The Boners of Östergötland

In Östergötland, Sweden there are many boners carved into the surfaces of large rocks that protrude up through the ground. And, while we’re on the topic, I am sure there are many other boners in Östergötland of another sort as well…that also do their own sort of protruding. But those are not the types of boners that we are interested in here. No, we are interested in the rock-carving boners and these rock-carving boners have managed to keep it up for a solid 3000 years, which is a pretty good indication of an amazing level of stamina if you ask me. In addition to boners, these bronze-age Geats also carved pictures of boats, weapons, and animals. Clearly, these people had their priorities.

It is also interesting to note that Östergötland basically means Eastern Geatland in English. For those of you that are familiar with Beowulf, you will also know that he was a Geat, so we’re basically talking about boner carvings that were made by his ancestors. You can read more about these hällristningar (as they are known in Swedish) at Hällristningar i Norrköping (in Swedish only). Sadly, there does not seem to be information available in English on this site, but there’s a serious academic article on the matter here.

And lastly, here are some more views of this majestic ancient boner rock-carving mine-field: