A building for ritual use at Uppakra, southernmost Sweden. (News & Notes).

Larsson, Lars

The site at Uppakra, southernmost Sweden, was first recognized in 1934 in connection with house structures. Excavations revealed occupation layers rich in finds and dated to c. BC--AD 400 with a thickness of more than 2 m (Hardh 2001; Larsson 2001).

In connection with development work, occupation remains dated from the period c. 100 BC-c. 500 AD, with an accumulation around the Late Roman Iron Age and the Early Migration Period, have been found within an area of approximately 1 * 1x0 * 6 km -- the largest occupation site known so far in southern Sweden.

New investigations started in 1996. More than 10,000 artefacts have been registered by metal detector surveys. The majority of the finds date to the Vendel Period (550-800 AD) and Viking Age (800-1050 AD). Finds indicating wealth and symbols of power, such as gold objects and delicate craft items, are numerous in areas with thick occupation layers.

The first archaeological investigations in 1996- 1999 were on a limited scale. The excavations suggest that the accumulation of layers began late in the Pre-Roman Iron Age and ended in the Migration Period (c. 100 BC-c. AD 500).

Uppakra is considered to have been a place with special functions in Scania, the southernmost province of Sweden, and served as a focus of power in the southwest of the province from the Celtic Iron Age until the end of the 10th century.

Major excavations began in May this year within an area that has yielded many detector finds and a significant number of high-status objects of precious metal. Several features were discovered within the excavated area, the youngest of which is a sunken-floor house from the Viking Age (10th century AD).

As the soil was being stripped by machine, the plan of a house already stood out distinctly. It is marked by a yellowish clay floor surrounded by a wall trench, interrupted by three entrances (FIGURE 1). The external dimensions of the house are 13x6 * 5 m. In the middle of the house was a hearth, surrounded on either side by small areas of stone paving. In view of the size of the house, the traces left by the two pairs of roof-bearing posts are remarkably large.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

A survey by metal detector south of the middle of the house gave a powerful response. Subsequent excavation uncovered decorated pieces of impressed foil along with glass (FIGURE 2), so a section of soil was removed intact with the finds in it. Careful exposure in the laboratory revealed a bronze and silver cup about 20 cm tall with a clearly offset foot (FIGURE 3). Seven decorated bands of impressed gold foil run round the cup (FIGURE 4). The glass proved to belong to a bowl with offset ribs on the belly and ground ovals at the rim (FIGURE 2). Both objects were deposited as offerings. They can be dated to the 6th century AD.

[FIGURES 2-4 OMITTED]

The excavation of the house is not yet finished. However, the excavation of the western pair of posts shows that they were re-dug. The filling included gold-foil figures (guldgubbar), other small gold objects, and a door knocker -- a sturdy iron ring with four knobs. When the post-holes were dug out, a further three floor layers were documented. Finds in the trench included a male figure cut out of gold foil, 16 mm tall (FIGURE 5).

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

The shape of the house and the finds indicate that it was used for cultic purposes. To the west and south of the house there are extensive areas with fire-cracked stone and animal bones which may derive from large-scale feasting. Only a few tens of metres further south, about 50 spearheads were found within a limited area. They belong to the Late Roman Iron Age/Early Migration Period and have been interpreted as votive deposits, possibly in connection with the cult of Odin, since the spear is one of this god's attributes. The excavations in Uppakra will continue for three more years.

References

HARDH, B. 2000. Uppakra -- a centre in south Sweden in the 1st millennium AD, Antiquity 74: 640-48.

LARSSON, L. 2001. Uppakra, an Iron Age site with a long duration: internal and external perspectives, Kingdoms and regionality. Transactions from the 49th Sachsen-symposium 1998 in Uppsala: 55-61. Theses and Papers in Archaeology B:6. Stockholm.

Lars Larsson, Arkeologiska Institutionen, Lunds Universitet, Sandgatan 1, S-223 50 Lund, Sweden. Lars.Larsson@ark.lu.se