Monday, March 23, 2009

Mølen - On a misty day








Mølen is Norway's largest beach of rolling stones, and is a part of Vestfoldraet: the terrain left behind after the end of the most recent Ice age around 10,000 years ago.

Mølen - nature, culture, geology and bird life, all in the same place. The wind and sea have lashed the landscape of Mølen for thousands of years, and the place takes its name from the Old Norse word "mol", meaning a stone mound or bank of stones.

The cultural landscape of Mølen, with its total of 230 cairns, is one of the most majestic in Norway. The area has 16 large cairns, many up to 35 m in diameter, with almost 200 small cairns in rows parallel to the shoreline. In one of the cairns, burnt stones were found; this could be the result of a cremation dating back to the 5th century A.D. The small cairns may symbolise warriors who fell in battle or were shipwrecked together with their captains.


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