A minor stone circle in Brändåsen (59°04′N, 14°60′E), Hardemo parish, Närke. is a traditional Swedish province or landskap in middle Sweden. Although, Närke is north of the main distribution area, the province has 50 remaining stone circles

The Stone Circles of the Iron Age (ca. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. 500 BC - ca. 400 AD) were a characteristic burial custom of southern Scandinavia, especially on Gotland and in Götaland during the Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Roman Iron Age. Events By Place Western Roman Empire Italy is first invaded by Alaric (probable date is a county, province and municipality of Sweden and the largest Island in the Baltic Sea. Götaland ( Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gotland, Gautland, Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia The Roman Iron Age ( 1 - 400) is the name that Swedish Archaeologist Oscar Montelius gave to a part of the Iron Age in In Sweden, they are called Domarringar (judge circles), Domkretsar (judge circles) or Domarsäten (judge seats). They should not be confused with the Stone circles of the Bronze Age and Britain. A stone circle is an ancient monument Such a monument is not always precisely circular and often forms an ellipse or a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for Prehistoric Britain was a period in the human occupation of Great Britain that was the later part of Prehistory, conventionally ending with the Roman invasion

History

A stone circle in northern Poland where the Goths had settled after their emigration from Scandza. Scandza was the name given to Scandinavia by Jordanes, in his work Getica.

In the 1st century, the tradition was brought across the Baltic Sea to the area of modern-day Northern Poland, probably by the Goths, as excavations made during the time of the German Empire indicate (see the Wielbark Culture). The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. The Goths ( Gothic: Gothic usvg|14px|u]]Gothic asvg|14px|a]]Gothic s The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification Wielbark culture also known as Willenberg culture (Wielbark/Willenberg-Kultur Kultura wielbarska Вельбарська культура ( Vel’bars’ka kul’tura The stone circle is sometimes used as a burial ground.

Example Locations

• Gettlinge burial field, Oland, Sweden
• Hulterstad gravfalt, Oland, Sweden
• Jelling stones, Velje, Denmark
• Stoplesteinan, Norway

Shapes

The circles are usually round, or elongated ellipses. Gettlinge is a village in the southwest portion of the Island of Öland, Sweden. Hulterstad is a small Coastal town on the southeastern part of the Island of Öland, Sweden The Jelling stones are massive carved Runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. Stoplesteinan (also known as Stoplesteinane) is a stone circle in the town of Egersund, Rogaland in Norway. In Mathematics, an ellipse (from the Greek ἔλλειψις literally absence) is a Conic section, the locus of points in a The stones may be very large and they are usually between 9 and 12. Sometimes there are as few as 6-8. One stone circle, the circle of Nässja (near Vadstena), comprises as many as 24 stones. Vadstena is a town (pop 5700 in the Swedish province of Östergötland and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland Excavations have shown burnt coal in the centre of the circles and they are nowadays considered to be incineration graves.

Things

There is a widespread tradition that the circles were used for things, or general assemblies. See also Medieval Scandinavian laws A thing or ting ( Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: þing; other modern Similar circles were used for popular assemblies in Denmark until the 16th century, and in Vad parish in Västergötland, the village assemblies were held in a stone circle until the 19th century. is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative Provinces of Sweden ( landskap in Swedish situated in the southwest of Sweden. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

Snorri Sturluson

Even if knowledge that the stone circles were graves was later lost, it was still fresh in the 13th century as testify these lines by Snorri Sturluson in the introduction of the Heimskringla:

As to funeral rites, the earliest age is called the Age of Burning; because all the dead were consumed by fire, and over their ashes were raised standing stones. Snorri Sturluson (1178 – September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian poet and politician Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse Kings' sagas.

See also

• Stone ship
• Menhir
• Gårdlösa

Sources

• Nationalencyklopedin
• A Polish Archaeology Article by Tadeusz Makiewicz
• ADuong's a history of Poland

This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904–1926 now in public domain. The Stone ship was a Germanic burial custom typical of Scandinavia, built from tightly or loosely fit slabs or stones A menhir is a large upright Standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as Monoliths or as part of a group of similar stones Gårdlösa is the site of an Iron Age settlement in the parish of Smedstorp in Skåne, Sweden. Nationalencyklopedin ( NE) is the most comprehensive contemporary Swedish language Encyclopedia, initiated by a government grant Nordisk familjebok (en Nordic familybook is a Swedish Encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957 The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone