Activating the Monuments - The Ritual Use of Cairns in Bronze Age Norrland

• Published in: Current Swedish Archaeology
• Main Author: Hans Bolin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Svenska Arkeologiska Samfundet 1998
• Subjects: Archaeology; CC1-960; Cairn; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.37718/CSA.1998.01; https://doaj.org/article/6051e9bd05a741da9540941def5fdb21

This article deals with cairns and stone-settings in Northern Sweden. The central questions are: what was the meaning of the cairns, who built them, and what were the intentions of the people in doing so? Cairns and stonesettings do not only represent a kind of permanent and completed graveconstruction for individual burials. The ritual use of cairns and cairn-like stone-settings also involved a broad spectrum of ritual activities. It is here suggested that the cairns should be related to kinship groups and considered as long-term monuments, which were continually rebuilt and activated in the local ritual.