a coastal gravefield during winter.

on a latitude with long winters and short (though lovely) summers, this is what gravefields look like most of the year. their visual place in the landscape during winter is a little difficult to see if the graves are small in size. the snow was far above my knees. i think this stone ship is rockin' it though. it is very pretty. this particular stone ship is sweden's most northern. the final frontier! in the south of scandinavia the stone ships are a lot bigger.

detour.

last month I took Hazel out to here and here to show her what Umeå looked like during the Bronze Age. I wanted her to know something about Umeå before she went back to England! these grave mounds are located where the bronze age sea level was, which was higher than it is today. that wide river is today smaller, almost tiny and still runs through Umeå, coming from the sea going all the way up to the mountains near norway, because of this the grave mounds are found further inland today on both sides of the river. there is also a group of mounds behind the university.

There isn't a whole lot to actually SEE here in Umeå, so these mounds are great cuz you get a picture of how the landscape looked back then. they are also located on small hills, now uplifted in the landscape naturally. very pretty and protected! i like that they still have their place in the world this way and that you can still sense the ideas of the people who built them, (instead of being in the deep forest where no one will ever see them) it is really cool. time just stands still at these places! it's awesome. the settlements of the mound builders are not found yet (further inland it is the opposite, settlements but no graves. hm hm hm?).

i wrote all of this only in english, don't have time to write it twice in two languages today! if you can read swedish you can read english ;)

i didnt take any photos on this day, but there are plenty in the links above.

i 2010.

sveriges nordligaste skeppssättning.

nu så här på vårkanten innan grönskan kommer, så ska jag bege mig iväg ut och titta på fornlämningsplatser runt om umeå som jag inte sett ännu. tex hällristningar från bronsåldern i laxforsen vid öre älv, samt hällristningarna i stornorrforsen. idag åkte jag ill närmsta granne vad gäller fornlämmning, bronsåldersrösena och skeppssättningen vid mjösjön mellan umeå och holmsund. men det var betydligt mycke mer snö än vad jag trodde det skulle vara. får återkomma senare. jag har varit där ett antal gånger, det är en fin och tyst plats, även om bilarna från holmsundsvägen ständigt hörs. jag åker förbi den här platsen när jag ska hämta hö till min häst.