Enigmatic Ale’s Stones – Sweden’s Megalithic Ship-Like Formation

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Enigmatic Ales Stenar (in English, Ale's Stones) are located high on the ridge above the old-fashioned fishing village of Kåseberga near Ystad, Sweden.

Ales stenar, facing west

Ale stenar (stones)  facing west. Image credit: Wikimalte  - CC BY-SA 4.0

Myths, legends, and mystery surround this fascinating megalithic formation consisting of 58 (59) upright boulders and one vertical boulder (weighing up to 1.8 tons each) - placed in a gigantic ship formation, 67 meters in length and 19 meters wide.

The largest stones are almost 3.5 meters and are called "bow" and "stern." They are directed towards the sunrise at the time of the summer solstice, and the sunset at the time of the winter solstice.

The Ales Stenar - Sweden's largest stone complex dates back to the Bronze or Iron Age. From a bird's-eye view, it resembles a boat. It is not known who built it or for what purpose. Not even experts know why this complex was built.

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See also:

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