Grave orb

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A grave orb is a petrosphere that was made in Scandinavia from the Pre-Roman Iron Age until the Vendel era and put on the tomb of a deceased.

It could have been selected for its round shape or shaped by hand. They were then put in the centre of a burial site. Tumuli, stone circles and stone ships often have a reclined or raised central stone, and grave orbs derive from this practice.

Some grave orbs are engraved with ornaments, such as the orb on the barrow of Inglinge. They were of ritual or symbolic significance.

[edit] See also

• stone balls
• Stone spheres of Costa Rica
• Carved Stone Balls of Scotland

[edit] Source

• The article gravklot in Nationalencyklopedin (1992).