Anundshog

Anundshog is about sixty metres across and nine metres high, which is usually reckoned the largest burial mound in the country, and charcoal from a hearth at its base has been dated to between AD 210 and 540, which places the mound somewhere between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. What surrounds it matters as much: five stone settings in the shape of ships, two of them over fifty metres long and restored in 1932, a line of standing stones marking the course of an old road, and a runestone raised by Folkvid for his son. Excavation has also found a long row of postholes that may have marked a processional route. In all the site holds 42 ancient remains, among them twelve mounds and fourteen standing stones. The site is open ground and free, with a cafe in season.

Highlights

• A mound sixty metres across - usually reckoned Sweden's largest.
• Five stone ship settings - two over fifty metres.
• A runestone by the road - raised by Folkvid.
• A marked processional line - postholes found by excavation.

When to go

April to October. An hour and a half.

What to expect

There is nothing built - it is a field with mounds and stones. Interpretation on site is limited. It is exposed with no shelter. The cafe is seasonal.

Nearby

Vasteras is south-west; Lake Malaren is south.

Key facts