Gettlinge Grave Field — Öland
Gettlinge gravfält · Gettlinge Viking ship setting
Bronze Age to Viking Age (c.1000 BCE–1050 CE)·Baltic–Scandinavian (Gotland–Öland continuum)·🇸🇪 Kalmar County, Mörbylånga Municipality, Södra Möckleby, southwestern Öland, Stora Alvaret edge, Sweden
About
About Gettlinge Grave Field — Öland
Gettlinge, on the limestone alvar plain of southwest Öland, is a 2-km long grave field with 250+ monuments spanning late Bronze Age (c.1000 BCE) to Late Viking Age (c.1050 CE): a 30-m limestone ship setting, 9 standing stones, 10 stone circles, 130 cairns and a 55-m long triangular ship of the Viking period. Excavations 1899–1911 revealed cremations, inhumations and jewellery linking Öland to Gotland and the Baltic. Included in the UNESCO Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland (2000), its continuous use 2,000 years exemplifies Baltic island ritual continuity.
Why it mattersLongest continuous grave use in Öland; UNESCO buffer of Stora Alvaret.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why continuity from Bronze to Viking on same ridge
Theories
- 01Ancestral legitimacy for late Viking elites
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1000 BCE initial; ship c.800–1000 CE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Viking Age (c.1000 BCE–1050 CE)
- Culture
- Baltic–Scandinavian (Gotland–Öland continuum)
- Builders
- Baltic–Scandinavian
- Purpose
- Multi-period grave field with ship setting as elite burial
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1000–500 BCE
Early cairns and circles on alvar ridge
c.800–1000 CE
Viking ship setting erected for cremation elite
1899–1911
H. H. Hansson excavates 20 graves
2000
Inscribed within UNESCO Southern Öland landscape
On the ground
Structures & features
56.3884° N · 16.4350° E · 10 m · 2 mapped features
Gettlinge Viking Ship Setting
stone ship30-m limestone ship outline of 30 upright slabs, prow north, dated 800–1000 CE with cremation inside
56.3885° N · 16.4352° EGettlinge Bronze Cairn Ridge
cairnLine of 130 low cairns and stone circles 1000 BCE–500 CE along alvar edge, with central standing stone
56.3875° N · 16.4340° E
Gallery