Archeologists in Sweden have uncovered a unique shipyard on an island in the middle of a lake.
The shipyard was found outside the UNESCO World Heritage site Birka, on Bjrk, an island in Lake Mlaren.
A site like this has never been found before, it is the first of its kind, but the finds convincingly show that it was a shipyard, said Sven Isaksson, Professor of Archeological Science at Stockholm University, who led the investigations together with Sven Kalmring, associate professor at Stockholm University and expert on ports and urbanization in the Viking Age.
The site features a wooden boat slip, along with large quantities of used and unused boat rivets, whetstones, and woodworking tools.
Birka is one of the best-preserved examples of Viking Age trading posts in Sweden. Harbor facilities had previously been identified inside the town ramparts, but the newly discovered shipyard is outside the town, on the northern shore of Bjrk.
Through systematic survey, mapping and drone investigations, we can now show that Birka, in addition to the urban environment, also has a very rich maritime cultural landscape with remains of everything from jetties to boat launches and shipyards, Isaksson said.
But the shipyard’s position outside the town boundaries raises additional questions.
Could anyone land anywhere, or did it matter if it was inside or outside the town rampart? There is much to ponder here. But for us, the investigation doesn’t end with the fieldwork, we continue in the lab, Isaksson said. By using analytical laboratory techniques, we get more information out of the fragmentary source material than is otherwise possible.
