Arkeologin bakom Rimbert : om Hergeirs och Gautberts kyrkor och borgen i Birka Zachrisson, Torun Fornvännen 2011(106):2, s. [100]-112 : ill. http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/fornvannen/html/2011_100 Ingår i: samla.raa.se Art. Zachrisson s 100-112:Layout 1 11-05-31 11.21 Sida 100 Arkeologin bakom Rimbert Om Hergeirs och Gautberts kyrkor och borgen i Birka Av Torun Zachrisson Zachrisson, T., 2011. Arkeologin bakom Rimbert. Om Hergeirs och Gautberts kyrkor och borgen i Birka. (The archaeology behind Rimbert. On the churches of Hergeir and Gautbert and the fortress of Birka.) Fornvännen 106. Stockholm. In his Vita Anskarii, Rimbert describes the Christian mission to the port of the Swedes in the 830s. He mentions two churches there, one built on the family estate of the port bailiff, the other built in the seaport itself by Bishop Gautbert. The loca- tions of these churches have long been discussed. Thanks to archaeological research excavations it is now possible to offer a new suggestion regarding the church of Gautbert. It is argued that the hillfort of Birka, Borg, may be the site of this church and the bishop’s fortified precinct. This would make Birka structurally similar to a number of coeval cities on the Continent, where there was a fortified cathedral hill and a market town at its foot. 9th century finds on and around Borg open up for such a possibility. Torun Zachrisson, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91 Stockholm
[email protected] Birkamissionen inleddes år 829 när Ansgar, i säll- berts bok tolkade som »platsens hövitsman»(Bo- skap med Witmar, kom till en hamnstad i svens- ken om Ansgar, not 132).