Grave orb

Grave Orb is the name for a petrosphere that was put on the tomb of a deceased. Grave Orbs were made throughout Scandinavia from the Pre-Roman Iron Age until the Vendel era.

Contents

• The curse of the grave orb
• Elizabeth s grave orb avi
• References

The Grave Orb 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. They were of ritual or symbolic significance.

Some grave orbs are engraved with ornaments, such as the orb at Inglinge hög or Barrow of Inglinge near Ingelstad in Småland. Hög is from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound or barrow.