#gravhaug

[rie-k-photo]

Iron Age Mound by Sigurd R http://ift.tt/2zLuMXN

[olequeole]

Just up in Breisås 1 (student residence) and at the beginning of the forest you can find barrows from the last part of the Iron Age, known in Scandinavia as the Viking Period. A barrow is a mound of earth and stones raised over one or many graves. By burning the deceased, it was believed that the person was transferred to Valhalla by the consuming force of the fire. It was common to leave gifts with the deceased. Both men and women received grave goods, even if the corpse was to be burnt on a pyre. A Norseman could also be buried with a loved one or house thrall. The amount and the value of the goods depended on which social group the dead person came from. This picture was taken there and the tree reminds me of a longship's bow.