GAMLA IN CHANGE: from cult centre to Christian archbishopric, an archaeological perspective

Brady Caldwell

The Royal Halls:

Southern plateau

Northern plateau The Royal Halls:

Southern plateau excavations 1988-1992 (Nordahl, Hedlund et al.) The Royal Halls:

Entrance posts Wattle-and-daub Central postholes ~1m 40m x 12m Clay charcoal mix

→Burnt down LateVänge Iron late Age Iron house, Age Vängehouse (reconstruction) reconstruction The Royal Halls: (literary sources)

King – Icelandic Hervararsaga – Swedish Kings Chronicle Gauthbert – German bishop at Birka 837 AD

→→→→ Viking Cult Centre Ancient customs Traditional gods Mythological designs The Pagan Temple?

Adam of Bremen (1070)

Carl Larsson's The Pagan Temple:

Gamla Uppsala parish church excavations (Sune Lundqvist 1926) The Pagan Temple:

Lower level excavation plan

Postholes: 9, 10 & 12 11, 14-20 & 22,23,24 The Pagan Temple:

Temple plan reconstruction (Sune Lundqvist 1926)

20m x 20m The Pagan Temple:

Reconstructions Sune Lundqvist Åke Ohlmark ﾧ

Literary Sources: Annotationes – ... old temple united with church under the new ...

Karl, Bishop of Västerås (1270) The First Church:

Upper level excavation plan Sune Lindqvist 1926

2+ graves parallel But.... 1 grave non-parallel And .... Odd angle of north transept wall The First Church:

Stave church Logs of local timber Chancel narrower than nave One entrance Decorated outside with roof crests and dragon heads 10m x 20m

- Kings private chapel - On royal demesne land - Symbol of tension between king and the assembly Gamla Uppsala parish church The Cathedral:

Excavation plan Carl Kjellberg 1896

Nave and transepts 60m long Romanesque style Odd angle The Cathedral:

1138 – King Sverker I begins building 1150 - King Erik Jedvardsson the Holy completes cathedral 1164 – First Archbishop of at Gamla Uppsala

After 300 years Rome and the Kings win the battle over the Viking cult....

...and gain access to the rich mining centre of Bergslagen. New archaeological evidence!

Alkarp & Price 2005

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) anomalies: - N3 : Stave church ? - N4 & N5 : Temple?

GAMLA UPPSALA IN CHANGE: from Viking cult centre to Christian archbishopric, an archaeological perspective THE END!