Situated at the fringe of the Stora Alvaret, the Gettlinge site and environs contains a number of rare and endangered species of both plants and animals, but most of these species are seasonally blooming wildflowers that flower in the late spring and summer. Beneath the soil layer where burials are placed is an extensive limestone formation, which is the source of most of the local building materials, which has supported drystone construction since medieval times. The standing stones of the Viking ship itself are granite, which moraine materials were pushed here from the mainland by ice age glaciers.