Madsebakke

Facts

3000-year-old rock carvings

By Flemming Kaul, Museumsinspektør, mag. art. (31 stories)

Madsebakke, between Allinge and Sandvig, is Denmark's largest rock carving site. One sloped rock boasts carvings of 14 ships, five wheel crosses, five foot-like figures and many cup marks. From the shape of the ships, the carvings have been dated back to the late Bronze Age, 1100-500 BC. In the late 1800s, two similar sites nearby were destroyed by quarrying - the holes left by the small quarries are still visible. Several other sites, at nearby Hammersholm Ridge southwest of Madsebakke, for example, you'll find more ship carvings.

Public place

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Sacred rock

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Story written by Flemming Kaul

Time / Periode -1100 -500

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Excavations in 2003-2005 show activity at Madsebakke way back from the Peasant Stone Age in about 3500 BC until the late Iron Age in about 500 AD. Over time, man made more and more of an impression on the sacred rock. A large square hollow in the rock was filled with clay pot fragments, fired clay and stones during the Stone Age and Bronze Age. A large ledge was covered with stones so the rock looked like a man-made burial mound. Traces of poles show that in the late Bronze Age, a fence was erected in front to close off the sacred area. A cooking pit found there contained the remains of a meal from the same time. Cremation graves and an Iron Age house were found at the top of the rock.