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A 5,500 - year - old tomb possibly belong to a Stone Age headman has been excavate at a megalithic monument in the form of a ship called the Ale ’s Stenar ( Ale ’s Stones ) . The tomb , in Sweden , was likely robbed of stones to build the Viking - earned run average ship repository .
" We come up traces — mostly imprints — of large boulder , " say lead archaeologist Bengst Söderberg of the Swedish National Heritage Board . " So my conviction is that some of the stones at least , they are stand on the ship set . "
A 5,500-year-old tomb possibly belonging to a Stone Age chieftain has been unearthed at a megalithic monument in the shape of a ship called the Ale’s Stenar (Ale’s Stones). Here, archaeologist Björn Wallebom clears the northern brim of the dolmen, or several upright stones with a horizontal boulder on top in which a body would be placed.
Perched on a seaboard drop in the village of Kåseberga stands the Ales Stenar , also calledAle ’s Stones , 59 massive boulders order in the 220 - foot ( 67 - meter)-long precis of a ship . Most investigator believe the 1,400 - year - quondam ship structure isa burial monumentbuilt toward the end of Sweden ’s Iron Age . Local legend has it that the mythic King Ale lie beneath the site .
The Ales Stenar megaliths , some of which weigh as much as 4,000 pounds ( 1,800 kilograms ) , have typical cutting Gospel According to Mark similar to ace found at Stone Age sites . So investigator wondered whether the stones were stolen from an even erstwhile monument , Söderberg told LiveScience . [ See picture of Ale ’s Stones & Tomb ]
In 2006 , archaeologist used magnetic sensor and radar to map the area ’s belowground terrain and find oneself a larger orbitual social organisation about 541 feet ( 165 m ) in diameter , with a 65 - animal foot by 25 - metrical foot rectangle at its centre .
The team unearthed the imprints of giant boulders that had been removed long ago.
Last hebdomad , the team finally drudge a modest trench through the gist of the circle and unearthed the imprints of gargantuan boulders that had been removed long ago . Though the team did n’t find a frame , the imprints suggested the site was aNeolithicburial bedchamber call in adolmen — several just stone with a horizontal bowlder on top in which a organic structure would be placed .
" All of the stones had been film by . And I would say , most probably they are standing 40 meters away from the cromlech where the ship setting is deposit , " Söderberg said .
found on the layout , the cromlech may be up to 5,500 years old — possibly older thanStonehenge . The large entombment sleeping accommodation likely belong to a local tribal chief or the head of a kin group during the Neolithic Era , he allege . Because there was very little evidence from the outer gang , the researchers are n’t yet certain what it was used for or whether it ’s as old as the dolmen .
Ale’s Stones are perched on a seaside cliff in the village of Kåseberga and consist of 59 massive boulders arranged in the 220-foot (67-meter)-long outline of a ship.
Thousands of dolmen sites are sprinkle throughout Scandinavia , though later refinement steal many of the boulders to build church and other structure , he said .
The jumbo John Rock memorial advise that even our Stone Age ascendent had a sense of posterity and permanence , say Magnus Andersson of the Swedish National Heritage Board in an electronic mail .
The new tomb also shows that this particular point , with its striking cliffs dominate the Baltic Sea , has inspire mass in many unlike ages , he articulate .
" The scenic blank space on the rooftree must have attracted people in all times , " he state . " It prove that the great unwashed over a long period build their monuments and do their ceremonies on the same sites . ”
