Blue Pipe
Blue Pipe

Blue Pipe

Öland's largest Bronze Age cairn in a coastal environment. Blå rör is Öland's most famous Bronze Age cairn and at the same time the largest with a diameter of 40 meters and a height of 3 meters.

The grave is below the road between Borgholm and Köpingsvik and was built very close to the beach in a flat and low-lying area. In the immediate surroundings there are several bowl pit blocks, i.e. solid stones with tapped holes which may have had a religious/ritual meaning. Bowl pits in the Nordic region are usually found in environments that can be linked to the Bronze Age or earlier Iron Age. The grave has been examined twice, the first time in 1849 by the National Antiquarian, who then concentrated on the central part. Treasure hunters had already been here and in the remains of a stone coffin only bone fragments and a bone button were found. In connection with a restoration in 1927, four graves were found, of which two skeleton graves and two cremation graves. The two skeletal graves could be dated to the older Bronze Age, while the two cremated graves, which were located superficially in the cairn, belonged to the younger Bronze Age. In one of the cremation graves, a sword was found that was probably made in Denmark and has no equivalent in Sweden.