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Burial mounds from the Bronze Age at Skarvaberget, Sydnes

Burial mounds from the Bronze Age at Skarvaberget, Sydnes. (Svein Nord)

COASTAL STONE CAIRNS AT HALSNØYA

In the outer fields at Sydnes, from Skifteneset to the far south of the island to Kikavika, one kilometre north of the ferry jetty, there is a row of 15 burial mounds. This is one of the largest and most characteristic collections of coastal stone cairns found in Hordaland. They may be found on practically every headland, preferably on a small rocky outcrop facing the sea. Many of them are clearly visible from the sea, which was the original intention for them. Others are now overgrown by forest and bush. Some of the mounds have a round shape, up to 12-15 m across. Others are rectangular, just a few meters wide, and up to 40 m long. In some of the mounds it is possible to see burial chests of stone. In one of them a silver beaker is supposed to have been found, in another, an earthenware container, in a third a human bone, but none of these finds have been handed over to a museum.