Exploring Norways' Forgotten Stone Circles & Petroglyphs

by Wanda Marcussen (Norway)

I didn't expect to find Norway

After a little bit over an hour's ride from Oslo, close to the city Fredrikstad, as you drive onto a narrow and bumpy road and park at an abandoned parking lot in between a field and a forest, you would never anticipate what awaits you right behind the trees. Nothing suggests to you an entrance to a site of historical importance. However, after only a few steps into the woods a large clearing opens up and nine stone circles become visible as they wind up a slight slope. The stone circles at the Hunn site are not as monumentally impressive as larger stone circles such as Stonehenge, but the site is in many ways equally mysterious as no one is completely sure what they were used for. The whole Hunnfelt is known as a burial site as it also contains several burial mounds, dating mostly from Pre-Roman (500 BCE) to the Late Iron Age (550-1050 CE), but it is not clear if the circles were a part of the burial site or if they were used for some other purpose. Due to the fact that the locals for a long time have named the site “Tingstedet”, translating to “the place of the law”, it has been thought that the site was used as a place for legal judgment or law-making. However, the archaeological finds of the burial sites have weakened this theory. Today it is more commonly thought that the circles were just a part of the burial complex or that it was a ceremonial site for pagan worship, possibly linked to burial, the celebration of seasons or one or more of the Norse gods and goddesses. Entering the clearing and just standing there for a few moments to admire the beautiful monument and breathe in the fresh Norwegian air leaves you feeling peaceful, but still curious as to what the site was originally used for by its ancient builders. At the site, you are free to walk wherever you like, or you can follow the trails through the different circles to the top of the slope where there are several bigger mounds. The stones in the standing circles vary in height as some reach up to the hip, while others almost to the shoulders. Most of the circles consist of 12, 13 or 15 individual stones. Also, just a five-minute drive from the parking lot at the Hunnfelt is the Begbyfelt. Like the Hunnfelt, the Begbyfelt is quite a large area filled with trees and other vegetation, and if you did not know the site’s historical value you probably would have just driven by possibly noticing the green, beautiful nature and thinking this would be a nice place to go for a hike. But this site has so much more to offer than “just” beautiful nature as the area contains a large number of symbols and drawings cut in stone on large bare stone surfaces called “svaberg” which were made thousands of years ago. The petroglyphs at Begby are categorized as “Jordbruksristninger /Agricultural carvings” and are believed to have been made between c. 1800 BCE and c. 400 CE. The benefit of the sites’ lack of fame is that you will most likely be able to explore them almost or completely alone. In contrast to other ancient sites of more national and international interest, you do not have to wait in line, follow a specific track or struggle to get a good picture of the site without interference from other visitors. If you want you can sit down in the middle of one of the circles and eat lunch, draw or write notes, or you can stand up and dance - without bothering anyone. Also, you do not have to pay anything to experience the sites, as they are open-air cultural landscapes, which also means you can come and go whenever you like. In addition to learn more about the mysterious history of ancient Norway and the Østfold region, the bonus of traveling to these “forgotten” historical sites/areas is that it makes you feel more like an explorer than a tourist, and you never know what you might find behind the next tree or hill. Whole article: https://www.ancient.eu/article/1354/exploring--norways-forgotten-stone-circles--petrog/