Stenehed is an

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 ...

grave field A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically from Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe. Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers. Types Grave fields c ...

(''Steneheds gravfält'') located about 1 km southwest of Hällevadsholm,

Munkedal Municipality Munkedal Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Munkedal. The nationwide municipal reform of 1952 saw the creation of Munkedal, Svarteborg, Sörbygden and Ödeborg as l ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The area contains about 45 graves, a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

, a

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were ...

, and a row of

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

s. Originally, there were eleven or twelve menhirs at the site; today, there are nine. The tallest one is 3.3 m; the shortest - 1.4 m. They are placed in a row, according to their heights. In 1980, Swedish astronomer Curt Roslund (1930-2013) suggested that they form an astronomical calendar, similar to

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

in England.

References

Geography of Västra Götaland County Archaeological sites in Sweden Iron Age Europe Germanic archaeological sites {{Commons, Steneheds gravfält Buildings and structures in Västra Götaland County Cemeteries in Sweden Menhirs Munkedal Municipality