Zeltapse (Upsīši) secular stone
The secular stone is located at a distance of 1.6 km from the slope of the Šlītere Zilie kalni [Blue Hills] and 500 m from Upīši farmstead in a birch forest. Its perimeter is 16.4 m, lenght is 5.9 m, width is 4.0 m, height is 3.0 m and its volume is 30 m³.
In the 1980s, discussions arose about the peculiar placement of the stone (on stone supports) and the carvings engraved in the stone. Some researchers consider these carvings to be runes, hence the stone is also referred to as the Rune Stone. "Runes" are characters used by Scandinavian and other Germanic peoples, mainly in genuine gravestone and sacred inscriptions.
According to Scandinavian traditions around the 10th century, fallen heroes were cremated on a pyre, and their ashes were gathered. At the ends of the burial site, two massive stones were erected, and a large stone slab was placed on top of them.
Meanwhile, Guntis Eniņš puts forward a hypothesis: «A birch tree is growing upwards next to the stone from the south. Assuming thickness and strength, it slowly, slowly pushes the stone».
The most probable theory seems to be that of geologist R. Knaps, suggesting that it is a sea boulder from the Litorina period, pushed onto a smaller coastal boulder field by glacial deposits.
