Paleoseismic Fracturing Of Rock Carvings 1000 BC In SE Sweden

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Abstract (Paleoseismic fracturing of rock carvings 1000 BC in SE Sweden): At about 1000 BC, a major (M>6) earthquake struck SE Sweden. This event fractured several rock carvings from the Bronze Age in a radius of, at least, 5 km from the centre of fracturing. At the centre, the Cambrian quartzite was heavily deformed and fractured-up in loose blocks and deep fractures, dominated by a strong extensional force. This fractured bedrock was, by the local people, converted into a quarry used to obtain flat blocks for the nearby grave known as “Brantarör” (which had, at least, 60 curb-stones and 12 blocks for the central sarcophagus) and for the huge bow and stern stones in the large stone-ship of Ales Stones, 30 km away. The quarrying seems to have in operation around 800 BC.