Gryet, some west of

Nexø Nexø, sometimes spelled Neksø, is a town on the east coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. With a population of 3,657 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the second largest town, as well as the largest fishing port on the island. Fishing ...

and just north of Bodilsker on the Danish island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

, is a site with one of Denmark's largest collections of

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

s with tall upright stones standing among the trees in a little wood.

The site

Gryet is on high ground which was once surrounded by water or marshes. In the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, those living in the area found it to be an ideal site for their graves. There were once over 60 stones but several have been removed and many have now fallen to the ground. The highest, once standing on the mound at the southern side of the wood, was removed in the 17th century to be used as a gravestone. The megaliths, which bear no inscription, stand over graves where the remains of burnt bones are buried. In the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and late

(1100 BC), it appears to have been common practice to set megaliths over graves of this kind. The stones stand alone or in small groups. As the site has not been archeologically investigated, it is not known why the stones were raised there. Another important megalithic site on Bornholm is Louisenlund near

Østermarie Østermarie is a village on the Danish island of Bornholm, west of Svaneke. Founded ca. 1880, its old church ('' Østermarie Church''), now a ruin, dates back to the 12th century.

."Louisenlund bei Østermarie auf Bornholm"
''Bornholmerguiden''. Retrieved 14 November 2012.Martin Stoltze, "Sten for de døde"
Kulturarv.dk. Retrieved 14 November 2012.

Preservation

It was thanks to Emil Vedel, governor of Bornholm from 1866, that the site has been preserved. In 1870, he noticed that some of the stones were being broken up and removed. By 1875 he had managed to have the site listed, saving it from further damage.

References

{{coord, 55, 04, 17, N, 15, 04, 06, E, display=title Bornholm Megalithic monuments in Denmark