Pilane is one of the most beautifully situated burial grounds in Sweden with some 90 judgement circles, raised stones and other stone circles dating from the Iron Age. The site is surrounded by an ancient cultural landscape that traces back to the Stone Age.

There is a large number of stone formations still visible at Pilane burial ground at Tjörn in the county of Bohuslän, including fifteen majestic judgement circles with raised stones within a circle of round stones.

These stone formations have been dated to the middle Iron Age, 0-600 A.D. Judgement circles are virtually only found in the Nordic region and most were constructed during what is known as The Great Migration Era. These circles were probably originally graves. During the middle Iron Age the graves could have been used by cults and for sacrifices and legal sessions.

Linguistic researchers believe that to "swear on one' mother's (or father's) grave" comes from this phenomenon. We do know that judgement circles were used for court sessions, primarily in Västergötland during the middle Iron Age. The fact that judgement circles usually have an odd number of stones is considered to be because each stone was represented by a lay assessor, so there could never be a tied vote.

Between the stone formations that are visible today there is probably a large number of undiscovered graves. Pilane burial ground is well preserved and its beauty was often captured in both literature and art in the 19th century.

To the south of the burial ground is beautiful gently undulating pastureland. Its location and proximity to various ancient remains suggests that the land has been used for farming for a very long time, which makes it an invaluable source of information on farming landscapes of earlier ages. The pastureland has recently been carefully restored. The stonewall farms have been renovated, trees and bushes removed and appropriate pasturage reintroduced. Catsfoot (Antennaria dioica) grows on hillsides, while heath violet (Viola canina) and Meadow saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata) are typically found in enclosed fields. You can also spot plants usually found in uncultivated fields such as spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides), dwarf dandelion (Taraxacum obliquum) and small cudweed (Filago minima).

One particular phenomenon in areas that were previously covered by tightly packed dense bushes where sunlight now penetrates, is the appearance of shoots of the mighty Great or Common Mullein (Verbascum thaspus) that have lain dormant in the soil for about 30 years.

Pilane was an island in the sea formed following the retreat of the inland ice 10,000 years ago. Reindeer herds arrived from the south seeking grazing land where the ice had thawed. In turn, the reindeer were followed by hunters and fishermen who established temporary dwellings along protected shores such as Pilane. Archaeological finds in Pilane indicate that large groups of people have lived and shaped the area on a continuous basis. Finds of unburnt bones of sheep show that they grazed along the Pilane shoreline during the Late Stone Age 4,500 years ago.

During the Bronze Age 3,000 years ago, images and messages were carved into the rocks, such as at Basteröd close to Pilane. Stone carvings are often concealed messages and difficult to unearth as they are often covered by earth, lichen and mosses. The stone carvings in Basteröd depict fifteen ships with curved bows and sterns. The find in Pilane of beautifully decorated ceramic funnel goblets dating from this period show there was extensive contact with people to the south.