Gamla Uppsala Archaeological Site

Gamla Uppsala

Sweden · Uppsala County

SettlementIntermittent excavation
Approximate period550 CE — 1,300 CEIron Age and Middle Ages See on the map ↓

In brief

Excavations at Gamla Uppsala have revealed halls, production areas and enclosure features alongside the burial mounds. Railway excavations in 2012–2017 investigated a large part of the settlement.

What was found?

  • 1Remains of a great hall

    These are structural traces of the great hall of the elite settlement complex. They show that the site was not only a cemetery but also included an important settlement center.

  • 2Burial mounds

    These are monumental burial structures within the complex. Studying them alongside the halls and other remains sheds light on the relationship between the elite settlement and its graves.

  • 3Workshop remains

    These are traces of production areas within the settlement. They show that craft activities were also carried out at the center occupied by the elite.

  • 4Stone-paved courtyards

    These are stone surfaces laid in the open areas between buildings. They reveal that the complex consisted of arranged outdoor spaces as well as buildings.

  • 5Post-row monuments

    These are foundation pits in which large wooden posts were set. These previously unknown arrangements expanded knowledge of the site's monumental appearance.

What does it point to?

The hall, graves, workshops and arranged courtyards indicate that different functions were concentrated in the same center. According to researchers, this complex shows that elite power was linked both to buildings and to the use of surrounding resources.

What did it teach us?

  1. It enabled mounds, halls and production areas previously studied separately to be assessed as parts of the same settlement complex.
  2. It revealed that the monumental arrangements consisted of more than burial mounds alone.
  3. It made it possible to trace the center's development and transformation through structural remains.

Images

Viking Burial Mounds in Gamla Uppsala 126991017
Kevin Wells from Halifax, Canada, upload by Herrick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
2013-07-08 in Gamla Uppsala 01
Szilas · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Scandinavian Iron Age and Viking communities
Team / historical
Uppland Museum, The Archaeologists and Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis
Coordinates
59.8970°, 17.6290°

Sources

  1. upplandsmuseet.se
  2. journals.uu.se
  3. en.wikipedia.org

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12.000

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