Unique Viking Age Shipyard Discovered in Sweden

Located on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren 30 kilometres west of Stockholm, Birka was an important Viking Age trading centre that handled goods from all over Scandinavia as well as many parts of Europe and Asia and flourished for over two centuries.

Archaeologists have located a unique Viking shipyard in the medieval town of Birka at Lake Mälaren. The find challenges previous assumptions about how the Viking city's maritime activities were organised.

“A facility like this has never been found before, it is the first of its kind. And it convincingly shows that it is a shipyard site,” Sven Isaksson, a professor of archaeology at Stockholm University, said in a statement.

During the research, carried out in collaboration between the Stockholm University and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology in Schleswig, Germany, a stone-laid dock in the former beach zone was found, with a wooden boat slip at the bottom. More local finds include large quantities of both unused and used boat rivets and tools for woodworking.

“The finds from the area are telling. It shows with great clarity that this is where they serviced their ships,” Isaksson said.

According to Isaksson, systematic inventory, mapping and drone surveys have unearthed a rich maritime environment in Birka, with remnants of everything from jetties to boat landings and shipyards.

Birka had a walled inner city, with most of the previous research focused on the area within the wall that functioned as a legal, economic and social border. The newly-discovered shipyard, together with a number of other maritime remains, is located outside Birka's city wall.

“By examining various maritime elements in connection we are now trying to get a holistic view of a very exciting and previously completely unexplored environment,” fellow Stockholm University professor Sven Kalmring said.

Birka is located on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren 30 kilometres west of Stockholm. It was an important Viking Age trading centre that handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East.

Birka was founded in around AD 750 and flourished for over two centuries. It was ultimately abandoned in around AD 975, when Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town and trade harbour some 35 km to the northeast.