Valsgärde is a farm at the Fyris river, ca 3 km north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm is from the 16th century. Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ...

The Burial site

It contains a burial site from the Iron age which was used for more than 300 years. The first ship burial is from the 6th century and the last graves are from the 11th century. Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and for grave goods, or as part of the actual grave goods. ... (5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland) Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland founded by St. ... (10th century - 11th century - 12th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ...

a helmet from Valsgärde File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

A warrior grave contained a helmet and a sparrow hawk (a royal attribute). The round circle behind the helmet shows the probable size of the shield. Binomial name Accipiter nisus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. ...

The site was found and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s and before this similar graves had only been found at Vendel, which gave its name to this period of the Scandinavian Iron age. The graves are princely and are almost identical to the ones found later at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia. There a several theories about whom is buried ranging from the Ynglings (Scylfings) to powerful warriors within the Leidang institution and to local strongmen who had enriched themselves on trade due to the strategical position between the fjord of Mälaren (yes, at the time it was a fjord) and the important region of Tiundaland. Ohtheres mound Vendel is a parish in the Swedish province of Uppland. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Sutton Hoo parade helmet Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, is the site of an early 7th century Anglo-Saxon ship burial, discovered in 1939 that contains a wealth of artifacts. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... Old English Scylfing and Old Norse Skilfing (Skilfingr) is the name of a legendary genealogical lineage or clan. ... The institution known as leiðangr (Old Norse), leidang (Norwegian), leding, (Danish), ledung (Swedish), expeditio (Latin) or sometimes lething (in English language), was a public fleet levy of free farmers typical for the Viking Age Scandinavians. ... Lysefjorden in Norway A fjord (pronounced FEE-ord or fyord, SAMPA: [fi:3:d] or [faI3:d]; sometimes written fiord) is a glacially overdeepened valley, usually narrow and steep-sided, extending below sea level and filled with salt water. ... Mälaren is the third largest lake in Sweden, after lakes Vänern and Vättern. ... Tiundaland is a historic region, Folkland, and since 1296 part of the modern province of Uppland. ...

hilt from Valsgärde File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Hilt with cloisonné decoration from Valsgärde.

There are so many rich graves that it is unlikely that most of them were royalty.

External links

• Archeological information Gamla Uppsala (http://www.raa.se/olduppsala/index.asp), by the Swedish National Heritage Board.
• Uppsala (http://www.uppsala.se) official site.