Ales stenar, stone 8 from northwest

The 4 carved-in cavities on stone 8 symbolises without a doubt the sunship itself and its most important markdays, i e the sunrise by the winter solstice and summer solstice and the sunsets by the summer solstice and winter solstice. But that is not enough; multiplicated with the sunrocknumber 8, the 4 carved-in cavities most likely also symbolises the solar year calenderīs ownnumber, i e the 32 opposing calendarrocks.

Ales stenar, stone 29 in northwest. The star constellation
"the Swan"

The star constellation of the swan is one of the classical constellations of Antiquity and in greek mythology it symbolises the sunbird of the heavenly Zeus. According to Greek myth there lived a people way up in the north, called the Hyperboreans (the people of the nordic god Bore), who worshipped the divine sunswan. It is not impossible that this may be connected to the magnificent star constellation of the Swan of the northern starry sky. And isn’t it the star constellation of the Swan, that has symbolically been carved into the solid rock (29), beside the northwestern stemstone ( i.e. the sunstone of the sungod Heimdall)?

On the Danish island Als there was a rock in the 1930’s (now removed), with the star constellation of Charles’s wain carved in, which means that the prehistoric inhabitants of the north had a great interest in the shining attractions of the starry sky.