• The Painted Runestones in Köpingsvik

    During my last visit to the island of Öland along Swedish east coast in the Baltic Sea I decided to visit the collection of runestones and fragments housed in Köping Church. Köpingsvik during the Viking Age was one of the most important marketplaces in this part of the Baltic Sea. This is obvious from the

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  • Lappnäsudden

    Lappnäsudden

    I have just returned home from a week long course in archeology aptly named ”Arkeologi Längsmed Frykens Strand” (Archeology along the shores of Lake Fryken) at Klarälvdalens Folkhögskola. The course was led by Archaeologist Helene Sjöstedt and it’s focused mainly on Bronze Age archaeology along the waterways of Lake Fryken. Even if we also learned

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  • Taatsin Seita

    Taatsin Seita

    Far to the north in the Finnish Lapland lies the village of Pokka. A very small place in the middle of one of Europes wildest places between Kittilä and Inari. On the steep side of lake Taatsijärvi with its calm, almost black water stands a mighty peculiar looking cliff measuring 10 meters tall. This cliff

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  • The Kälvesten Runestone

    Some runestones are just much more interesting than others. Some of them have become famous because of it, but some have gained much less attention from the public. This is just such a runestone. The Kälvesten runestone or Ög 8 as it is also known is erected in the graveyard at Västra-Stenby Church in the

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  • The Skramle Runestone

    Today I got the opportunity to visit Skramlestenen, a runestone that I have been wanting to visit for a long time. It’s the fourth of a total of four runestones in the province of Värmland that I have visited and written about. The other stones are the two Viking Age runestones of Hovlanda and Rör.

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  • The Rock Pantings at Flatruet

    This post is about a subject that I haven’t written about before, rock paintings. This is because they are quite rare here in Sweden with only 52 known sites across the country. Most of them are found in the northern parts of Sweden and a few in Värmland and Bohuslän. A large concentration of them

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  • Gamla Skogsby

    Gamla Skogsby

    Gamla Skogsby (old forest village) is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea, the second largest island in Sweden. The site lies close to the village of Skogsby and 5km from the small town of Färjestaden. Even though this place is easily found on google maps, it was surprisingly hard for me

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  • The Horda Rune Stone

    While traveling trough the Swedish province of Småland i made a quick stop to visit this rune stone in Rydaholm near Värnamo. The Horda rune stone or SM59 as it is also known is easily accessible by car. It is located just next to the road in the garden of a private residence. This made

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  • Rönnerum Ancient Village

    Rönnerum is located on the Swedish island of Öland in the Baltic Sea, halfway between the towns of Borgholm and Färjestaden. You can hike here on a trail that also connects with Odens Flisor from my last post and the well known Iron Age ring fort Ismantorp. I chose however to drive there in my

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  • Odens Flisor

    Odens Flisor

    During my recent trip to the Swedish island of Öland I visited a small grave field in Högsrum, near Borgholm. It contains around 40 graves dating to the Iron Age. Around six of these graves have been excavated in the beginning of the 20th century. The archaeological excavation resulted in human remains and some everyday

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