes, southeast of Ljonesvågen. There are few finds from the fjord mounds, but on examination of a couple at Straumasteinen, below Eide, finds were made from the late Bronze Age. Others have yielded finds from the Iron Age.