Found in the field

Out again yesterday: three stone-age witnesses in Skåne

By Jan Mirass · 11 June 2026 · 6 min read

There are days when you head out with a camera and find more than you dared hope for. Yesterday was one of them. Somewhere between Hästveda, Glimåkra and Östra Broby, in the wooded north of Skåne, I came across three places that have lain quietly in the landscape for thousands of years — moss-covered, overlooked by almost everyone, and yet astonishingly alive the moment you stand before them. Come along.

The hidden standing stone of Hästveda

Upright, moss-covered standing stone in the beech forest near Hästveda, Skåne — The standing stone of Hästveda — barely a metre tall, moss on its crown, right beside the forest track.

I almost missed the first one. Right by the road, hidden among the bushes, stands an upright stone — barely a metre high, its edges rounded by millennia, its crown blanketed in moss. In the Swedish heritage register (Riksantikvarieämbetet/Fornsök) it carries the matter-of-fact name "grave marked with stones." Its exact purpose? Unknown. And that is precisely what makes it gripping: here stands something a person deliberately raised a very long time ago — and all we can do is wonder why.

The same standing stone, half hidden behind beech branches and leaves — Without the hint on the map I'd have walked straight past — it's almost completely swallowed by the green.

You stand before a stone like this, lay your hand on the cool, rough moss — and suddenly the millennia stop being an abstract idea.

The mysterious cup marks of Glimåkra

Large moss-covered glacial boulder in an open oak grove near Glimåkra — The boulder of Glimåkra — its back hides Bronze Age cup marks.

A few kilometres on, in an open oak grove, this giant: an enormous glacial boulder, coated all over in vivid green moss, nearly seven metres long. What makes it special only reveals itself on a second look — carved into its back are ten cup marks, each 5 to 6 centimetres across, ground into the hard stone by human hands. Such rock carvings usually date to the Bronze Age. What they were for — sacrificial cult, star maps, fertility symbols? — no one knows for certain to this day. Weathered, enigmatic, magnificent.

Close-up of the moss-covered Glimåkra boulder bearing the cup marks — Up close: a living green pelt of moss over ancient granite.

The grave field of Östra Broby

Round stone setting of a grave field among juniper near Östra Broby — One of the five stone settings of Östra Broby — a round burial structure, framed by stones.

The highlight of the day. On a rise between juniper and meadow lies an entire grave field — 40 by 20 metres, made up of five stone settings. These are originally round structures, 6 to 9 metres across, built up from fist- to head-sized stones. The largest of them carries a running kerb and a central stone setting and measures a substantial 14 metres. Over the centuries some were excavated, some plundered, the odd field stone tossed on top — and yet you see it at once: people buried their dead here, with care, in the form that was sacred to them.

Lichen-covered grave stones of the Östra Broby grave field, with a dry-stone wall and green pasture behind — Lichens in yellow and grey cover the stones — behind them an old dry-stone wall and open pasture.

Stone setting among juniper bushes with an upright marker stone — Among the junipers, a pointed stone rises up — a silent guardian over the grave field.

How I find places like these at all

Honestly? I'd walk right past most of these spots. No sign, no car park, no marker — the standing stone sits in the undergrowth, and from a distance the grave field looks like a pile of rocks. The tool that turns a walk into a journey through time is a good map.

For that I use the PrimeMap app. It shows me archaeological sites as their own pins right on the map — with type, dating and the original description from the Swedish heritage register, translated into my language. So I know in advance what's waiting for me, and I find places that would otherwise stay invisible.

PrimeMap app: detail view of an archaeological settlement site near Hästveda — This is what it looks like in the app: a settlement site near Hästveda — documented since the year 1377.

Discover the deep past on your doorstep

Over 300,000 archaeological sites in Sweden alone — plus castles, ruins and lost places across Europe. With descriptions in your language. Free for iPhone & Android.

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