Separate pulses of magmatic activity involving the emplacement of plutons with predominantly granitic or bimodal granitic and gabbroic composition, as well as dolerite dykes, occurred in a cratonic setting in eastern Sweden at c. 1.59–1.58 Ga, c. 1.53–1.50 Ga and c. 1.47–1.44 Ga; anorthosite, monzodiorite and syenitoid rocks are locally present. Most of the granites have been compared with rapakivi granites in Finland and elsewhere. Isotopic data (Hf in zircons and ɛNd values) from the plutons in north-central Sweden show contamination by an Archean source. Siliciclastic rocks dominated by aeolian or deltaic sandstones overlie c. 1.58 Ga or c. 1.50 Ga plutons, are intercalated with 1.46 Ga basaltic lavas and were deposited prior to the emplacement of 1.27–1.25 Ga dolerites. The magmatic rocks are subalkaline (tholeiitic) to alkaline and the mafic components have been compared with continental flood basalts, suggesting an intracratonic, rift-related tectonic setting for the magmatism and sand deposition. These rocks constitute the westerly part of a late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic magmatic province in northern Europe, located along roughly north–south- and WSW–ENE-trending linear belts. This tectonic development was coeval with accretionary orogenic activity further to the west and SW.