Köpingsvik's Viking-era trading post
A unique Viking/early medieval craft and trading area adjacent to a lagoon port, unique to Öland and Kalmar County's coast. A rich find material documents contacts with, above all, the southern and southeastern Baltic Sea area.
Runestones and remains of so-called Eskilstuna chests. In the area there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement from around 2000 BC. At Kapelludden, four kilometers east of Bredsättra church, are the ruins of St. Brita's chapel, or Långöre chapel as it is also called
Köping simply means trading place. During the Viking Age/Early Middle Ages, settlement in the parish was concentrated in the inner parts of the long, shallow and curved bay, which is partly surrounded by the high landborg cliff. The reason was an organized craft and trading activity that flourished throughout the 1100th century. In addition to the protected bay and the good harbor, Köpingsvik was located at the intersection where the roads from the south, north and east converge. It is likely that the importance of the trading post decreased and eventually completely ceased because the shallow bay could not accommodate new and deeper-drafting merchant ships. Köpingsvik is unique to Öland and there is no similar place along the Småland coast. The trading post partly shares its structure with Birka and Helgö, but its scope has been smaller. During the High Middle Ages and following a royal directive, trade was redirected to present-day Borgholm, but above all to Kalmar. Before that, the trade was probably organized by local magnates who lived in the area. The nearest village to the trading post is Klinta, west of the trading post and on the slope down towards the lagoon bay, which in 1540 consisted of twelve farms. All of the village's farms were owned by the king, which was unusual. The holding of the farm suggests that there were early interests in the area on the part of the central government, perhaps as early as the beginning of the Middle Ages. The king also owned a large number of farms in Egby on the eastern side of the island. The king granted both Egby and Köping parishes in 1472 to Ivar Axelsson Tott.
The commercial area stretches along both sides of the current road through the community and has a similar distribution to the present-day housing development. The usually 0,1-0,3 meter thick cultural layer has been affected by the modern buildings and it was only during the 1970s that more extensive investigations were carried out.
Among the various crafts that could be covered was Sweden's oldest "stone industry", in the form of the remains of a scrap mill. Around the edge of the castle there was easily quarried limestone which, among other things, was exported for church building in the countries around the southern Baltic Sea. Other crafts were bone and hornsmithing, iron and silversmithing, the latter of which in the form of, among other things, silversmithing and bronze work. In several cases, it can be stated that the local blacksmiths had foreign role models and that the manufactured objects reflect which areas of Europe they had contact with. Among the finds are also large quantities of pottery, mainly so-called Vendian, which is a type of pottery that was made in the Slavic areas and brought here by merchants from there. That goods really changed hands through trade is abundantly evidenced in the form of whole or cut pieces of silver coins. Most are Frisian or North German and can be dated to the 1st century. About ten silver treasures have been found, including in the cemetery. Among the constructions found are houses of different types and with different functions, wells, iron furnaces and part of a paved road. Here there is a wall-like construction that stretches along an old shoreline that is older than the Viking Age. In addition to finds and constructions, a large number of Viking age graves have also been found in and around the trading area. One of the more famous burial grounds is the one at Köping's cliff, partly because of the majestic location up on the high land castle edge. It is a varied burial ground of around 000 facilities. What you can see glimpsed from the road are some of the seven judgment rings as well as the twelve piled stones. Otherwise, the round stone settings dominate, 50 of them. In addition to this, there are two rectangular stone emplacements and three earth-fixed blocks. It is likely that the burial ground was laid out before the building of the trading post.
Not much remains of the early 1100th century church when the church was demolished in 1805, but parts of the medieval church are preserved in the northern and western nave walls. The medieval church was a gabled church and the largest on Öland and larger than the first cathedral in Lund, with its 42 meters. Theories based on a 1100th century source which mentions Kaupinga diocese have meant that this refers to Köping on Öland. The Eskilstuna fragments and the size of the church as well as the trading post show that one can speak of a central place in western Öland and a pre-stage to urban development, whose role was somewhat later taken over by the city of Kalmar on the mainland.
Just southeast of the church stands one of Öland's better-known rune stones, the so-called Ting's chip. The three meter high and two meter wide limestone slab was erected at the transition to the Christian era. It is fitted with a dragon loop bearing the text: "Torer and Torsten and Torfast, these brothers erected the stone after their father Gunfuss. God save his soul".
During the 1200th century, a cemetery expansion was carried out in Köping, which indicates that the place still retained its importance and its population, despite the end of the trading post. Köping remained for a long time as Slätbo district's seat. The church was immediately adjacent to the trading post. It is likely that the first church, a wooden church, was built on the site at the initiative of a local magnate who was involved in the organization of the trading post. Around 70 so-called Eskilstuna coffins, i.e. rune-carved and painted coffin slabs, have been found within the church area. One usually puts these in connection with the top political-economic elite in a nascent Swedish state during the middle of the 1000th century.
Around Köpingsvik and the old trading place there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement that belongs to the pit ceramic culture, which belongs to the Younger Stone Age, around 2 BC. This population group has primarily subsisted on fishing and coastal hunting, with a small element of farming and livestock rearing. The pit ceramic culture appears in fairly large areas of Sweden and is always coastal.
South of the church there is still an open area, which from 1795 was used as a market place. Information from the 1600th century speaks of a market in Köping and it is probably the same area that was used even then.
Köping simply means trading place. During the Viking Age/Early Middle Ages, settlement in the parish was concentrated in the inner parts of the long, shallow and curved bay, which is partly surrounded by the high landborg cliff. The reason was an organized craft and trading activity that flourished throughout the 1100th century. In addition to the protected bay and the good harbor, Köpingsvik was located at the intersection where the roads from the south, north and east converge. It is likely that the importance of the trading post decreased and eventually completely ceased because the shallow bay could not accommodate new and deeper-drafting merchant ships. Köpingsvik is unique to Öland and there is no similar place along the Småland coast. The trading post partly shares its structure with Birka and Helgö, but its scope has been smaller. During the High Middle Ages and following a royal directive, trade was redirected to present-day Borgholm, but above all to Kalmar. Before that, the trade was probably organized by local magnates who lived in the area. The nearest village to the trading post is Klinta, west of the trading post and on the slope down towards the lagoon bay, which in 1540 consisted of twelve farms. All of the village's farms were owned by the king, which was unusual. The holding of the farm suggests that there were early interests in the area on the part of the central government, perhaps as early as the beginning of the Middle Ages. The king also owned a large number of farms in Egby on the eastern side of the island. The king granted both Egby and Köping parishes in 1472 to Ivar Axelsson Tott.
The commercial area stretches along both sides of the current road through the community and has a similar distribution to the present-day housing development. The usually 0,1-0,3 meter thick cultural layer has been affected by the modern buildings and it was only during the 1970s that more extensive investigations were carried out.
Among the various crafts that could be covered was Sweden's oldest "stone industry", in the form of the remains of a scrap mill. Around the edge of the castle there was easily quarried limestone which, among other things, was exported for church building in the countries around the southern Baltic Sea. Other crafts were bone and hornsmithing, iron and silversmithing, the latter of which in the form of, among other things, silversmithing and bronze work. In several cases, it can be stated that the local blacksmiths had foreign role models and that the manufactured objects reflect which areas of Europe they had contact with. Among the finds are also large quantities of pottery, mainly so-called Vendian, which is a type of pottery that was made in the Slavic areas and brought here by merchants from there. That goods really changed hands through trade is abundantly evidenced in the form of whole or cut pieces of silver coins. Most are Frisian or North German and can be dated to the 1st century. About ten silver treasures have been found, including in the cemetery. Among the constructions found are houses of different types and with different functions, wells, iron furnaces and part of a paved road. Here there is a wall-like construction that stretches along an old shoreline that is older than the Viking Age. In addition to finds and constructions, a large number of Viking age graves have also been found in and around the trading area. One of the more famous burial grounds is the one at Köping's cliff, partly because of the majestic location up on the high land castle edge. It is a varied burial ground of around 000 facilities. What you can see glimpsed from the road are some of the seven judgment rings as well as the twelve piled stones. Otherwise, the round stone settings dominate, 50 of them. In addition to this, there are two rectangular stone emplacements and three earth-fixed blocks. It is likely that the burial ground was laid out before the building of the trading post.
Not much remains of the early 1100th century church when the church was demolished in 1805, but parts of the medieval church are preserved in the northern and western nave walls. The medieval church was a gabled church and the largest on Öland and larger than the first cathedral in Lund, with its 42 meters. Theories based on a 1100th century source which mentions Kaupinga diocese have meant that this refers to Köping on Öland. The Eskilstuna fragments and the size of the church as well as the trading post show that one can speak of a central place in western Öland and a pre-stage to urban development, whose role was somewhat later taken over by the city of Kalmar on the mainland.
Just southeast of the church stands one of Öland's better-known rune stones, the so-called Ting's chip. The three meter high and two meter wide limestone slab was erected at the transition to the Christian era. It is fitted with a dragon loop bearing the text: "Torer and Torsten and Torfast, these brothers erected the stone after their father Gunfuss. God save his soul".
During the 1200th century, a cemetery expansion was carried out in Köping, which indicates that the place still retained its importance and its population, despite the end of the trading post. Köping remained for a long time as Slätbo district's seat. The church was immediately adjacent to the trading post. It is likely that the first church, a wooden church, was built on the site at the initiative of a local magnate who was involved in the organization of the trading post. Around 70 so-called Eskilstuna coffins, i.e. rune-carved and painted coffin slabs, have been found within the church area. One usually puts these in connection with the top political-economic elite in a nascent Swedish state during the middle of the 1000th century.
Around Köpingsvik and the old trading place there is also an extensive Stone Age settlement that belongs to the pit ceramic culture, which belongs to the Younger Stone Age, around 2 BC. This population group has primarily subsisted on fishing and coastal hunting, with a small element of farming and livestock rearing. The pit ceramic culture appears in fairly large areas of Sweden and is always coastal.
South of the church there is still an open area, which from 1795 was used as a market place. Information from the 1600th century speaks of a market in Köping and it is probably the same area that was used even then.