Gamla Uppsala

The large southern plateau that supported a building that may have been over 50m long. One of the trenches this year will be placed in the northern part (to the right in the picture) to ascertain the full length of the building.

 

Excavations at Gamla Uppsala

 

The results from the excavations last year at Gamla Uppsala are now being processed and form the basis of this year's excavation which decidedly larger. It has been made possible through a large grant from the berit Wallenberg Foundation. Beginning in early May, we will conduct a total of ten weeks worth of excavation at the Royal Farm area. The first field season lasts for six weeks from May 4 - June 15. The second round takes place in August. 

 

 

 

 

Links and related pages

Read the blog from this year's fieldwork (new window)

John Ljungkvist

Daniel Löwenborg

Upplandsmuseet (new window)

SAU (new window)

Central Board of National Heritage (new window)

Vendel Period mount

Richly ornamented objects from the mid or end of the Vendel Period are quite rare on settlements. This is one half of a belt mount, and one that has few counterparts in the Mälardalen Valley. The closest parallel was found in a grave on Gotland.

Medieval clasp

In the Middle Ages, Gamla Uppsala was the largest village in the province of Uppland. Archaeologically, however, the settlement from this period has lived an anonymous existence. Several finds have been made in later years. This clasp from the high to late Middle Ages contributes to our understanding of where the settlement was located during this period.

Bronze head

This bronze head in a copper alloy has been nicknamed Batman owing to the similarities to a certain comic character. He belongs to a series of figurines that are prevalent in the Vendel Period and Viking Age. They can be found from Russia in the east to England in the west. While most of the other figurines have large horns with bird finials, this particular one has considerably smaller horns. A number of the other horned figurines have been interpreted as depictions of Odin, but this presents a deviation from the general pattern. The find was done at Gamla Uppsala and is reported in  Ljungkvist, J., 2009. Kartering med metalldetektor och bebyggelsestudie i norra Gamla Uppsala. (Gamla Uppsala ? framväxten av ett mytiskt centra. Rapport 2.) Uppsala.