Helgö revisited

With "Helgö revisited", the authors offer a review of all the archeological work done so far on this island in Lake Mälaren, Central Sweden. By collecting the information from all the publications about the settlements, workshops, cult sites and cemeteries on the island, and bringing them into a wider context, they are able to paint a vivid picture of its history. They also portray and discuss how scholarly opinions on the site and perceptions of certain archeological concepts with connections to Helgö changed over the time. The work is supplemented by the records from field notebooks and the annual reports (Appendix A) and an English summary of "Helgö, stolphål blir hus" ("Helgö, Post Holes become Houses") by Per Frölund and Hans Göthberg 2011, and "Hus på Helgö" ("Houses on Helgö") by Hans Göthberg 2015 (Appendix B).

The history of Helgö's occupation starts in the Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age as a place of cultural practices. Through the Late Roman Iron Age and the Early Migration Period, it slowly increased in size until in the Late Migration Period, it has the character of a greater settlement, with substantial workshop production taking place. The products leaving Helgö included every day items as iron tools, but the focus was on jewellery made of gold, silver and bronze. Some glass pearls were produced as well. The scale of the production emphasized Helgö's dependance on its surrounding landscape for raw material.

During the Vendel Period, the production of fine jewellery decreased until it was reduced to mostly iron working and bead making. Buildings changed character, some were abandoned, others reoccupied. The cult site that was in use during the centuries was eventually given up in the Viking Age and the most important economical occupation was farmworking. Because of the rising land, the shoreline had changed significantly, resulting in the natural harbours not being suitable anymore. The bays became too shallow for the trading ships of the time, and the newly emerging town of Birka, with better harbours and a completely different form of organization, took over Helgö's function as a strategically important place along the trading routes.

Even though the Viking Age appears as a less significant chapter of Helgö's history and its importance for the Mälaren region had decreased by then, people interested in Viking Age Sweden should nevertheless consider buying this work. It provides a beautiful overview of Helgö's history and offers insights into the region's development before the foundation of towns like Birka and later Sigtuna. It can be an important tool for understanding the history of Central Sweden and the later rise of the country's first cities. If one wants to understand a certain moment in time, one should always have a look at how things evolved toward this point.