QR-koder 13 000 år

QR codes 13 000 years

500–1 000 e Kr

The older Bronze Age burial mounds, which are built of sand and overgrown with grass, are considerably more unusual than large burial mounds of stone. The Kittakull mound in Trotteslöv, north of Ljungby, was an impressive tomb about 23-25 ​​meters in diameter and four meters high, when it was divided straight in the middle during a road construction in 1949.

Under a round stone pack, which was 1.3 meters above the natural ground surface, a bronze sword was discovered. The blade was slightly elliptical and the grip decorated with a rhombic knob at the end. The sword can be seen in the exhibition.

About 2,500 years ago, the climate in the Nordic countries slowly began to change. It got colder and there was more rainfall. The marsh lands became more numerous and the first spruces began to appear in Småland, even though there were still mostly deciduous trees. Nevertheless, archaeologists can see that new fields were cultivated during this time. The population increased and agriculture became increasingly important during the older Iron Age.

A thousand years later, two major volcanic eruptions occurred in the northern and southern hemispheres of the earth. Particles were thrown into the atmosphere and blocked the sun’s rays for a long time. In a short time, the climate became several degrees colder than today and many researchers believe that this caused made crops to fail, resulting in people starving and many people dying. At the same time, Europe and probably also the Nordic countries were affected by the plague. People probably thought that the end of the world was near.

In any case, it is said in the Viking age folklore that the end of the earth and the gods would begin with a great cold – the Fimbul winter. Maybe it was the climate crisis that left its mark on mythology?

Trotteslöv in Berga parish is located in the western part of Kronoberg county. Here the river Lagan flows and here there are fertile plains along the river. Adjacent to many of today’s villages there are Viking-era burial grounds. The burial grounds consist almost exclusively of mounds of various sizes, i.e the grave form from the Late Iron Age that is most common in these areas. Many place names also have prehistoric origins with name endings of -löv, -lösa, -stad, -inge or -by. These are typical name endings, not least on habitations that we expect to have originated at least in the Late Iron Age.

Here, a number of tombs from the Late Iron Age have been archaeologically investigated over the years. A couple of these are particularly interesting since they proved to contain a mixed find in the form of objects and bones. One of these graves was located next to the river Lagan and had been partially damaged by erosion. An archaeological survey was therefore carried out to save the information that remained in the tomb. Beneath the burial filling of sand, there turned out to be a layer of soot, coal and burnt bones, which formed the remains of a cremation.

In the middle of the soot layer there was an almost complete ceramic vessel filled with burnt bones. A number of glass beads, some iron objects, bronze fragments and a couple of decorated bone hair combs were also found in the soot layer. Some black flakes also turned out to be charred remnants of textiles, an unexpected and unusual find. Among the pieces of textile you can see different weaving techniques and the textile must come from different costume details. Some fragments probably consist of linen cloth and some of wool.

In addition to human bones the burnt bones contain several different animal species, such as horse, cat, dog, pig and bird. The man was probably a woman between 35 and 50 years old. It was probably a rich and powerful person in the society of that time. After her death, the woman was honored by receiving a burial mound. In her honor important pets from the farm’s herd were also sacrificed. The horse was at this time an animal that signaled the high status of the owner, and sometimes the horse is attributed almost religious significance. The birds which the woman brought with her in the grave were probably two birds of prey and a mallard. One of the birds of prey can probably be determined as a buzzard.

During her lifetime the woman was probably engaged in duck hunting with the help of buzzards, something that also accompanied her in her grave. There are several pieces of evidence that birds of prey were buried together with humans in tombs from the Iron Age, especially in the eastern parts of Sweden and in the Mälardalen valley. There are also descriptions of hunting with birds of prey in written material and on rune stones. Many unanswered questions remain, but the tomb still shows a history of women and power, of craftsmanship and prosperity.

A labyrinth is a mythical type of ancient monument. They are known from several prehistoric and historical periods and from different areas of the world. The name comes from the Greek ”go astray” and that’s just what a labyrinth is; a room or a surface with narrow corridors that you can walk in.

The ingenious pattern is laid with relatively small, densely set stones that create a long, winding passage that ends in the middle of the labyrinth. In Sweden there are about 300 known labyrinths and most are located along the coasts, but in Kronoberg County there is only one. The labyrinth in Vittaryd outside Ljungby. It is located on the edge of a burial ground from the Late Iron Age and only a few hundred meters north of the church.

It is not possible to say how old the Swedish labyrinths are or how they were possibly used in prehistoric times, but during the 20th century older people have described how young people used to walk in the labyrinths, while dancing and listening to folk music.

11,000–12,000 years ago

The arrowhead from Skateboda, which is the oldest ancient find in Småland, was made by a group of people who lived in Europe and parts of Scandinavia 11,000 – 12,000 years ago. They hunted wild deer, giant deer, aurochs and elk by following the animals’ migrations across the tundra, while fishing and gathering food from nature. In addition to food, the hunt provided skins, bones and tendons that were used to make clothes, tarpaulins for huts and various tools.

We can imagine groups of 4-8 people who followed the reindeer’s migrations over an area as large as Skåne, Blekinge, Halland and southern Småland. Maybe there were just under a hundred people in this region, maybe even fewer. They lived in huts and each settlement and slaughterhouse was used only for a short time and left few traces.

5,200–4,300 years ago

Ever since the early 20th century, the settlement on Gettersö in Lake Bolmen has been known for its many flints along the shores. The archaeologists then judged that it was people from the so-called Pitted Ware culture who had inhabited the island and believed that it had been used as some form of trading post.

Despite this exciting hypothesis, it took until 2016 before archaeologists visited the site again. Finds of flint, ceramics and fire-cracked stone showed that the entire island had been used during the Middle Peasant Stone Age, but it was not Stone Age peasants who used the site. In recent years research on graves on Gotland shows that these people, whom archaeologists call pit potters, were hunters who ate little else but seal.

By studying the appearance and impact technology of the flint objects and through a so-called wear trace analysis, the archaeologists could see that the people on Gettersö had hunted and scraped skins in certain parts of the island and processed wood and dry skins in other places. These are activities showing that people have hunted and perhaps repaired clothes and canoes on the island. Archaeologists also found pottery and amber. There were probably several families who made repeated short visits to the island. The fact that they left so much flint left shows that they could quickly travel back to the coast again to get more.

This was at a time when, just like now, there was violence between people. What could it have been like for the families who came to Gettersö, who lived so differently from the farmers around them?

As the hunters returned time and time again, it was also a place where people from two different groups could meet. Perhaps the visitors from the coast brought with them the exclusive sharpened flint axes and amber that the farmers needed, both for everyday use and in various ceremonies or sacrifices.

We do not know what the visitors got in return. Maybe it was important for them to be able to hunt moose. Moose horns were needed for clubs and other tools used when processing the flint. Maybe they were interested in the rich eel fishing at the outlets from Lake Bolmen where Gettersö is located? Or were they interested in the alcoholic beverages made from agricultural products? The opportunity to exchange long-distance news may also have been an important reason why the groups got along.

Today, Alice, Olivia, Lucas and Liam are at the top of the list of first names in Sweden, but during the Viking Age, completely different names applied. Back then, Gyrid, Tóla and Disa were popular female names that were often carved on rune stones. The names of runestones give us an opportunity to find out what people were called during the late Iron Age and the Viking Age.

The Nordic Runic Name Dictionary lists all proper names that appear in runic inscriptions from the Viking Age, both in and outside the Nordic countries. The dictionary includes about 1,500 names of people, over a hundred place names and in addition names of figures from Nordic mythology and Christianity. It is the Institute for Language and Folk Memories (Uppsala) that produced the dictionary.

This is what the list of names from rune stones in this part of present-day Sweden looks like. There are no female names on the rune stones in Småland, so here we have instead listed those in Östergötland and on Öland.

Female names (runestones on Öland and in Östergötland)

Asa
Geirvi
Helgun
Härfrid
Härtrud
Siglög
Stena
Tjudred
Torfrida
Torun
Torgun
Värn (Eng. protection)
Åsa
Åsgärd

Male name (rune stones in Småland)

Bjur
Erinvard / Ärinvard
Fader (Eng. father)
Gute
Götrad
Hägge
Klint
Rode
Rosten
Sigvard
Spak
Starkben (Eng. strong legs)
Starke (Eng. Strong)
Tegn
Torlov
Tormar
Tryggulf
Verskulv
Vinjut
Väfus
Åstrad

What do the names mean?

All names mean something. What does yours mean? Go to Svenska Akademiens namnlista  (the Swedish Academy’s name list) and see if it is included? If you cannot find yours by any chance it just means they missed it. Everyone’s name means something!

Through the Vikings’ travels, Arab, German and English silver coins came to Scandinavia. The money was not used here, but many of the coins were melted down and turned into jewelry. In Kronoberg County, six silver treasures have been found. It was hidden objects of value that were buried in the ground. Some of the treasures were never collected by their owner, but were found much later by farmers who puzzledly looked down at the glittering treasures they had happened to come across while plowing in their fields.

The silver treasure from Torlarp in Berga parish and the silver treasure in Kexås in Mistelås parish are some of the finest treasure finds. Among the objects are Arabic coins, bracelets, silver tins and a pendant in the shape of a Thor’s hammer, which is a symbol of the Asa god Thor.

Another large Viking Age find is the so-called Furen find from the 11th or 12th century. When iron ore was taken from the bottom of Lake Furen in the 1860s, a large number of silver and iron objects were found. Among other things, ring buckles, fittings, buckles and strap fittings, six tweezers, five large round bronze buckles, a large number of tin beads and several copper wires. Of iron there were two axes, a lance-tip, parts of wool scissors, knives, and about 140 needles.

Many of the objects were cast, but had not been polished after casting, which shows that they were completely unused. Maybe the find was an inventory lost by a traveling merchant? Maybe he went through the ice in the winter? Many of the objects have parallels to Gotland, so maybe it was a Gotland merchant?

At first there was only ice

The latest ice sheet covered northern Europe and Scandinavia for many thousands of years. 13,000 years ago, the climate became warmer and the ice slowly began to melt away. The landscape which surfaced was deserted. Gradually grass, herbs, shrubs and small trees gained a foothold in the soil which had been cooled and weighed down by the ice. In the open, tundra-like landscape grew dwarf birch, sea buckthorn, and mountain anemone, among other things.

Reindeer and other animals followed in the footsteps of the melting ice. They could walk between present-day Denmark and Sweden because the ground had risen when the heavy ice disappeared. The period has been given different names and is called the Paleolithic Period or the Old Stone Age.

The animals were followed by smaller groups of people. They had previously lived in southern Europe and now followed reindeer, giant deer, aurochs and elk on a trek across the tundra. They hunted, fished and collected food from nature. Maybe there were about a hundred people in all of southern Sweden at this time. New research on genetic predisposition has shown that the first people who came here after the ice were probably dark-skinned and had blue eyes.

12,000–6,000 years ago

Now the climate slowly became even slightly warmer. Plants and animals such as elk, auroch, vicent, deer and red deer were abundant in the landscape. There were open landscapes between the tall pine forests and gradually there were also bears, wolves, wild boars, and wildcats. The water was clear and nutritious and not at all as brown as today. There were fish, beavers and maybe also marsh turtles. The period is called the Mesolithic, or the hunter gatherer Stone Age.

Despite the good conditions, people did not settle here permanently. They lived mainly along the coasts of southern Sweden, but from time to time a few of them still managed to reach the inland. Maybe it was hunting excursions, curiosity or a longing for adventure that made people visit the area from time to time. Eventually they stayed longer and longer. Their traces could be found in the places where they slept, cooked and prepared their hunting tools. Their settlements are almost always situated close to rivers and lakes. During the latter part of the hunter gatherer Stone Age, the climate was much the same as in today’s southern France. The tall pine forests were replaced by dark, dense deciduous forests with oak, elm, ash and linden.

7,000 years ago, there may have been 2,000 people in Skåne and significantly fewer in Småland. There was certainly some violence, but research suggests that it was still a good life with time for both rest and social activities.

6,000 years ago

6,000 years ago the climate had become drier and the winters grew colder. People began to keep livestock and cultivate the land. At the same time, they continued to collect food through hunting, fishing and gathering. They also began to make pottery that was used to cook and to store food in. This period in time is called the Neolithic period or the Peasant Stone Age.

What made people start cultivating and breeding livestock? The latest research shows that the new way of life came with immigrants. Genetic studies suggest that it was people from present-day Turkey who moved through northern Europe and Scandinavia. They came with knowledge and traditions about a different lifestyle. Now people did not move as often but lived longer in one place or within the same area. Smaller houses replaced the huts.

The first agriculture was a burn-beating farm where fire was used to clear glades in the dense forest. Grain was sown in the ashes of the fire. The first varieties grown here were different kinds of wheat and barley. Since the land was not fertilized, new forests had to be burnt after a while, and then the old arable land became good grazing land for the animals. At this time people kept cows, pigs, sheep, and goats.

4,300–3,800 years ago

During the Neolithic period various types of large stone tombs were built, so-called megalithic tombs. At this time, similar tombs were built throughout Western Europe. This shows that common thoughts and ideas were spread across great distances already during the Stone Age.

The megalithic tombs are divided into three types – dolmens, passage graves, and gallery graves. Dolmens and passage graves are most common along the coasts, whereas gallery graves are also found inland. In Kronoberg County, you will only find gallery graves. They are the oldest constructions still to be seen in the landscape.

The gallery graves are large and were built in places that could be seen from a distance. They have a burial chamber of edged blocks, like a stone coffin. On top of it flat, large stones are placed, as a roof. The gallery grave has then been covered with smaller stones. The deceased person was placed in the gallery grave along with a few grave gifts, often a flint dagger and some food. Sometimes the grave seems to have been opened for new funerals.

In order for people to build gallery graves, there must have been a clear organization of the community. This applied to everything from procuring building materials to devoting time and people to construction work. Probably society became more socially divided during the Neolithic period than it had previously been.

Not all people were buried in large gallery graves. Archaeologists have also found simpler tombs from the late Stone Age. Sometimes the grave is just a pack of stones under the ground, and sometimes a wooden coffin in the form of a hollowed-out log has been used. These graves can be found solitarily or several together.

Kronoberg is the county in Sweden where you find most gallery graves. Of 2,200 known gallery graves in the country, 750 are located in Kronoberg. They are found in two main areas. One area is situated between Lake Åsnen, Lake Helgasjön and Lake Salen. The other area is located in the southwest part of the county, around Lake Römningen and Lake Möckeln.

The large amounts of tombs from this time could be seen as a sign that more people came to live here towards the end of the Stone Age. Many gallery graves were built and were also used into the time we call the Bronze Age.

(County map with the two areas marked)

3,800–2,500 years ago

During the Bronze Age, the climate was a few degrees warmer than today. The people and their farms grew in number. Between the farms there was a mosaic-like landscape of small fields, pastures and forests with hazel, birch, alder, oak, elm, and ash. The people had cows, sheep, goats, and pigs as domestic cattle.

Where the settlements were densest, people now began to clear the arable land free of stones by collecting them in small mounds. Today, we call these small mounds clearings, or fossil arable land. They are considered as archaeological remains because they are traces of very old farms. In the ground between the clearing piles, there may also be traces of prehistoric houses and various activities.

The Bronze Age fields were smaller than today, however since new areas were regularly cleared and cultivated the result, over time, was large areas of land, cleared of stones, could be used for cultivation. Most often, different kinds of wheat and barley were grown, but also millet. The land was farmed with a wooden plow, a kind of simple plow which carved furrows in the soil.

The fields moved around and when they recovered instead they served as good pasture for the animals. To clear away the stones was a way to facilitate and improve cultivation, but it was also a way of showing that the land in the area was occupied.

To produce bronze, the raw materials copper and tin were needed, which were imported here from various places in Europe. The raw materials for the bronze had been transported a long way and through many hands before it reached the interior of Småland. Some objects were made far away and brought here. It was probably all about an exchange of gifts between significant people in different places. Exchanging gifts was an important way to make long-distance contacts and forge friendships.

During the Bronze Age, society was clearly divided into different social classes. The unusual bronze objects were handled only by certain people or strata of society and the objects were used mainly on solemn and religious occasions. Also those who controlled the metal and mastered the technique of making metal objects probably had a high reputation and power.

Significant families or tribes were in charge of the control of precious metals, but they also controlled cult and human relations. Surely there were people who organized sacrifices, rites of passage around birth and death, and other stages in a person’s life. The person who was connected with the Gods was an important person.

2500–950 years ago

The knowledge of producing iron originated in today’s Turkey between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. The knowledge then spread rapidly in the Middle East and Europe. Unlike bronze crafts, the raw materials for iron production were easier to come by. Ore and forests were needed, which were plentiful in large parts of Europe. Iron is easier to forge than bronze, and it provides hard, good tools. The oldest iron objects appear in our area around 500 BC, that is, about 2,500 years ago.

In the oldest iron production, sea and bog ore were used as raw materials. Småland has plenty of these ores and they are constantly being formed. Now people could make everyday objects such as shovels, simple plows, knives, keys and fire steel, as well as various weapons.

About 2,500 years ago, the climate in the Nordic countries slowly began to change. It grew colder with more rainfall. The moss fields became more numerous and the first spruces began to appear in Småland, even though the deciduous trees still dominated.

Nevertheless, archaeologists can see that new fields were cultivated during this time. The number of people increased and agriculture, together with animal husbandry, became increasingly important during the older Iron Age.

During the older Iron Age (500 BC – 400 AD) farms for one to two families formed the settlements. There were no villages, but in some areas, such as around Växjö and Ljungby, the farms could be situated close to each other and perhaps several farms shared pastures among themselves. In other places it was far to the nearest neighbor.

1,600 to 950 years ago – The Late Iron Age

In Europe the society changed a lot in the 400s-500s AD, when the Roman Empire had collapsed and new Germanic empires had been formed. In the Nordic countries, settlements began to change and in some densely populated areas several farms moved together into villages. Researchers do not know for sure if it was done by force or out of free will because it was beneficial. Many of the villages still exist today. In more sparsely populated areas, the solitary farms remained for a very long time.

1,200–950 years ago – The Viking Age

The Vikings and the Viking Age are some of the best known aspects of Scandinavia’s early history and something many people associate with looting and long journeys. The word Viking describes a person who ”goes out in Viking”, that is, someone who travels away to engage in trade or looting. After all, during this time the vast majority of people were farmers. There were relatively few people who “went out in Viking”, but still they have strongly influenced how we perceive this period in time, even to this day.

1,000 years ago – Christianity

At the end of the Iron Age, Christianity reached the southern Sweden as one of the criteria for the beginning of the Middle Ages. Christianity was a long process which started even before the first churches were built. Occasional graves, influenced by Christianity, have been found, for example, in burial grounds that are otherwise pagan. Christianity spread with people who had met the new religion in Europe, through slaves and through mission. Many powerful individuals and families also saw the benefits of being part of the Christian Europe. The written language of the Christian Church and its experiences of organizing people and regions would later become important means of power for the dawning monarchy.

Småland is not just any name. It has its origins in several ”small countries” (country=land, in Swedish) that existed already during the Iron Age, when people’s lives were connected with the countryside where they lived. The “small countries” were separated by large forests but were still reachable by riding trails. The “countries” certainly had a lot in common, but there were also things that separated them such as traditions, burial customs, and perhaps dialects.

Most of the settlers were farmers, but the control over one ”country” was in the hands of powerful families with large territories, long-distance contacts and magnificent buildings. Bolmsö island in Lake Bolmen is one example of a center in such a ”country”. On Bolmsö there are several coats of arms and important burial mounds with rich grave goods such as pearls, bronze and gold objects. Another example of a ”country” center is Inglinge burial mound in Ingelstad.

There were still no towns, but through the place names one can still distinguish sites for specific functions such as cult and administration of justice. Today we know the ”small countries” by their names Värend, Finnveden, Njudung, Kinda, Tveta, Vista, Vedbo, Tjust, Sevede, Aspeland, Handbörd, and Möre. During the Middle Ages the “small countries” were lumped together into the province of Småland.