Gannarve Ship Grave

The Gannarve grave is outlined by large standing stones, forming the shape of a ship. It has been built at the end of the Bronze Age, about 1100 – 500 B.C. The grave is 29 metres long and 5 metres wide. It is only one of about 350 boat-shaped graves on the island. In most cases, only one burial has been uncovered in each grave. When these people were buried, it was a custom to cremate the dead on a pyre. After cremation, the bones were crushed and washed before they were placed in an urn.

There were once two boat-shaped graves here at Gannarve. One of them fell victim to the plough long ago. The existing grave was almost destroyed in the same way. Only the stem stones remained when archaeologists started excavating the monument in 1959. The excavation uncovered soil marks of all the removed stones beneath the peat. Consequently, the reconstruction of the entire grave was not too difficult.

There were plenty of large stones lying right next to the grave, and it is quite possible that several of the stones used once actually belonged to the original grave.

Address

Södra Kustvägen, Gotland, Sweden

Details

Founded: 1100-500 BC
Category: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Sweden
Historical period: Bronze Age (Sweden)