24 maj 2009
Birka the viking town that archeologists recently excavated near modern-day Stockholm.
The video clips come from footage that Swedish filmmakers Mikael Agaton and Lars Rengfelt shot of a 1:30 scale model of Birka now housed in the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.
Music: Wardruna and a part of the song Bjarkan.
Cecilia, guide at Birka, Sweden.
Photo: Begust
http://www.fotosidan.se/blogs/bengtsbilder/svensk-sommar.htm
The Viking Diaspora
From the eighth to the eleventh centuries, the Vikings, comprising mainly Danes and Norwegians, shot around the Northern Hemisphere, plundering vast swaths of territory with the rapacity of a Genghis Khan. The Norsemen raided throughout the British Isles and the Frankish empire, and even attacked North Africa. They headed west to Iceland, Greenland, and what is now Canada, becoming the first Europeans to set foot in the Americas. And they traveled east into what is now northern Russia, ultimately lending their own name Rus, the Slavs’ name for them, to that great country.
Physical and social traces of the Vikings’ lightning-like passing remain in sites stretching from Newfoundland to north Russia.
Kaupang
International Norse trading market with finds of English, Frankish, Danish, and Arabic coins.
Hedeby
At its height in the 10th century, Hedeby was the largest trading town in northern Europe with at least 1,500 inhabitants, mainly Danes.
Paris
Suffered major attacks by Viking raiders in A.D. 845, 865, and 885-6.
Noirmoutier
Vikings’ first wintertime base for raids on mainland Europe, A.D. 843.
Dublin
Beginning in A.D. 841 as a fortified base for raids, Viking Dublin grew to be a flourishing trade, shipbuilding, and craft center.
York
Viking capital of the Danelaw, or Scandinavian territory, first occupied in A.D. 866. Excavations have revealed dozens of Viking Age houses and workshops.
Orkney and Shetland Islands
Settled by Norse Vikings during the 9th century, they were important bases for raids on Scotland and Ireland.
Faroe Islands
Colonized by the Norse around A.D. 825, the Faroes served as an important stepping stone between Norway and the settlements in Iceland and Greenland.
Iceland
Some 25,000 or more Vikings settled in Iceland, establishing an all-island assembly and penning the Icelandic sagas and chronicles in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Greenland (Eastern settlement)
The verdant landscape surrounding the Eastern settlement, the main Greenland colony, inspired Erik the Red, who sited his farm here at Brattahlid in the 10th century, to call the land Greenland, for, as one of the sagas tells us, “people would be attracted to go there if it had a favorable name.”
Greenland (Middle settlement)
By the late 15th century, all three Viking Greenland settlements, including the modest Middle settlement, had disappeared due to a multiplicity of factors.
Greenland (Western settlement)
Much smaller than the Eastern settlement, the Western settlement was the first to disappear, in the early 14th century.
Cape Porcupine, Labrador
Possible location of the “Wonderstrand” beach described in the Vinland saga.
L’Anse Aux Meadows
Located and excavated in 1960-61, this Newfoundland site proved to be the only authentic Viking settlement in the New World.
Birka
Major town for Swedish Vikings involved in the Arab silver trade, with population of at least 600 in 9th-10th centuries A.D.
Staraja Ladoga
Important first Viking staging post on the trade route to Russia, founded 8th century A.D.
Novgorod
First capital of the Rus dynasty in the 9th century. Excavations reveal extensive, well-preserved wooden streets and houses as well as correspondence on birch bark.
Bulgar
Major market on the Volga where Viking and other merchants exchanged Arab silver for Viking furs, falcons, slaves, honey, walrus ivory, and steel swords.
Kiev
Capital of the Rus dynasty from around A.D. 900, growing wealthy from trade with Constantinople.
Constantinople (Istanbul)
Capital of the Byzantine empire, subjected to four separate Viking raids.
Baghdad
Seat of the Arab caliphate from A.D. 750, Baghdad was the production center of the Arab silver so prized by Viking traders.
For more than a thousand years ago there lived many people here. The houses were close and
they were protected by a wall and a castle. It is believed that there were about a thousand
people here. It was very unusual that so many people lived in
same location. The place was called Birka and was a trading city. There were
artisans and seamen, but also farmers. Then something happened all of a sudden
A few years before 1000. The people abandoned the city and it died out. None
knows for sure why they left or where they went. At the end of
1800s, archaeologists dig up the remains of Birka and
have examined all the items they found. Thanks to all these findings do
scientists are now quite a lot about how people lived in Birka
It is said that it is regarded as the first town in Sweden.
That would depend on what you count as a “town”.
I would say that the first cities came slightly later, Sigtuna in the east among the Sviar (Swedes) and Lödöse and Skara among the Gauti (Geats), in the west.
Also, a few years back there was a town found in Uppåkra in Scania, southern Sweden (formerly Denmark) that was far bigger and who dated at least back to Vendel time, thus much older.
During the Viking Age, Birka 
listen (help·info) (Birca in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (literally: “Birch Island”) in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers West of Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö. The archaeological sites of Birka and Hovgården, on the neighbouring island of Adelsö, make up an archaeological complex which illustrates the elaborate trading networks of VikingScandinavia and their influence on the subsequent history of Europe. Generally regarded as Sweden’s oldest town, Birka (along with Hovgården) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.
Established in the middle of the 8th century and thus being one of the earliest urban settlements in Scandinavia, Birka was the Baltic link in the river and portage route through Ladoga (Aldeigja) and Novgorod (Holmsgard) to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Califate. Birka was also important as the site of the first known Christian congregation in Sweden, founded in 831 by Saint Ansgar. Sources are mainly archeological remains. No texts survive from this area, though the written text Vita Ansgari (“The life of Ansgar”) by Rimbert (c. 865) describes the missionary work of Ansgar around 830 at Birka, and Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) by Adam of Bremen in 1075 describes the archbishop Unni, who died at Birka in 936. St Ansgar’s work was the first attempt to convert the inhabitants from heathen living to Christianity, and it was unsuccessful. Both Rimbert and Adam were German clergymen writing in Latin. There are no known Norse sources mentioning the name of the settlement, or even the settlement itself, and the original Norse name of Birka is unknown. Birca is the Latinised form given in the sources and Birka its contemporary, unhistorical Swedish form. The Latin name is probably derived from an Old Norse word “birk” which probably meant a market place. Related to this was the Bjärköa law (bjärköarätt) which regulated the life on market places in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Both terms in different forms are very common in Scandinavian place names still today leading to speculation that all references to Birca especially by Adam of Bremen were not about the same location. Both publications are silent on Birca’s size, layout and appearance. Based on Rimbert’s account, Birca was significant because it had a port and it was the place for the regional ting. Adam only mentions the port, but otherwise Birca seems to have been significant to him because it had been the bridgehead of Ansgar’s Christian mission and because archbishop Unni had been buried there. Vita Ansgari and Gesta are sometimes ambiguous, which has caused some controversy as to whether Birca and the Björkö settlement were the same location. Many other locations have been suggested through the years. However, Björkö is the only location that can show remains of a town of Birca’s significance, which is why the vast majority of scholars regard Björkö as the location of Birca. Birka was abandoned during the later half of the 10th century. Based on the coin finds, the city seems to have silenced around 960. Roughly around the same time, the near-by settlement of Sigtuna supplanted Birka as the main trading centre in the Mälaren area. The reasons for Birka’s decline are disputed. A contributing factor may have been the post-glacial rebound, which lowered the water level of Mälaren changing it from an arm of the sea into a lake and cut Birka off from the nearest (southern) access to the Baltic Sea. The Baltic island of Gotland was also in a better strategic position for Russian-Byzantine trade, and was gaining eminence as a mercantile stronghold Historian Neil Kent has speculated that the area may have been the victim of an enemy assault. The Varangian trade stations in Russia suffered a serious decline at roughly the same date.History
Location in Sweden
Reconstruction of housing
Reconstruction of boats
Map of Björkö and Birka today
Map of Björkö, late 17th century, from Suecia antiqua et hodierna. Engraving by Willem Swidde.
Birka was a Viking-age trading center situated on the island of Björkö in Sweden. It is now home to a museum and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Birka on the island of Björkö, was the hub of the rich Mälardalen
in the Viking Age. The shopping center was built in the 700’s and became a
important international port for visitors from near and far. On
Adelsö, just across the bay, is Hovgården where the king lived.
Birka World Heritage Site and Hovgården contains unusually high number of remnants
Viking Age people.
Since the late 1800s, archaeologists have examined the ancient remains of Birka
and Hovgården. The rich finds from the excavations tells of a
society with a strong hierarchy and large differences between both class and
sex. They had extensive trade contacts with the outside world and it shows in
findings.
