Köpingsvik's Viking Age trading post
A unique Viking Age/early medieval handicraft and trading post area for the coast of Öland and Kalmar County adjacent to a lagoon harbour. A rich find material proves contacts with the southern and south-eastern Baltic Sea area.
Runestones and remains of so-called Eskilstuna coffins. In the area there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement from around 2000 BC. At Kapelludden, four kilometers east of Bredsättra church, are the ruins of St. Brita's chapel, or Långöre chapel as it is also called
Köping simply means trading place. During the Viking Age/early Middle Ages, the buildings in the parish were concentrated in the inner parts of the shallow and winding bay, which is partly surrounded by the high Landborg cliff. The reason was an organized craft and trade activity that came to flourish throughout the 12th century. In addition to the sheltered bay and the good harbor, Köpingsvik was located at the intersection where the roads from the south, north and east meet. It is likely that the importance of the trading post has diminished and eventually ceased altogether as the shallow bay has not been able to receive new and more in-depth merchant ships. Köpingsvik is unique to Öland and there is no similar place along the coast of Småland. The trading post has its structure partly in common with Birka and Helgö, but its scope has been smaller. During the High Middle Ages and by royal decree, trade was redirected to what is now Borgholm but above all to Kalmar. Before that, trade was probably organised by local magnates who lived in the area. The nearest village to the trading post is Klinta, west of the trading post and on the steep slope down to the lagoon bay, which in 1540 consisted of twelve farms. All of the village's farms were owned by the king, which was unusual. The farm ownership suggests that there were early interests in the area from the central power, perhaps as early as the beginning of the Middle Ages. The king also owned a large number of farms in Egby on the east side of the island. The king granted both Egby and Köping parishes in 1472 to Ivar Axelsson Tott.
The commercial area stretches along both sides of the current road through the community and has a similar extent as the modern residential buildings. The usually 0.1-0.3 meter thick cultural layer has been affected by the modern buildings and it is only during the 1970s that more extensive investigations have been made.
Among the various crafts that could be documented was Sweden's oldest "stone industry", in the form of the remains of a scouring mill. Around the edge of the castle there was easily broken limestone that was exported to church buildings in the countries around the southern Baltic Sea. Other crafts were bone and horn making, iron and blacksmithing, the latter in the form of silversmithing and bronze work. In several cases, it can be stated that the domestic blacksmiths had foreign role models and that the manufactured objects reflect which areas of Europe they have had contact with. Among the finds are also large amounts of ceramics, mainly so-called Wendish, which is a type of ceramic that was made in the Slavic areas and brought here by merchants from there. There is numerous evidence that goods really changed hands through trade in the form of whole or cut pieces of silver coins. Most are Frisian or North German and can be dated to the 1,000s. A dozen or so silver treasures have been found, including within the cemetery. Among the structures found are houses of various kinds and with different functions, wells, iron furnaces and part of a paved road. There is a wall-like construction that stretches along an old shoreline that is older than the Viking Age. In addition to finds and constructions, a large number of Viking Age graves have also been found in and around the trading area. One of the more famous burial grounds is the one at Köping Klint, partly because of the majestic location up on the high edge of the castle. It is a varied burial ground of about 50 facilities. What you can see glimpsed from the road are some of the seven judges' rings as well as the twelve piled up stones. Otherwise, the round stone settings dominate, 26 of them. In addition to this, there are two rectangular stone settings and three earth-fixed blocks. The burial ground was probably laid out before the construction of the trading post.
Not much remains of the early 12th century church when the church was demolished in 1805, but parts of the medieval church are preserved in the north and west nave walls. The medieval church was a cloven saddle church and the largest on Öland and larger than the first cathedral in Lund, with its 42 meters. Theories based on a 12th century source that mentions Kaupinga diocese have suggested that this refers to Köping on Öland. The Eskilstuna fragments and the size of the church as well as the trading post show that one can speak of a central town on western Öland and a precursor to urban formation, the role of which somewhat later came to be taken over by the city of Kalmar on the mainland.
Just southeast of the church stands one of Öland's more famous rune stones, the so-called Tings flisa. The three-metre-high and two-metre-wide limestone splinters were erected at the transition to Christian times. It is equipped with a dragon loop that bears the text: "Torer and Torsten and Torfast, these brothers erected the stone after their father Gunfuss. God help his soul".
During the 13th century, a cemetery expansion was carried out in Köping, which indicates that the place still retained its importance and its population, despite the end of the trading post. Köping remained for a long time as the Slätbo district courthouse. The church was located in the immediate vicinity of the trading post. The first church, a wooden church, was probably built on the site on the initiative of a local magnate who was involved in the organization of the trading post. In the church area, about 70 of so-called Eskilstuna chests have been found, i.e. runic carved and painted coffin slabs. These are usually associated with the elite political-economic elite in an incipient Swedish state in the middle of the 11th century.
Around Köpingsvik and the old trading post there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement that belongs to the pit ceramic culture, which belongs to the Neolithic period, around 2,000 BC. The pit ceramic culture occurs in quite large areas of Sweden and is always coastal.
South of the church there is still an open area, which from 1795 was used as a market place. Information from the 1600s speaks of a market in Köping and it is probably the same area that was also used then.
Köping simply means trading place. During the Viking Age/early Middle Ages, the buildings in the parish were concentrated in the inner parts of the shallow and winding bay, which is partly surrounded by the high Landborg cliff. The reason was an organized craft and trade activity that came to flourish throughout the 12th century. In addition to the sheltered bay and the good harbor, Köpingsvik was located at the intersection where the roads from the south, north and east meet. It is likely that the importance of the trading post has diminished and eventually ceased altogether as the shallow bay has not been able to receive new and more in-depth merchant ships. Köpingsvik is unique to Öland and there is no similar place along the coast of Småland. The trading post has its structure partly in common with Birka and Helgö, but its scope has been smaller. During the High Middle Ages and by royal decree, trade was redirected to what is now Borgholm but above all to Kalmar. Before that, trade was probably organised by local magnates who lived in the area. The nearest village to the trading post is Klinta, west of the trading post and on the steep slope down to the lagoon bay, which in 1540 consisted of twelve farms. All of the village's farms were owned by the king, which was unusual. The farm ownership suggests that there were early interests in the area from the central power, perhaps as early as the beginning of the Middle Ages. The king also owned a large number of farms in Egby on the east side of the island. The king granted both Egby and Köping parishes in 1472 to Ivar Axelsson Tott.
The commercial area stretches along both sides of the current road through the community and has a similar extent as the modern residential buildings. The usually 0.1-0.3 meter thick cultural layer has been affected by the modern buildings and it is only during the 1970s that more extensive investigations have been made.
Among the various crafts that could be documented was Sweden's oldest "stone industry", in the form of the remains of a scouring mill. Around the edge of the castle there was easily broken limestone that was exported to church buildings in the countries around the southern Baltic Sea. Other crafts were bone and horn making, iron and blacksmithing, the latter in the form of silversmithing and bronze work. In several cases, it can be stated that the domestic blacksmiths had foreign role models and that the manufactured objects reflect which areas of Europe they have had contact with. Among the finds are also large amounts of ceramics, mainly so-called Wendish, which is a type of ceramic that was made in the Slavic areas and brought here by merchants from there. There is numerous evidence that goods really changed hands through trade in the form of whole or cut pieces of silver coins. Most are Frisian or North German and can be dated to the 1,000s. A dozen or so silver treasures have been found, including within the cemetery. Among the structures found are houses of various kinds and with different functions, wells, iron furnaces and part of a paved road. There is a wall-like construction that stretches along an old shoreline that is older than the Viking Age. In addition to finds and constructions, a large number of Viking Age graves have also been found in and around the trading area. One of the more famous burial grounds is the one at Köping Klint, partly because of the majestic location up on the high edge of the castle. It is a varied burial ground of about 50 facilities. What you can see glimpsed from the road are some of the seven judges' rings as well as the twelve piled up stones. Otherwise, the round stone settings dominate, 26 of them. In addition to this, there are two rectangular stone settings and three earth-fixed blocks. The burial ground was probably laid out before the construction of the trading post.
Not much remains of the early 12th century church when the church was demolished in 1805, but parts of the medieval church are preserved in the north and west nave walls. The medieval church was a cloven saddle church and the largest on Öland and larger than the first cathedral in Lund, with its 42 meters. Theories based on a 12th century source that mentions Kaupinga diocese have suggested that this refers to Köping on Öland. The Eskilstuna fragments and the size of the church as well as the trading post show that one can speak of a central town on western Öland and a precursor to urban formation, the role of which somewhat later came to be taken over by the city of Kalmar on the mainland.
Just southeast of the church stands one of Öland's more famous rune stones, the so-called Tings flisa. The three-metre-high and two-metre-wide limestone splinters were erected at the transition to Christian times. It is equipped with a dragon loop that bears the text: "Torer and Torsten and Torfast, these brothers erected the stone after their father Gunfuss. God help his soul".
During the 13th century, a cemetery expansion was carried out in Köping, which indicates that the place still retained its importance and its population, despite the end of the trading post. Köping remained for a long time as the Slätbo district courthouse. The church was located in the immediate vicinity of the trading post. The first church, a wooden church, was probably built on the site on the initiative of a local magnate who was involved in the organization of the trading post. In the church area, about 70 of so-called Eskilstuna chests have been found, i.e. runic carved and painted coffin slabs. These are usually associated with the elite political-economic elite in an incipient Swedish state in the middle of the 11th century.
Around Köpingsvik and the old trading post there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement that belongs to the pit ceramic culture, which belongs to the Neolithic period, around 2,000 BC. The pit ceramic culture occurs in quite large areas of Sweden and is always coastal.
South of the church there is still an open area, which from 1795 was used as a market place. Information from the 1600s speaks of a market in Köping and it is probably the same area that was also used then.