Hägar

Högar is the plural of the Swedish noun hög, meaning a hill, mound, or heap. The term is used for both natural elevations and artificial piles, and in everyday language it describes various landscape features. In archaeology and cultural history in the Nordic region, högar most often refers to ancient burial mounds or other mound-like monuments from prehistoric times, though the word can also denote large heaps created for practical purposes.

Many högar are earthen mounds, sometimes with a stone core or surrounding trench. They vary in size from a few meters in diameter to more than ten meters, and several meters in height. As burial structures, they are associated with cremations or inhumations and sometimes contain grave goods such as pottery, tools, weapons, or jewelry. The arrangement and contents of högar provide evidence about social hierarchy, ritual practices, and regional interaction in Bronze Age and Iron Age societies.

Today högar are important cultural heritage. They are protected under national heritage laws in Sweden and other Nordic countries; many have been surveyed, excavated, or preserved in situ, while others are studied from surface remains. Some sites have been lost to agriculture or development, but many are visible as landscape features or recorded in modern maps and databases.

See also: tumulus, cairn, burial mound, toponymy.