Mandbjerghøj

The Mandbjerghøj is located next to the road through Øster Velling Skov forest, north of Øster Velling, west of Randers in Jutland [1]. Here there are two small granite boulders with engraved geometric patterns from the Bronze Age [1]. The two stones with petroglyphs stand some fifty metres from their original find spot [1]. There are also the almost completely destroyed remains of the Mandbjerghøj tumulus where the first stone with petroglyphs, which was part of the tumulus fence, was found in 1857 [1]. The tumulus which is now barely visible was originally about 24 m in diameter and four metres high [1]. In the middle of the mound was a typical male grave of the early Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC) [1]. In the grave a bronze sword and a gilt belt-hook were found, which bore the same motif as the rock carvings, thereby demonstrating that the tumulus and the carvings were made at the same date [1]. The stones depict concentric rings and three ovals, which themselves enclose two rings [1].