heavener runestone state park

This is the view from the top of the hill where the Heavener Runestone is found.
The runes are believed to have been carved into a slab of rock 12 ft high, eight feet wide, and 16 inches thick. If Vikings actually did the carving then they would have had to travel south around Florida, across the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi River to the Arkansas River to arrive at what is now Heavener, OK. They've been examined by scientists and the runes have been dated to an alphabet that the Vikings used around 700 AD. Most scientists believe the Vikings never traveled south of Long Island, NY. If my fellow blogger and archeologist Dawn ever makes the trip to the site, I would like to hear her opinion. It's necessary to hike down a steep stone stairway to arrive at the stone, but it's worth the effort.

these runestones are behind glass so I enhanced them in Photoshop.
Hunter found a place to slide. We had to take special care to prevent him from wandering over the cliff.
Looking back up from whence we came.


Marley heads back up the stairs. It was a hundred yards down into the ravine and two hundred back.