A runestone is typically a raise stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century but most of them date from the late Viking Age, and it lasted into the 12th century. Most runestones are located in Scandinavia, but there are also scattered runestones in locations where the Norsemen went during the Viking Age. Runestones are generally memorials after deceased men, and originally they were usually brightly coloured.