The LAC 2016 excursion to Gotland

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1 About Gotland and Visby The LAC 2016 excursion to Gotland 26 th and 27 th of August Itinerary and travel information Maximum number of participants 45 The island of Gotland, located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, Its 140 km from north to south and the width is at most 50 km. The area is around 3,000sq. Km. It is one of the best known and researched areas in Scandinavian archaeology. It is famous for its many well preserved historical monuments and ancient remains. There are twice as many registered ancient remains per unit area on the island, than in any part of other Sweden. In the countryside, there are well preserved more than 1,300 cairns and some 400 ship settings dating to the Bronze Age. From the first millennium AD, there are nearly 2,000 stone house foundations and vast systems of stone fencings, forming a well preserved agrarian landscape, in many places. In addition, there are around one hundred hill- and ringforts, and countless graves and grave fields. Unique to the island are the picture stones, erected between the 5th and 12th centuries AD, of which nearly twenty still stand in their original place, although most are today found inside church precincts. An indication of the central part the Gotlandic countryside played in the North European trade during the first millennium AD are the 750 silver hoards (in all some 170,000 coins and thousands of other artefacts), that have been found across Gotland throughout the centuries. Among these is the world s largest Viking Age silver hoard, the Spilling find, which contained 67 kilos of silver. This hoard, together with the many other finds of gold and silver from the Viking Age and from the Roman period, is on display at the county museum one of the top ten museums in Sweden. There are also great many historical buildings that still survive from the Middle Ages, when the island, especially the town of Visby, was one of the main nodes in Northern European trade networks. Gotland is the only region in Scandinavia where the rich countryside merchants built their large dwelling houses in stone. Many of these still stand, some with their roof intact and others as ruins. The richness of the island is also seen in the ninety-five parish churches established during the Middle Ages, of which ninety-two are still preserved and used today. The remaining three survive as well preserved ruins. The town of Visby is a former Viking site and the main centre of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic from the 12th to the 14th century. Its 13th-century ramparts and more than 200 warehouses and wealthy merchants dwellings from the same period still survive, making it the best-preserved fortified commercial city in northern Europe. In its heyday Visby is estimated to have had around 5,000 inhabitants and some sixteen churches, of which one is still in use and eleven others survive as monumental ruins, dominating the skyline. Since 1995, Visby has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, Visby has around twenty-five thousand inhabitants and is one of Sweden s premiere holiday destinations, with many good restaurants and night clubs.

2 Excursion programme Friday 26 th of August Arrival day and the programme start after lunch at 2.00 PM (14.00) with a visit to the county museum, Gotlands museum (aka Fornsalen) followed by guided tour of Visby. Dinner and evening activities at your own discretion Saturday 27 th of August A guided bus tour around the central part of the island, which leaves at 9:00 AM from the outside Uppsala University, Campus Gotland. A lighter lunch in the form of a pasta salad and non-alcoholic beverages is served at one of the sites and coffe and a cake in the afternoon. We expect to return to Visby around 5:00 PM (17:00). Dinner and evening activities at your own discretion. The price is 380 SEK, which includes the guided city tour and entrance to the museum on Friday. On Saturday, the guided bus tour, with lunch and afternoon coffee (or tea) with a cake, is included in the price Itinerary for the Gotland tour on Saturday 27th August Map over the planned route around the central part of Gotland, visiting 7 sites. With reservation for changes

3 B. Stora Hästnäs. A very well preserved countryside dwelling house from the Middle Ages, some 5 km outside Visby. Probably the home of one Gotland s wealthy country merchants. En route: A stop at one of Gotland s many medieval churches. All of the 92 still active parish churches on Gotland are from the Middle Ages. In addition, there are four medieval church ruins in the countryside. The excursion will pass some of them, and a stop to see the interior of one of those that are still in use, is planned. Above. The preserved medieval stone house in the farms Stora Hästnäs, some 5 km outside Visby Above. The church in Vallstena parish. One of the many medieval churches of Gotland C. Majsterroir. A very majestic and monumental site, with one of the largest Bronze Age cairns on the island, some four meters high and with a diameter of 33 meters.it is surrounded by several ship settings and other types of stone settings. The Majsterroir cairn (left) and one of the surrounding ship settings (right), both dated to the Bronze Age.

4 D. Torsburgern. One of the largest hillforts in northern Europe, over 1 km in diameter. Most of the fortification is a natural semi-circular cliff, but a 7 metre high and 2 km long, now mostly decayed, wall was built on one side. Arial photo over Torsburgern from the south, showing the built wall (left). The built wall is mostly decayed, but a short section is partly reconstructed (right). E. Buttle Änge. Today this is a place on the periphery, but Buttle was once most probably the centre of a vibrant Iron Age community. During our visit we will explore a landscape filled with remains from the period, including stone house foundations and fencing systems, graves, a prehistoric road and two picture stones that are still standing. There have been several excavations here and Buttle is now the focus of Campus Gotland s annual archaeological field schools. Arial photo of a small part of the Iron Age landscape at Änge in the parish of Buttle, where the picture stones and the excavated grave is seen in the lower edge (left). An early Viking Age grave, reconstructed after excavation, in front of the two picture stones at Änge (top right). Documentation of the motif on one of the picture stones (lower right).

5 F. Västergarn, Viking Age/Medieval proto-town/trading place surrounded by an earthwork. The settlement is believed to have been a competitor to Visby and it had two churches, of which one is now a parish church. Only the foundation remains of the other church beside the ruins of a fortification tower, a Kastal. The centre of the site has been excavated by Campus Gotland over nine years, yielding very interesting results, and a reinterpretation of the site. Arial photo of Västergarn. You can see the trenches from an excavation in the centre of the image, and also the wall, as a curved feature going from the big red barn at the top of the image, towards the small church to the right. G. Gnisvärd. A site with three Bronze Age ship settings, the largest 45 metres long and 7 metres wide making it the biggest on the island, and the remains of a Neolithic dolmen. The biggest ship setting on Gotland (above). Excavation of the dolmen at Gnisvärd by Hans Hansson in the early 20th century (above right). The dolmen today, with the capstone missing

6 How to get to Gotland Gotland has both ferry and flight connections to mainland Sweden Ferries The cheapest way to get to Gotland is by ferry. However, it also takes the longest time, since you first have to take the train and/or bus to Nynäshamn, which is some 150 km from Uppsala. The ferry itself is quite fast, and the crossing takes between 3-4 hours and it docks in the centre of Visby. Timetables and ferry bookings are available at the ferry company s, Destination Gotland, homepage Flights There are very few flights leaving the island on Saturdays, but on Sunday 28th August there are several flights to Stockholm s two airports; Arlanda International and the smaller one, mostly operating domestic flights, at Bromma. In August there might also be direct flights to other European destinations from Visby as well. We recommend travel to Visby early morning on Friday 26th August.

7 The quickest way from Uppsala is by flight from Arlanda international airport, which have several flights a day to and from Visby. The flight to Visby takes 45 min, and Visby airport is situated only a few kilometres outside the city centre. By taxi, you are in the city within ten minutes. You can pre-book a taxi, so it waits for you at arrival. The main taxi companies on the island are: Taxi Gotland, phone: +46 (0) Web: Taxikurir Gotland, phone +46 (0) Web: The route to Arlanda is operated by Scandinavian Airline Systems (SAS) The flights from Bromma airport are operated by BRA-airlines. Accommodations Two hotels in Visby have offered participants in the LAC excursions discounts, these are listed below. Be sure to refer to the LAC conference. Remember that the end of August is still considered high season, so be sure to book your hotel well in advance. Hotell S:t Clemens (***) Situated in the old town, is offering a 10% discount. Clarion Hotel Wisby (****), is situated just by the university in the city centre in the old town. It is the oldest and regarded as the flagship of the hotels. They are offering a 15% discount, if booked up to 45 days prior to arrival. Any booking after that date will not qualify for discount. You must give a booking code (pending), when booking. Beside the hotels listed above, there are several others at different price levels and also some good youth hostels (vandrarhem, in Swedish) at a lower price. Below are some of the vandrarhem listed, but there are several others. Just google vandrarhem visby, and you will get an extensive list Looking forward to seeing you in August! Sincerely yours, Faculty members and researchers at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland