Höjebacken

Höjebacken 

A Viking Age Settlement in Närke 

Raä 159, Kvinnersta 1:3, 

Axbergs sn, Närke 

Slutundersökningsrapport 1996:8 

By Neil Price and Gun-Britt Rudin 

with contributions by Anders Kritz, 

Leif Rubensson, Ylva Stenqvist and 

Jacob Wiberg and an osteological 

report by Louise Evanni

Arkeologikonsult AB in collaboration with The Institute of Archaeology, Uppsala University, 1996 

Design editing: Julijana Radakovits 

CAD- and GIS-graphics: Per-Olof Fredman, Julijana Radakovits and Gun-Britt Rudin 

Artefact illustrations: Jonas Wikborg 

Translations: Ylva Bäckström and Neil Price 

Allmänt kartmaterial: ©Lantmäteriverket Gävle 2007. Medgivande I 2007/2184.

Slutundersökningsrapporter från Arkeologikonsult AB 

1996:8 

Höjebacken 

A Viking Age Settlement in Närke 

Raä 159, Kvinnersta 1:3 

Axbergs sn, Närke 

By Neil Price and Gun-Britt Rudin 

with contributions by 

Anders Kritz, Leif Rubensson, Ylva Stenqvist and Jacob Wiberg 

and an osteological report by Louise Evanni

List of figures 

Acknowledgements 

Summary 

Sammanfattning på svenska 

Contents 

1. Introduction - Neil Price 

The Höjebacken archaeological project 

Evaluations at Höjebacken 

Raä 159 

Recommendations from the evaluations 

2. Topography and geology - Gun-Britt Rudin 

3. The cultural environment of Höjebacken - Gun-Britt Rudin & Jacob Wiberg 

The Mesolithic (c. 7000-4200 BC) 

The Neolithic (c. 4200-1800 BC) 

A Neolithic find from the evaluations - Anders Kritz 

The Bronze Age (c. 1800-500 BC) 

The Iron Age (c. 500 BC - AD 1050) 

4. The investigations - Neil Price & Gun-Britt Rudin 

Specifications for the development area 

Strategy and method 

5. The settlement: a Viking Age riverside community 

Structures in the central area - Neil Price & Gun-Britt Rudin 

The main longhouse 

Building phases in the longhouse 

Alternative interpretations of the longhouse postholes 

Evidence for outbuildings 

Occupation deposits and other features in the central area 

Evidence for metalworking 

Ritual activity - Neil Price 

A horse sacrifice 

A foundation offering in the longhouse? 

Possible structures in the northern area - Neil Price 

Possible structures by the Lutabäcken stream - Neil Price 

Artefactual and ecofactual evidence - Neil Price 

Pottery 

Vessels in rubbish pit A21 

Vessels in foundation offering pit A76 

Miscellaneous body sherds 

Summary 

Loomweight 

Slag and iron 

Animal bones 

1

Dating - Neil Price 

Artefactual and typological dating 

14 C analysis 

Dating the settlement 

Discussion 

The situation of the settlement - Gun-Britt Rudin 

Höjebacken and Viking Age rural settlement in the Mälar valley - Neil Price 

Närke 

The eastern Mälar provinces 

Conclusions 

Tekniska och administrativa uppgifter 

References 

Appendix 1. Context list 

Appendix 2. Finds list 

Appendix 3. Osteologisk analys - Louise Evanni 

List of figures (abbreviated captions) 

1.1 Detail from topographic map sheet 10F NV with the investigation area marked. 

2.1 View of Raä 159 looking south from near the rail crossing over riksväg 60. 

2.2 View looking south over the fields adjacent to Raä 159 on the opposite side of the existing railway. 

3.1 Map of central Sweden at the period of the Litorina Sea’s maximum extent during the Mesolithic. 

3.2 Map of the Käglan area during the Mesolithic. 

3.3 Map showing the Käglan area during the early Neolithic. 

3.4 Fragment of shafted stone axe found unstratified on ground surface at Raä 158. 

3.5 Sacrificial hoard from Hassle in Glanshammar parish, Närke. 

3.6 Cemetery Raä 5 on Höjebacken. 

3.7 Stone-settings from the late Iron Age in the Höjebacken cemetery (Raä 5). 

3.8a Viking Age finds from the Jägerbacken cemetery in Örebro city. 

3.8b Viking Age finds from the Jägerbacken cemetery in Örebro city. 

3.9 Detail from economic map sheet 105 63 showing registered ancient monuments and the 

Mälarbanan route. 

4.1 The development corridor for the Mälarbanan at Raä 159, Axberg parish, Närke. 

4.2 General plan of trenches from the evaluations and excavations at Raä 159 and up to highway 60. 

5.1 Plan showing all excavated features at Höjebacken. 

5.2 Features in the central area, showing possible structural postholes in the hypothetical longhouse. 

5.3 Postholes with stone packings or stone supports. 

5.4 Centimetre depths of postholes in the central area. 

5.5 The suggested longhouse plan and posts from rebuilding phases. 

5.6 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as remains of the longhouse. 

5.7 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as representing additional phases of longhouse 

construction. 

5.8 Postholes east and west of the longhouse. 

5.9 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as remains of outbuildings. 

5.10 Distribution of finds by type in the the central area of the site. 

5.11 Plans and profiles of non-structural features in the central area. 

5.12 Plan and profile of ironworking pit A116. 

5.13 Two Danish examples of horse cranium burial of comparable form to that in pit A116 at 

Höjebacken. 

2

5.14 Two reconstructed horse-hide offering scaffolds of late Iron Age type at the Historical- 

Archaeological Experimental Centre in Lejre, Denmark. 

5.15 Plan and profile of A76. 

5.16 Plans and profiles of postholes A100 and 101. 

5.17 Plans and profiles of features A16, 65 & 66. 

5.18 Distribution of finds at Höjebacken by type, including unstratified artefacts from the plough-soil. 

5.19 Rim sherds from rubbish pit A21. 

5.20 Rim sherds from the foundation offering pit A76. 

5.21 Loomweight from posthole A100. 

5.22 Distribution of animal bones in the central area of the excavations. 

5.23 Viking Age rural settlements with excavated structures known from the Mälar valley. 

5.24 Plan of the 30m-long Viking Age hall at Aspbacken, Tortuna parish, Västmanland. 

5.25 The late Viking Age phase at Sanda. 

5.26 An artist’s reconstruction of the 11th-century phase at Sanda. 

5.27 Plan and preliminary reconstruction of the longhouse at Granby-Hyppinge. 

5.28 Reconstructed view of the Granby-Hyppinge stormansgård. 

5.29 A reconstruction of the Viking Age longhouse at Gredelby. 

Acknowledgements 

At Arkeologikonsult, thanks are due to Ola Nilsson for his assistance with the description of the metalworking 

evidence and for his general discussions concerning the interpretation of the site, and to Jonas Wikborg for his 

help in locating published parallels for the ritual features at Höjebacken. Kerstin Engdahl of Statens Historiska 

Museum kindly provided information on the horse cranium from Riksantikvarieämbetet UV-Mitt’s 1992-93 

excavations at Säby (Norrsunda parish, Uppland). 

3

Summary 

This report presents the results of archaeological investigations at a settlement site from the Viking Age at 

Höjebacken (monument Raä 159) in Axberg parish, Närke province, Sweden. Excavations were carried out at 

Höjebacken in 1993 by Arkeologikonsult AB, in advance of the Mälarbanan rail development. The site was 

situated on clay soils in open fields at approximately 35m above sea level, sloping gently to the south towards the 

Lutabäcken stream. It is probable that the settlement can be associated with registered monument Raä 5, a 

cemetery of at least 30 stone-set graves of late Iron Age type located on the Höjebacken ridge, 800m south-east 

of the site on the opposite side of Lutabäcken. 

A single 1560m 2 trench was opened up and over 120 features were recorded, consisting primarily of posthole 

scatters, hearths and pits. All the archaeological deposits had been severely truncated by ploughing, but despite 

this some of the cut features had survived remarkably well, with postholes up to 0.6m deep with substantial stone 

packings. The majority of the features were cut into the natural clay subsoil and lay directly beneath the plough 

zone, but in one area of the site a 22m 2 deposit of homogenous occupation layers was preserved. This deposit was 

cut by later features, thus providing a short vertical stratigraphic sequence which was of great assistance in 

determining the phasing and interpretation of the site. 

In the centre of the excavated area were the remains of a post-built, three-aisled longhouse, of which the northwestern 

gable postholes cut the occupation deposit. The exact dimensions of the structure are uncertain since not 

all its postholes survived, but the building was originally at least 19m in length and 5.5-6m wide, with indications 

of several phases of construction and refurbishment. There appear to have been post-built structures immediately 

adjacent to both long sides of the building, but no coherent plans could be established from the meagre posthole 

scatter that was preserved. The south-western of these possible structures - cut, like the longhouse, into the 

occupation deposit - may have been a smithy on the evidence of a metalworking pit found there, together with 

quantities of slag and melted iron. The area around the longhouse and its probable outbuildings revealed several 

pits for cooking and rubbish disposal, and a number of hearths. 

There was some evidence for additional buildings both north of the longhouse complex and further south on the 

banks of the Lutabäcken stream’s earlier course. Several deeply-cut, stone-lined postholes were found here, and 

the substantial character of these features suggests that they were structural in some way. Unfortunately, these 

areas of the site had been particularly badly damaged by ploughing and no more detailed interpretation was 

possible. 

Several features of ritual character could be identified, including an apparent foundation offering in the form of 

a shallow pit inside the longhouse, containing jawbones of a cow and pig overlying rim fragments from two 

different pottery vessels. A second ritual deposit was found in the metalworking pit referred to above, where a 

horse’s cranium had been placed in a layer of clay used to seal the pit after it had gone out of use. On the basis 

of parallels with similar finds on other sites, notably Oxie in Skåne, it is possible that the horse’s head was 

originally attached to the skin of the animal, and had been set up on a scaffold before being dismantled and buried 

in the pit; there are also detailed documentary sources describing such sacrifices, which may have been a form of 

curse. 

The settlement’s economy was probably mixed, with both arable farming and animal husbandry. An area of 

prehistoric field systems a short distance to the west of the settlement may mark the location of its crops. The 

animal bone assemblage was small, but indicated that cattle, pigs and sheep or goats were all part of Höjebacken’s 

economy. The presence of crania and other non food-rich parts of the animals suggests that they were slaughtered 

on-site, having been either reared there or brought on the hoof. 

The settlement site was dated to the Viking period by pottery of Selling’s type AIV:3a1 and AIV:4a/b found in 

the pitfills, and by domestic ceramics of general late Iron Age type from the postholes and occupation deposit. 

The pottery was found in features distributed evenly over the site, including postholes from all the structural 

groups, thus implying that all the buildings on the site were broadly contemporary; a disc-form loomweight, also 

from the Iron Age, was recovered from a posthole fill. One radiocarbon sample was obtained from charcoal in a 

4

posthole, producing a calibrated date of AD 780-982. A Viking Age date for Höjebacken is also supported by 

the ritual offerings, which both have numerous parallels from sites of this period. It is likely that there was some 

activity at Höjebacken before the Viking Age, since small quantities of residual early Iron Age ceramics were 

found in the occupation layer, and charcoal from a hearth cut into this deposit produced a 14 C date in the Roman 

Iron Age. It was not possible to identify any structures from this early period, and there is no indication of what 

kinds of activities were carried out there before the Viking Age settlement was founded. 

Höjebacken is the first Viking Age rural settlement to have been found in Närke province - and only the twelfth 

from the whole Mälar valley - and it is in this that we may locate its importance. Our first glimpse of a Viking 

period rural community from the western Mälar provinces compares well with what we know of the rest of the 

region, despite the relative paucity of the surviving evidence from Höjebacken. Among the ten known sites from 

Uppland, Höjebacken’s apparent settlement form can be paralleled with those found at Sanda, Granby- 

Hyppinge, Gredelby and Farsta. The only site so far located in Västmanland, at Aspbacken, also shows close 

affinities with Höjebacken. This would seem to imply that the settlement type focused upon a single main 

longhouse with outbuildings, either situated alone in the landscape or in multiples, was a constant across eastern 

central Sweden in the Viking Age. However, we cannot yet determine how representative this may be of the 

general settlement pattern in the region at this time. 

5

Sammanfattning 

översättning av Ylva Bäckström 

I föreliggande rapport redovisas resultaten från de arkeologiska undersökningarna av en vikingatida boplats vid 

Höjebacken (Raä 159) i Axberg sn, Närke. Undersökningarna företogs 1993 av Arkeologikonsult AB med 

anledning av byggnationen av Mälarbanan. Boplatsen var belägen ungefär 35 m över havet på lerig åkermark, som 

sluttade svagt söderut mot Lutabäcken. Det är sannolikt att boplatsen kan kopplas samman med den registerade 

fornlämningen Raä 5, ett gravfält med åtminstone 30 stensättningar av yngre järnålderstyp, som ligger på en 

höjdrygg 800 m sydöst om boplatsen och på den motsatta sidan av Lutabäcken. 

Ett enda, 1560 m 2 stort, schakt öppnades och över 120 anläggningar registrerades, huvudsakligen bestående av 

spridda stolphål, härdar och gropar. I allmänhet hade anläggningarna blivit svårt skadade av plöjning, men trots 

detta hade några av de snittade anläggningarna bevarats förvånansvärt väl, t ex förekommer stolphål som är upp 

till 0,6 m djupa och försedda med rejäla stenskoningar. De flesta av anläggningarna var nedgrävda i den sterila 

leran och påträffades direkt under ploglagret, men ett 22 m 2 stort homogent kulturlager hade bevarats. Detta var 

genomskuret av yngre anläggningar, vilket gav möjlighet till att skapa en kort stratigrafisk serie som var till stor 

hjälp vid tolkningen av de olika faserna och av platsen som helhet. 

Centralt på den undersökta ytan påträffades resterna av ett treskeppigt långhus, där den nordvästra gavelns 

stolphål hade skurit genom kulturlagret. Byggnadens exakta dimensioner är osäkra eftersom inte alla stolphål 

finns bevarade, men den var ursprungligen åtminstone 19 m lång och 5,5-6 m bred, med spår av olika 

byggnadsfaser och reparationer. Det förefaller som att stolpförsedda konstruktioner har funnits direkt intill 

byggnadens bägge långsidor, men inga tydliga mönster kunde urskiljas utifrån det fåtal spridda stolphål som 

fanns bevarade. Den sydvästra av dessa möjliga byggnader, som liksom långhuset har anläggningar som skurit in 

i det underliggande kulturlagret, kan ha varit en smedja. Detta kan antas eftersom en smidesgrop samt stora 

kvantiteter av slagg och smält järn hittades där. Området omkring långhuset och de förmodade uthusen 

uppvisade ett flertal kok- och avfallsgropar samt ett antal härdar. 

Spår efter ytterligare byggnader fanns både norr om långhuskomplexet och längre söderut utefter Lutabäckens 

tidigare sträckning. Ett flertal djupt nedgrävda, stenskodda stolphål hittades där, och deras kraftiga karaktär 

antyder att de har utgjort delar av en byggnad. Olyckligtvis hade denna del av det undersökta området blivit 

särskilt svårt skadat av plöjning och ingen mer detaljerad tolkning var möjlig. 

Några anläggningar av rituell karaktär kunde identifieras. Bl a ett husoffer i en grund grop inuti långhuset, som 

innehöll käkben från en ko och en gris placerade ovanpå mynningsbitar från två olika keramikkärl. Ytterligare ett 

offerfynd hittades i smidesgropen, där lerlagret som förseglat gropen innehöll ett hästkranium. Utifrån paralleller 

med liknande fynd från andra boplatser, t ex Oxie i Skåne, är det troligt att detta hästkranium ursprungligen hade 

suttit kvar i huden. Innan det blev nedtaget och begravt i gropen hade det från början varit uppsatt på en ställning. 

Det finns även detaljerade historiska källor som beskriver denna typ av offer, vilka kan ha fungerat som en form 

av besvärjelse. 

Den vikingatida gårdens ekonomi var troligen en blandning av både åkerbruk och boskapsskötsel. Ett område 

med fossila åkersystem en liten bit väster om boplatsen kan höra till gården. Djurbensmaterialet var litet, men 

visar att uppfödning av nötboskap, grisar och får och/eller getter var delar av Höjebackens ekonomi. Närvaron 

av kranier och andra köttfattiga ben antyder att djuren slaktades på platsen. 

Bosättningen har daterats till vikingatid utifrån keramik av Sellings typ AIV:3a1 och AIV:4a/b som hittades i 

groparnas fyllning, och genom keramik av vanlig yngre järnålderstyp från stolphål och kulturlager. Keramiken 

hittades i anläggningar jämnt fördelade över hela ytan, exempelvis i stolphål från samtliga byggnadstyper, vilket 

kan innebär att samtliga byggnader på platsen var uppförda under en relativt kort tid. En diskformad vävtyngd 

från järnålder hittades i fyllningen till ett stolphål. Ett C14-prov har tagits i ett av stolphålen och har resulterat 

i en kalibrerad datering till 780-982 e Kr. En datering av Höjebacken till vikingatid stöds även av offren, som har 

ett flertal paralleller daterade till denna period. Det är troligt att det pågick någon typ av verksamhet på 

Höjebacken innan vikingatid, eftersom små mängder av äldre järnålderskeramik hittades i kulturlagret. 

Dessutom gav kol från en härd som genomskar kulturlagret en C14-datering till romersk järnålder. Det var inte 

6

möjligt att identifiera några byggnader från denna tidiga period, och det finns inga handfasta spår efter aktiviteter 

som pågick innan den vikingatida bosättningen grundades. 

Höjebacken är den första vikingatida boplatsen som har hittats i Närke, och endast den tolfte från hela 

Mälardalen. Det är i detta sammanhang som vi kanske kan förstå boplatsens betydelse. Vår första glimt av ett 

vikingatida ruralt samhälle i de västra mälarlandskapen är fullt jämförbar med det vi vet om resten av regionen. 

Av de tio kända boplatserna i Uppland liknar Höjebacken mest de som har hittats i Sanda, Granby-Hyppinge, 

Gredelby och Farsta. Den enda boplats som hittills har hittats i Västmanland, Aspbacken, uppvisar också stora 

likheter med Höjebacken. Detta skulle kunna innebära att gårdstypen bestående av ett enstaka långhus med 

tillhörande uthus var vanligt i de centrala delarna av östra Sverige under vikingatiden, antingen som ensamgårdar 

eller tillsammans i bystrukturer. Däremot kan vi inte ännu avgöra hur karaktäristiskt detta är för 

bebyggelsemönstret i denna region vid denna tid. 

7

Fig. 1.1 Detail from topographic map sheet 10F NV with the investigation area marked. 

8

The Höjebackenarchaeological project 

This report presents the results of archaeological excavations undertaken in 1993 by Arkeologikonsult AB and the 

Institute of Archaeology at Uppsala university on the site of a settlement from the later Iron Age at Höjebacken 

in Axbergs parish, Närke. The investigation area lay in open fields of heavy, postglacial clay within the property 

Kvinnersta 1:3 in Örebro county and district (fig. 1.1). 

The investigations were carried out in conjunction with the construction of the so-called Mälarbanan, a highspeed 

rail link between Stockholm and the north-western Mälar towns. The project was commissioned by the 

developers, Mälarbanans Intressenter AB (MIAB), who funded all aspects of the archaeological work in 

accordance with the ancient monuments legislation (ch. 2, para. 12-14). Arkeologikonsult would like to thank 

the land-owners and MIAB for their co-operation during our work at Höjebacken. The excavations were directed 

in the field by Ola Nilsson and Leif Rubensson; a full list of the project staff will be found in the Technical and 

Administration section at the end of the report. 

The following chapters summarise the results of the evaluations on the site, and contain detailed descriptions of 

the main excavations and their interpretation. This material is presented against background studies of the area’s 

cultural environment. Although the excavated settlement dates to the Iron Age, the Neolithic artefacts found 

during the evaluations are also discussed in the section on the cultural environment of the site. 

Evaluations at Höjebacken 

The development corridor for the Mälarbanan at Höjebacken formed part of sub-section 12.07 within the 

Arboga-Örebro line section, itself 36km in length. The evaluation for this section has been published elsewhere 

(Stenqvist & Rubensson 1995), but in summary consisted of desk-top assessments and fieldwalking, with 

geochemical reconaissance in the form of phosphate mapping, and test trenching within the entire development 

area. Among several sites located during these evaluations was the later Iron Age settlement at Höjebacken, 

subsequently registered with the Central Board for National Antiquities as ancient monument Raä 159. 

Raä 159 

The site was located between riksväg 60 in the north-west and Lutabäcken to the south-south-west, at point 

34,8km on the line. During fieldwalking in this area, a fragment of a Neolithic stone axe was found in the fields 

300m to the south-west of Höjebacken (the find-spot was registered as Raä 158); the axe is described in chapter 

3 below. Test trenching at Höjebacken located 6 postholes, 2 hearths, a pit and truncated remains of occupation 

deposits, leading to the registration of the site as Raä 159. Pottery of Iron Age type was recovered from the 

ploughsoil in association with these features, together with burnt clay, iron fragments, slag and bone (Stenqvist 

& Rubensson 1995, 3). 

The features and finds material recovered in the utredning therefore suggested that prehistoric settlement remains 

survived at Raä 159, provisionally dated to the Iron Age. The stray finds of Neolithic axes also suggested the 

possibility of locating later Stone Age activity in the area. 

Recommendations from the evaluations 

1. Introduction 

by Neil Price 

Due to the unequivocal nature of the settlement remains at Raä 159, by agreement with länsstyrelsen in Örebro 

län the site was recommended for further archaeological investigation by slutundersökning (final excavation) 

directly, bypassing large-scale trial trenching as unnecessary in this instance. 

Features and finds recovered during the evaluation fieldwork are presented together with the main excavations 

below. 

9

2. Topography and geology 

by Gun-Britt Rudin 

Axberg parish lies in a transitional zone between the tree-clad Kilsberg hills, the Bergslag forest and the Närke 

plain. The terrain is characterised partly by ridges covered by trees or with exposed bedrock in places where 

moraine is the predominant soil type, and partly by fields situated on the low-lying sediments with clay as the 

principal soil. This builds a picture of a typical central Swedish landscape, and the area therefore lies between two 

types of land-use constrained by topographic and geological factors - namely agricultural settlement and mining 

(Sporrong 1975, 17). 

Fig. 2.1 View of Raä 159 looking south from near the rail crossing over riksväg 60. The site of the Viking Age settlement 

lies in the middle of the picture, in the cornfield adjacent to the railway. The trees at the extreme left of the picture mark 

the slopes of the Höjebacken ridge with the late Iron Age cemetery Raä 5. Photo: Ola Nilsson. 

The settlement at Raä 159 is situated at an altitude of 35m on heavy, postglacial clay which slopes gently down 

to the Lutabäcken stream in the south. The area emerged from the sea around 2500 BC, during the postglacial 

isostatic shore displacements. The precise location of the settlement consists of flat, tilled ground with no rock 

outcrops in the immediate vicinity. Portions of the fields in Axberg parish have at times been very marshy and the 

Lången lake, which lies c. 2km west of the settlement area and west of Lutabäcken, was once much larger but has 

been comprehensively drained since the middle of the 19th century (Waldén 1960, 81). In 1923 Sven-Harry 

Larsson wrote a description of the area which also supports this: ”As a final point concerning the great Kvinnersta 

fields and the whole valley where the railway now runs, and where springs were previously located, it should be clearly 

noted that the entire area was once a lake. In the soil of the Kvinnersta fields there still grow water reeds, horsetail and 

other lakeside plants, and in the springtime large parts of the fields are usually flooded. In recent years, to make farming 

the land easier, large areas have been drained and dikes have been cut.” (Larsson 1923, 17; translation by Neil Price). 

With this in mind, it is possible that the area around the Höjebacken settlement at Raä 159 was also partially 

characterised by water meadows, and could have been a suitable area for hay fields. 

10

Fig. 2.2 View looking south over the fields adjacent to Raä 159 on the opposite side of the existing railway, where the 

Viking Age settlement probably continues. The excavation area can be seen in the left of the picture, in the cornfield. 

Photo: Ola Nilsson. 

11

3. The cultural environment of Höjebacken 

by Gun-Britt Rudin and Jacob Wiberg 

with contributions by Leif Rubensson and Ylva Stenqvist 

Beyond the standard inventories of ancient monuments for registration in the national SMR(fornminnesregistret), 

no more comprehensive archaeological investigations have ever been carried out in Axberg parish. Indeed, by 

comparison with other Mälar provinces it can be noted that Närke as a whole has relatively few registered 

monuments, as observed by Sune Lindqvist as early as 1930 (56). The SMR survey of 1980-82 in Närke recorded 

c. 5000 monuments at 200 locations (Löthman 1985). 

Fig. 3.1 Map of central Sweden at the period of the Litorina Sea’s maximum extent during the Mesolithic, with a sea level 62m above 

the modern shoreline. The Käglan archipelago is marked. After Munthe 1940, plate XII. 

The Mesolithic (c. 7000-4200 BC) 

During the Mesolithic the highland areas of Axberg parish formed islands in a bay of the Litorina Sea. The 

contemporary shoreline lay at c. 50-60m above modern sea level. The Käglan area appeared as an archipelago 

landscape with good potential for a subsistence livelihood based on hunting and fishing (Reisborg 1992, 9). The 

climate was somewhat warmer and damper than today, with a mean temperature a couple of degrees higher than 

12

Fig. 3.2 Map of the Käglan area during the Mesolithic, appearing as an archipelago with a shoreline 55m over modern sea level. 

Höjebacken, which was still underwater at that time, is marked together with known Mesolithic settlements. 

at present (Liljegren & Lagerås 1993, 32). Birch forests grew on the higher ground together with pine, elm and 

hazel (Welinder 1984, 16). 

Remains from the Mesolithic are rare in this part of Närke, but a settlement of the so-called Lithult Culture has 

been excavated at Vallby in Kils parish, immediately west of Axberg parish (Andersson 1989, 36). Two temporary 

camps have been found east of Höjebacken at Skumparberget in Glanshammar parish (Apel in press) and at 

Lysinge in Lillkyrka parish (Artursson in press). In addition, a few round-section axes (trindyxor) have been found 

in the Käglan area to the east, which are also of Mesoltihic date. The current dearth of finds and settlements from 

the Mesolithic should not necessarily imply that the area was uninhabited, and it may indeed have been relatively 

well-settled by nomadic bands. These people may have moved between more-or-less temporary encampments 

and hunting/fishing stations which have left little trace. Eastern central Sweden nevertheless possesses a 

compartively high number of finds of stone axes and settlements with worked quartz. The difficulty of 

researching the latter material may go some way towards explaining the general neglect of the Mesoltihc in Närke 

as a topic for detailed study (see, for example, Welinder 1977 and Amreus 1991). 

The Neolithic (c. 4200-1800 BC) 

During the Neolithic the water level steadily sank from 50m down to around 25m over modern sea level. The 

climate also began to change around 3000 BC and although warm summers continued the winters became 

markedly colder (Liljegren & Lagerås 1993, 37). The practice of agriculture and animal husbandry made 

successive inroads in large parts of Scandinavia, bringing a more stable character to human settlement. Arable 

farming did not take place on a large scale, however, and the early farmers concentrated on stock-rearing of 

domesticated cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (see Burenhult 1991a & b). 

In parallel with the continuing shore displacement, the Axberg islands and peninsular joined with the Käglan 

islands and it was during this period that the archaeological investigation area became dry land. The emerging 

fertile clay soils generated a rich flora and fauna which offered great opportunites for the first settlers of the area. 

Sweden’s first farmers belonged to the so-called Funnel Beaker Culture, and three settlements from this time have 

been investigated along the sandy ridge between Ekersby and Kil, in Kils parish c. 9km west of Höjebacken. Two 

hoards from the same period have also been found in the area, consisting of thin-necked axes of greenstone and 

flint (Jennbert-Spång 1980, 149). 

13

Fig. 3.3 Map showing the Käglan area during the early Neolithic, with a shoreline 35m above the modern sea level. 

Höjebacken is marked together with excavated settlements of the Pitted Ware and Funnel Beaker cultures. 

A number of Neolithic settlements from the so-called Pitted Ware Culture have also been located in the Käglan 

area, at Körartorpet, Sjömo and Urvalla (Nyberg 1987). In north-eastern central Sweden the settlements of the 

Pitted Ware Culture are concentrated in the inner archipelago, by inland lakes and navigable waterways; this is 

in marked contrast to the situation in Södermanland and Östergötland where they are primarily situated in the 

outer archipelago (Nyberg 1987, 61). Similarities that have been noted between the different finds assemblages 

of the Pitted Ware Culture north of the (Neolithic) Mälar bay have been interpreted as evidence for the existence 

of a number of local groups or bands, with close connections to each other and perhaps membership of a collective 

social network (Hallgren 1993, 81f). In this context it is interesting to note the Stone Age pottery found in a bog 

at Gottsätter in Axberg parish, 2km west of the investigation area (Lindqvist 1912, 75). The pottery may be 

connected to the Pitted Ware Culture settlement recorded in the SMR (Raä 107) at the same spot; a thin-necked 

granite axe has also been found in the same area (Raä 104). 

Finds of axes from the so-called Battle Axe Culture have been made south of Käglan. The Battle Axe people are 

usually seen as primarily agriculturalists and stock-rearers, co-existing with the Pitted Ware people living as 

hunter-gatherers. It should be emphasised here that these cultural terms are hypothetical constructions created by 

modern researchers, and in recent years a growing number of scholars have argued for considerably fewer 

differences between the two cultures in question (e.g. Browall 1991). 

Towards the end of the Stone Age, when the water level had lowered to around 30m above the modern shoreline, 

Lake Hjälmaren became separated from Mälaren, which was then part of the Litorina Sea. More land than ever 

14

efore could be utilised for settlement. The late Neolithic in north-west Närke is not strongly represented by 

settlement evidence but a great number of stray finds have been recorded. Simple shafted axes of local granite are 

the most common among these finds, but sickles and daggers of flint have also been found. These artefact types, 

not least the axes, were also in use during the Bronze Age. A shafted axe (Raä 105) has been found in Axberg 

parish, 1500m south-west of the investigation area, and near Gyxtatorp in the same parish, c. 5km north of 

Höjebacken, a number of thin-necked and shafted stone axes have been discovered (Kilsberger 1994, 14). Southwest 

of Axberg in Eker parish, a flint dagger has been found and in Glanshammar parish to the east have been 

found isolated shafted axes and flint daggers. Despite the numerous stray finds, it seems that northern Närke was 

a peripheral area at the end of the Neolithic, in contrast to the central part of the province where cist burials of 

a type typical for the period are relatively common. 

A Neolithic find from the evaluations - description by Anders Kritz 

One notable artefact from the Neolithic was found during the evaluations, as mentioned above in chapter 1, 

consisting of a fragmentary stone axe from Raä 158. The axe was a stray find observed on the surface during 

fieldwalking of the rail corridor. A second fragment, found at Höjebacken itself and registered in the evaluation 

report as a mid-fragment of a similar axe (Stenqvist & Rubensson 1995, 7 & appendix 4), was interpreted during 

post-excavation analysis as a slightly polished but otherwise natural stone. 

At the end of the evaluations the axe fragment led the 

excavation team to hope that Neolithic remains might exist 

within the investigation area, but no finds earlier than the 

Iron Age were found at Raä 159. Clearly, few conclusions can 

be drawn from the axe beyond its obvious interpretation as 

evidence for the presence of people in the area during the 

Neolithic. Despite this, the axe fragment is an important find 

in its own right and for this reason is illustrated and briefly 

discussed here. 

Fig. 3.4 Fragment of shafted stone axe found unstratified on 

ground surface at Raä 158. Fnr 2. Scale 1:2. Drawing:Jonas 

Wikborg. 

The fragment is from the rear section of a middle Neolithic 

battle-axe, and is broken along the axis of the shaft hole. The 

axe has been fashioned from grey metamorphous stone, possibly amphibiolite, with inclusions of black grains up 

to 3mm in length. The fragment’s length, width and thickness are all c. 50mm. Due to the degree of 

fragmentation it is impossible to estimate how far along the axe’s original length the hole had been made, but the 

distance between the hole and the back of the axe is only c. 40mm. The cross-section by the break is almost round. 

The axe lacks a terminal at the rear, but has a 1-2mm high socket around the hole. Only one third of the hole’s 

original circumference survives so the diameter is difficult to calculate, but it seems to have been around 20mm. 

The technique used to make the hole is equally hard to identify, but it may be significant the the diameter of the 

hole seems to have been c. 20mm at both ends but c. 17mm in the middle of the axe. Together with the absence 

of the characteristic parallel striations across the axis of the hole which result from rotary drilling (Malmer 1975, 

93f), these measurements strongly imply that the axe was drilled from both sides with a solid bore (the hole profile 

resmbles that in Malmer 1975, 174, fig. 65:1). It should be noted, however, that drill striations could have been 

removed by secondary filing along the hole. 

The form of the axe’s rear section and the proximity of the hole to the back of the axe resembles Malmer’s Type 

E2 (Vellinge 2; Malmer 1975, 176, fig. 67). The Höjebacken cross-section is also similar to this type, although 

the E2 axe has a more triangular shape. By contrast the Höjebacken axe lacks a rear terminal and has a smaller 

socket flange than the E2 type. Malmer gives the E2 axes a late date within the framework of his chronology 

(1975, 96ff). However, the use of a solid bore on the Höjebacken axe might suggest an earlier date (Malmer 1975, 

94), but the small size of the fragment reduces the possibility to place the axe securely within Malmer’s 

chronology. Nevertheless, the axe can be confidently dated in general terms to the middle Neolithic and 

interpreted as an artefact of the Battle-Axe Culture. 

15

The Bronze Age (c. 1800-500 BC) 

During the Bronze Age the shoreline gradually fell from 25 to 

15m above its modern level. Monuments of types typical for the 

period (for example larger cairns and mounds, stone settings and 

small cairns, burnt mounds, cup mark surfaces and hoards) are 

very sparsely represented in Närke generally, but especially in the 

north-eastern part of the province. This is particularly true for 

funerary cairns and rock carvings (Löthman 1985, 31). 

The shining exception to this picture is the Hassle hoard from 

Glanshammar parish (c. 8km east of Höjebacken) - one of the 

most spectacular and famous Swedish archaeological finds from 

the period, and which reflects the area’s connections with 

southern and central Europe in the late Bronze Age (fig. 3.5). The 

hoard consists of a large bronze cauldron of probable Greek 

origin, containing two Italian bronze brooches, two Hallstatt 

swords from central Europe and 12 bronze discs with concentric 

decoration (Stenberger 1979, 281ff; Burenhult 1991b, 176f). 

The Bronze Age in the area is also represented by a few stray finds 

of bronze and stone axes. 

It has been suggested by Lars Löthman that the meagre material 

from the Bronze Age in eastern Närke and around Hjälmaren 

does not reflect the true situation in the area, in that the region 

”has been afflicted by unusually intensive deep ploughing, and 

visible monuments such as stone-set graves of the more diffuse, 

early types cannot be seen and thus remain anonymous” (Löthman 1985, 31; translation by Neil Price). 

The Iron Age (c. 500 BC - AD 1050) 

Around 500 BC a further climatic change began in Sweden, creating generally colder and damper conditions. 

The great forests of oak, elm and ash began to retreat as spruce trees gradually established themselves in Sweden 

from the north-east, but the original woodland survived on the damper, more clayey soils. The water meadows 

were ever more intensively used for grazing and in particular for the production of hay (Liljegren & Lagerås 1993, 

41). 

Earlier research on the Iron Age of Närke has principally focused on the cultural orientation of monuments 

towards the spheres of one or other of the two main peoples of early Sweden, and it has been argued that the Svart 

river can be seen as a boundary between the Svea to the north-east and the Götar to the south, where the 

connection with Västergötland is strongest (Schortz 1983, 5ff). Some of the more recent research has 

concentrated upon settlement patterns in the area, attempting to isolate site catchment areas from such evidence 

as cemeteries. 

Two main models of Närke’s Iron Age settlement structure have been put forward. The province has on the one 

hand been characterised as an area first properly colonised during the Middle Ages, with only sparse and scattered 

farms during the preceeding centuries. The alternative view is almost the complete opposite, and proposes that 

Närke was densely settled during the Iron Age and enjoyed a developed administrative system linking large 

numbers of settlements. 

The first of these hypotheses derives primarily from comparisons with the monument patterning in Uppland 

province. Over 140,000 ancient monuments have been registered in Uppland in contrast to the 4751 known 

from Närke. The numbers have changed slightly following supplementary surveys but the disparity remains 

unaltered in relative terms. These calculations include the total numbers of ancient monuments, i.e. including 

those dating from earliest prehistory to the 19th century, but even if only monuments from the Iron Age are 

16 

Fig. 3.5 Sacrificial hoard from Hassle in 

Glanshammar parish, Närke, c. 8km east of 

Höjebacken. Photo: ATA.

considered the picture is little changed: the density of Uppland monuments is approximately ten times as great 

as that in Närke (Klang 1984, 60ff). 

In contrast to the model derived from monument density, a study of the place-name evidence suggests a different 

interpretation. In the vicinity of the investigation area at Höjebacken we can find nine farms or small villages with 

names which are conventionally held to be of Iron Age origin. These include settlements with names which 

include the elements -sta, -by, -torp and -tuna (see Wahlberg 1988, 12; Pamp 1974, 36ff) as in Kvinnersta, 

Hässleby, Brunstorp and Sigtuna. The names Lund and Kumla may also be of prehistoric date, but later 

foundations are also known with these name forms. Even if a number of the names from the Höjebacken area are 

discounted, the picture persists of a somewhat well-populated area. All over Sweden the Iron Age has been seen 

as a period of settlement expansion, and it would appear that Närke was no exception to this. 

Four main areas with high densities of ancient monuments can be distinguished in Närke: the western part of the 

province containing the parishes Edsberg, Hackvad, Hardemo, Knista and Viby; eastern Närke to southern 

Hjälmarbygden with Ekeby, Kumla, Sköllersta and Stora Mellösa parishes; northern Hjälmarbygden with 

Glanshammar, Lillkyrka and Rinkaby parishes; the Fellingsbro area with Fellingsbro parish (Andersson 1989, 

97). 

The approximately 4500 graves known from Närke are overwhelmingly of early Iron Age type. Several cemeteries 

contain graves from both the early and later Iron Ages. In general the cemeteries can be seen to be situated on 

ridges or other types of high ground, and are usually small in size. More than half the cemteries contain less than 

ten graves (Hansson 1987, 322). The burials of the early Iron Age are characterised by a variety of monument 

types, dominated by stone settings of different sizes and shapes. In the later Iron Age the cemeteries contain 

mainly small earthern mounds. 

Fig. 3.6 Cemetery Raä 5 on Höjebacken, probably dating to the late Iron Age and associated with the Vendel and Viking 

Age settlement. Photo: Ola Nilsson. 

North of Lake Hjälmaren lie a number of cemeteries, one of which is located in Axberg parish c. 800m south-west 

of the investigation area, on the Höjebacken ridge which gives the excavated settlement its name. This cemetery, 

Raä 5, probably formed the burial ground for the settlement’s inhabitants and consists of one mound and 29 

stone-settings (figs. 3.6 & 3.7). The latter are of types which in the Mälar valley are dated to the later Iron Age 

(i.e. AD 550-1050), but can also be of earlier Iron Age date. In the immediate vicinity of Raä 5, and possibly 

associated with it, are a hollow way and an artificial terrace upon which a building may have stood. 

17

A further hollow way (Raä 83) and a number of clearence cairns (Raä 10 & 72) are situated nearby, and it is 

possible that at least Raä 10 may represent field areas associated with the Höjebacken settlement. Several 

monuments once thought to be graves have now been resurveyed and found to be clearence cairns (e.g. Raä 6), 

but there remain a number of features on the Höjebacken ridge which may be either graves or cairns (Raä 4, 7- 

9, 12, 50-51, 82); if these obscure features are graves, they most resemble monuments of the later Iron Age. An 

early dry-stone field boundary (stensträng) also runs across Höjebacken (Raä 8), and may form another part of the 

settlement’s territorial system. 

Fig. 3.7 Stone-settings from the late Iron Age in the Höjebacken cemetery (Raä 5). Photo: Ola Nilsson. 

On the Stora Hästhultet hill, less than 2km north-east of the investigation area, is a large stone-setting (Raä 142) 

with a kerb construction, situated on the crown of the slope. Further away in the north of Axberg parish in an area 

south of the Dylta river, 6-7km north of Höjebacken, lie some 25 Iron Age graves. At Annelund a large 

rectangular stone-setting has been registered together with a triangular setting, and further stone-setting shave 

been found at Gyxtatorp. By Norra Dylta in the same area is another Iron Age cemetery with 15 monuments, 

principally stone-settings but also one confirmed and one uncertain Iron Age stone circle (domarring) (Kilsberger 

1994, 14ff). Four km south of Höjebacken at Förlunda in Hovsta parish is an Iron Age cemetery with 25 circular 

stone-settings, partly damaged by gravel quarrying, but dated to the Vednel and Viking periods by excvaations 

there in the 1930s. In 1939 another grave was found during gardening work c. 750m east of Hovsta church, 

interpreted as a woman’s burial from the 9th century (Raä 3). In the Kårsta and Tjuse areas of the same parish, 

3-4km south-west of the investigation area, are further stone-settings and a mound. A number of stone-settings 

have also been registered by Nävesta, to the west of Lake Lången, c. 3½km west of the Höjebacken excavations 

(Kilsberger 1994, 17). 

Although situated 10km south of the investigation area, we should also note the Viking Age cemetery at 

Jägerbacken in Örebro town, one of the few Iron Age grave-fields to be published from Närke. Pär Hansson’s 

report (1983) of the excavations carried out there in 1896 and 1937 describe some 20 burials with rich gravegoods 

in the form of weapons and female jewellery (fig. 3.8), suggesting that a settlement of high status was 

situated in the vicinity from the Vednel period until at least the 10th century and perhaps later. 

18

Fig. 3.8a. Viking Age finds from the Jägerbacken cemetery in Örebro city, 

including two swords and an axe from grave 6B, jewellery from grave 15. 

After Hansson 1983. 

19

From a cultural geographic perspective the investigation area at Höjebacken can be seen as being at the periphery 

of a central zone, perhaps as an outpost towards the highland mining areas. As discussed above, this interpretation 

is based solely on the evdience of cemeteries and individual graves since the settlements themselves have not been 

excavated or studied in any numbers. The exception is Sörby in Norrbyås parish (Raä 16), a settleemnt dating to 

the Roman Iron Age and Migration period (Hedman 1978) and Skävi in Viby parish (Raä 222) which dates from 

the later Bronze Age to the Migration period (Bergold & Holm 1994). During work for the Mälarbanan a further 

Iron Age settlement was located at Raä 160 a few hundred metres north-east of Höjebacken, but excavations 

revealed only a disturbed area of cultural deposits and a few pits of uncertain function. Pär Hansson has studied 

iron production in Närke in the Viking Age and early Medieval period, and on the basis of his conclusions it again 

seems that Axberg parish is situated either between or wholly outside a central zone (Hansson 1989). 

Fig. 3.8b. Viking Age finds from the Jägerbacken cemetery in Örebro city: stirrups from the graves collectively designated 

”14 and others”. After Hansson 1983. 

20

Fig. 3.9 Detail from economic map sheet 105 63 showing registered ancient monuments and the route of the 

Mälarbanan. 

21

Registered ancient monuments in the vicinity of the development area, Axberg parish 

Note: question marks indicate that the monument is listed in the SMR as uncertain 

Raä no. quantity type 

4 1 area with stone settings? 

5 1 cemetery; 1 mound, 29 stone-settings, 1 hollow way, 1 terrace 

6 1 mound? 

7 1 stone-setting? 



10 1 area with clearence cairns; two uncertain stone-settings 

11 1 trapping pit? 

12 1 stone-set feature 

16 1 mound-like feature 



52 1 natural formation 

72 1 area with clearence cairns 

74 1 old farmstead 

81 1 dry-stone field boundary 


83 1 hollow way 

105 1 findspot: part of stone axe 

158 1 findspot: part of stone axe 

159 1 Iron Age settlement 

160 1 Iron Age settlement 

22

4. The investigations 

by Neil Price and Gun-Britt Rudin 

Specifications for the development area (fig. 4.1) 

The Mälarbanan route follows the existing track northwards up to the 35km point along the development 

corridor. The line therefore passes through Raä 158, the find-spot for the stone axe decribed above, which was 

found beside the railway line. From the 35km point the Mälarbanan line curves to the north-east. The 

Höjebacken settlement at Raä 159 lies directly within the path of the line at the 35.15km point. At a point 550m 

north-east of its divergence from the route of the existing railway, the Mälarbanan will cross highway 60 by means 

of a new bridge and thereafter will continue in a north-easterly direction to the Olmbrotorp road and a second 

bridge. 

The width of the rail corridor at the point where it transects the Höjebacken settlement varies from 17-46m. 

Strategy and method 

During the evaluations a total of eight trenches were excavated within the area between Lutabäcken and the path 

from Åby to Höjebacken (trenches nos. 21-28), of which three trenches (nos. 21, 22, 26) produced archaeological 

remains. On the basis of these features the area for the main excavations at Höjebacken could be defined as an area 

of 1560 m 2 . Between the path from Åby to Höjebacken and highway 60 a further 37 test trenches were excavated 

(nos. 29-66), but no archaeological deposits were found (fig. 4.2). 

The excavation area was exposed by machine, followed by shovel scraping and cleaning. For the most part no 

stratigraphy survived on the site, with features revealed cutting the natural clay sub-soil, but a small area with 

preserved cultural deposits was also found. All features were cleaned, defined, and recorded. Traditional Swedish 

methods of box-section recording were employed, with written descriptions coupled to plan and section 

drawings; a photographic record was also made. Within the area of preserved cultural deposits, A104, a grid of 

17 1x1m squares was imposed within which finds were recorded for greater precision of provenancing. Although 

environmental samples were taken from the site, preservation conditions were poor for the retrieval of such data 

within the parameters of the project budget and no analyses were undertaken. Wherever possible, carbon samples 

were retrieved for potential 14 C analysis. 

Surveying of features and finds was carried out with the help of a totalstation EDM, with the results logged in the 

TIGRIS program and graphically manipulated in the MicroStation CAD system. During post-excavation 

analysis the written records and finds descriptions were entered into the in-house developed AIS (Archaeological 

Information System) Paradox database, and the drawn records digitised in GeoKart/AK DARK for insertion into 

the CAD-generated site plans. All report text was produced in WordPerfect, with Adobe PhotoShop and Aldus 

PageMaker employed for DTP design and editing. 

23

5. The settlement: 

a Viking Age riverside community 

The area of which Raä 159 forms a part has been particularly badly damaged by ploughing, since these fields have 

been used as a training ground for an agricultural college for over 50 years. The land here was deep-ploughed 

earlier than is usual in this part of Sweden, and shows the consequences of a wide range of experimental 

agricultural techniques practised by the farming students over the years. The archaeological effects of these 

practices are hard to quantify precisely, but there is no doubt that all the remains on the site have been very severely 

truncated, leaving only small parts of the structural features intact (see below in the discussion on the buildings 

of the settlement). 

A total of 50 features were found during the Höjebacken excavations, consisting of 36 postholes, 5 cooking- and 

rubbish-pits, 1 metalworking pit, 5 hearths, 2 modern drainage ditches and a single layer of occupation deposits. 

The majority of the features were located within a relatively small area - referred to below as the central area - but 

isolated postholes, hearths and pits were also found to both the north and south. 

The archaeology of the site is discussed below by area and theme, focusing initially on the three areas with 

structural remains, in the centre, north and south sections of the excavated area. Artefactual evidence is discussed 

with the buildings in terms of its implications for function and behaviour, and in a more detailed manner in the 

section following the structures. The dating of Höjebacken is reviewed in the next section, covering both 

artefactual and scientific dating methods, and the chapter concludes with a general discussion of the settlement. 

Structures in the central area - Neil Price & Gun-Britt Rudin 

The central part of the excavated area revealed a tightly packed cluster of postholes, pits and hearths, some of 

which cut a 22m 2 area of surviving cultural deposits. Several of the postholes had sturdily constructed stonepackings 

in the fills and were up to 0.6m deep even after truncation: these were clearly remains of structural 

timbers, probably marking the site of roof-bearing uprights. There is no doubt therefore that the central area of 

the site preserved the remains of at least one and possibly more substantial buildings. 

The main longhouse 

It is not easy to distinguish clear building plans within the posthole patterns, since there is no doubt that the 

majority of features associated with the structure(s) have been completely destroyed by ploughing (see above). 

However, we can isolate the postholes of at least three clear pairs of roof-bearing timbers (A19-20, A82-97, A69- 

98), with a possible association to five further postholes marking additional roof-supports (A77, 80/85 [one post 

replaces the other], 102, 103, 120), though none of these are paired. From this evidence a three-aisled longhouse 

can be reconstructed, 12.5-15m in length and aligned north-west/south-east. On this model, four postholes to 

the north-east of the structure and parallel with its long side may represent remains of the building’s wall line (A 

81, 90, 94, 96) and the posthole A18 to the south-west of the structure may mark the gable corner at this point. 

Allowing for the increased dimension given to the building by these additional posts, the original dimensions of 

the longhouse could be estimated at 15.5-19m in length and 5-6m in width. No remains of floor surfaces were 

found, and it is likely that the building was truncated to a depth of at least 0.1m and probably more below the 

contemporary ground level (fig. 5.2). 

The finds in the posthole fills enable no relative sequence to be determined amongst them - only the features’ 

spatial distributions, and to a lesser extent the constructional details which give evidence of their function, can 

be used to sort the different building remains (figs. 5.3 and 5.4). 

On this basis, we would suggest that only ten postholes can be confidently incorporated in the central longhouse: 

A19, 20, 69, 77, 82, 97, 98, 102, 103, 120 (fig. 5.5) - all forming part of the two parallel rows of roof supports, 

though not all distributed in pairs due to differential survival of features along the building’s length. Of the 

26

postholes originally considered to be part of the building, A80/85 seem too far out of line with the proposed 

north-east row of roof supports to have been part of the row, although the depth of A85 is certainly sufficient to 

have fulfilled this function. The line formed by (in sequence south-north) A96, 94, 81, 90 similarly diverges from 

the longitudinal axis of the structure, particularly at the north-western end of the row with A90, but it is 

nevertheless possible that at least A94 or A96 may have been part of the wall. The postulated gable post A18 is 

hard to interpret but appears to be too far from the last trestle (A19-20) to fit as the corner of the building. 

This model would give a length of 15m between the roof-bearing posts at each end of the building, to which must 

be added perhaps a metre or a little more at each end to take account of the gable walls, with a similar distance 

added laterally across the trestles to take account of the side walls. A total length of 16-17m is therefore proposed 

for the longhouse, with a width of no more than 5.5m. The length must be regarded as strictly provisional, since 

plough damage may have completely removed one or both ends of the structure. 

Building phases in the longhouse 

When the longhouse postholes are taken out of the picture, a total of 21 remaining postholes are left in the central 

part of the site (A70, 73, 78- 81, 85-91, 94-96, 114, 115, 117-119); nine of these have stone-packed fills. Among 

the ”non-longhouse” postholes only those features originally postulated as remains of the longhouse wall-line 

build any clear pattern either of form or alignment. It would seem likely therefore that the suggested ”wall-line” 

features in fact represent an earlier or later phase of the longhouse, rebuilt on the same alignment but slightly 

shifted in location. Into this group of postholes we can place the alignment A96, 94, 81, 90, and perhaps a second 

line including A86, 85, 80. Postholes A78, 87 & 88 may once have been part of one or more of the successive 

longhouses (see fig. 5.5). 

A19 

POSTHOLE, 0.5m diameter, 0.45m deep 

Co-ordinates: X467010,3 Y582139,9 

Irregularly circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Clear packing with 0.16-0.4m stones. Rounded base with near-vertical sides. 

Fill of dark clay with charcoal fragments. 

Finds: none. 

A20 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Remains of packing with 0.1-0.6m stones. Pointed base with sloping sides. Fill of dark 

clay with soot flecks. 

Finds: unburnt bone. 

A69 



Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Flat base and vertical sides. Remains of packing with 

0.08m stones. Fill of dark clay with wood fragments. 

Finds: burnt daub, unburnt bone. 

A77 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Remains of packing with 0.4-0.6m stones. Rounded base with near vertical sides. Cut 

extended towards the north-west. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: burnt bone. 

A82 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with near vertical sides. Clear packing with 0.08-0.14m stones, mostly firecracked. 

Fill of dark clay with wood fragments. 


29

Fig. 5.6 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as remains of the longhouse. 

A97 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Irregular base with vertical sides, broadening towards the base. Remains of packing with 

0.08-0.14m stones. Fill of dark clay. 


A98 



Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-shaped with gently sloping sides. Fill of dark clay, 

containing 0.1-0.3m stones. 

Finds: none. 

A102 



Circular cut into cultural deposit A104. Rounded base with vertical sides. Clear packing of 0.04-0.08m stones. Fill of dark 

clay with charcoal fragments. 

Finds: slag, burnt daub, unburnt bone. 

A103 



Irregualrly circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Irregularly sloping sides, vertical in the east, 

with a sharply rounded base. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

A120 



Irregularly shaped cut into cultural deposit A104. Rounded base with vertical sides. Remains of packing of 0.05-0.08m 

stones. Fill of dark clay with charcoal fragments. 


33

Fig. 5.7 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as representing additional phases of longhouse 

construction. 

A78 



Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Pointed base and steeply sloping sides. Remains of 

packing with 0.1m stones. Fill of dark clay with occasional wood fragments. 


A80 



Cut with uncertain edges, either cuts or is cut by A85. Rounded base and sloping sides. Remains of packing with 0.1-0.2m 

stones. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

A81 

POSTHOLE, 0.4m diameter, o.35m deep 


Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with steeply sloping sides, inclined to the east. 

Remains of packing with 0.7m stones. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: burnt bone. 

A85 



Cut with uncertain edges, either cuts or is cut by A85. Rounded base with near vertical sides. Remains of packing with 0.05- 

0.08m stones. Fill of dark clay. 


A86 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base and vertical sides. Fill of dark clay. 


34

A87 



Irregularly circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with sloping sides. Remains of 

packing with 0.04-0.06m stones. Fill of dark clay with charcoal fragments. 

Finds: none. 

A88 



Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

A90 



Oval cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with steeply sloping sides. Clear packing with 0.06m stones, heavily firecracked. 

Fill of dark clay with fragments of charcoal and wood. 

Finds: none. 

A94 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

A96 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with near vertical sides. Fill of dark clay. 


Alternative interpretations of the longhouse postholes 

It should be noted that the three post-pairs A19-20, 82-97 & 69-98 could also be interpreted not as part of a threeaisled 

longhouse but instead as a triple-bayed building (tresättare) similar to, for example, structures from Skåne 

cited by Tesch (1993, 185). Such a suggestion is unlikely due to the unequal distance betwene the four posts A69, 

82, 97 & 98 and the third post-pair A19-20, since tresättare are usually constructed of equidistant posts (see 

Hulth & Norr in press, ch. 1.3); however, a building erected simply around the former four posts in a square 

frame is possible (cf. the structures from Stenåldersgatan in Badelunda parish, Västmanland: Göthberg et al 1995, 

238-239). The latter alternative would leave room for more structures of similar type in the central area at 

Höjebacken. 

Despite the possibilities raised by the tresättare or four-poster alternatives, neither of these is considered a 

particularly probable reconstruction of the Höjebacken structure(s) on the grounds that the two north-west/ 

south-east aligned rows formed by the pairs A19-20, 82-97 & 69-98 can be so exactly extended to match the 

positions of at least six postholes further to the north-east. This strongly implies that the posts were all originally 

part of a single structure, which is most feasibly interpreted as a three-aisled longhouse. 

The group of four posts A69, 82, 97 & 98 also resembles a particular form of ”box-like” square construction 

commonly found as a design element in longhouses from the late Roman Iron Age and Migration period. The 

approximate 2 x 2m dimensions of the Höjebacken ”box” matches those of constructions at the eastern end of 

buildings at Uppsala (Tillberga parish, Västmanland: structures Ua1 and Ua5) and Kärsta (Björksta parish, 

Västmanland: structure Kä4; see Hulth & Norr in press, ch. 1.3.5 & 1.3.3.). Similar design features are found 

in the mid-sections of the longhouses at Lunda D in Badelunda ( Västmanland: Ulväng 1992) and Brogård in 

Halland (hus II i delområde V; Carlie 1992, s24). However, although such parallels appear promising - especially 

since they have dating implications for the Höjebacken longhouse - we must guard against over-interpretation 

and the superficial comparison between relatively complete structural plans recovered from one site and a clearly 

incomplete posthole scatter at another: in the case of Höjebacken we have simply too few surviving features to be 

35

able to make any firm reconstructions. It is therefore unwise to lay too much stress on an apparent four-post ”box” 

construction when a restoration of the missing parts of the longhouse could easily demonstrate that such a feature 

never existed. 

Evidence for outbuildings 

The dimension and construction of the postholes not interpreted as forming a part of the longhouse or its 

refurbishments suggests a function as major load-bearing supports, implying that these postholes also represent 

structures (see figs. 5.3 & 5.4 showing stone packings and depths of the postholes). The features cover an area 

approximately 10 x 15m - a distribution which suggests that the postholes derive from more than one structure. 

From the posthole locations it is possible that up to three buildings could have been contemporary: in the most 

generous interpretation of the evidence there are three spatially distinct groups of postholes, consisting of the 

longhouse (including its rebuilds, since these represent only one structure standing at any time) and one group 

either side of the longhouse’s long walls. The western group consists of features A114-115 & 117-119, while the 

eastern group includes postholes A70, 73, 79, 89, 91 & 95. Posthole A18 is isolated and does not fit easily into 

any spatial grouping (fig. 5.8). 

Having established the potential existence of outbuildings near the longhouse, it must be acknowledged that no 

coherent plan or form can be found in the patterning of the postholes in question. However, we have already seen 

that the plough damage to the site as a whole has been extensive enough to have easily reduced such structures, 

if they existed, to the fragmentary state which the postholes may represent. We should further note that the 

posthole evidence, though puzzling, is certainly substantial enough to confirm that there were buildings 

”somewhere in the central area” in addition to the longhouse, and that these structures may well have been 

contemporary with it. 

The suggestion of an outbuilding either side of the longhouse must remain highly speculative, but the notion of 

additional structures so close to the main building is not without parallel, even considering the lack of obvious 

topographical restrictions on a more open spacing. At the Viking Age village of Pollista (Övergrans parish, 

Uppland) some contemporary structures seem to have been built as little as 0.2m apart (Arén 1995; see also 

Hållans 1987 and Ulväng 1992), and a similar situation was found at Sanda (Fresta parish, Uppland; Åqvist & 

Flodin 1992), also dating to the Viking period. 

A18 



Fig. 5.9 Plans and profiles of features interpreted as remains of outbuildings or possible parts of the 

longhouse. 

37

Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with near vertical sides. Remains of packing with 0.05-0.06m stones. Fill of 

dark clay with wood fragments and flecks of soot. Finds: unburnt bone. 

A70 



Circular cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay. 


A73 



Oval cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Pointed base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: burnt daub, burnt and unburnt bones. 

A79 



Oval cut with uncertain edges, excavated into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with vertical sides. Fill of dark clay. 


A89 

POSTHOLE, 0.58m diameter, 0.4m deep. Post-pipe 0.2m diameter, 0.3m deep 


Semi-circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with steeply sloping sides. Remains of packing with 0.12m stones. 

Post-pipe with obliquely sloping base and vertical sides. Fill of dark clay with fragments of charcoal. 

Finds: slag, burnt daub, burnt bone. 

A91 



Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with near vertical sides. Remains of packing with 0.16-0.6m stones. Fill 

of dark clay with fragments of charcoal. 

Finds: pottery, unburnt bone. 

A95 

POSTHOLE, 022m diameter, 0.1m deep 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-shaped base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay with charcoal fragments. 

Finds: none. 

A114 



Elongate cut into cultural deposit A104. Irregularly sloping sides to pointed base. Fill of dark clay with fragments of charcoal 

and wood. 

Finds: none. 

A115 



Circular cut into cultural deposit A104. Pointed base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay. 


A117 

POSTHOLE, 0.28m diameter, 0.16m deep. 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Irregularly sloping sides to pointed base. Fill of dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

Records for A118 missing 

38

A119 



Elongate cut into cultural deposit A104. Rounded base with sloping sides. Remains of packing with 0.1m stones. Fill of dark 

clay with flecks of soot. 

Finds: burnt and unburnt bones. 

Occupation deposits and other features in the central area 

Immediately to the north-west of the longhouse - or perhaps under its north-east gable (see below) - was the only 

surviving occupation deposit on the site, A104, a layer of homogenous trampled clay measuring 22m 2 in area. As 

noted above, finds distributions in the deposit were charted according to a grid of 1m squares. The layer 

contained mixed artefactual material, including quantities of burnt clay, a few fragments of unidentified iron 

objects and pottery of both early and late Iron Age types. Deposit A104 also contained numerous fragments of 

slag, like the other finds concentrated in the southern and eastern peripheries of the layer (fig. 5.10). 

The deposit was cut by the postholes A102 & 120, suggested above as either the northernmost - or the 

northernmost surviving - post-pair in the longhouse. The question as to whether these posts formed part of the 

building is important in this context, as it determines whether the occupation deposits are either unequivocally 

stratigraphically earlier than the longhouse or else located to the north-west of the building with no stratigraphic 

connection between them. The south-western corner of the deposit was also cut by the postholes A114, 115 & 

119, discussed above with the ”western” group of structural remains. 

In addition to the postholes, deposit A104 was also cut by a single hearth, A113. This was an irregular feature 

0.8m in diameter and truncated to within a few centimetres of its base. No finds were present in the fill, but 14 C 

analysis of charcoal fragments produced a calibrated date in the Roman Iron Age (this sample is discussed below 

in the section on dating, and compared with the artefactual dating from the layer cut by the hearth). 

Three more hearths were found in the central area, two to the north and north-west of the longhouse and one to 

the south. Further to the north and outside the area of surviving occupation deposits were two hearths, A92 & 

99, respectively 2.5m and 7.5m from the postulated end of the longhouse. Both were irregular in form and under 

1m in diameter with fills of clay, charcoal and fire-cracked stone. A92 contained one sherd of black ware pottery 

of late Iron Age date; no other finds were recovered from the features. The southern hearth, A17, was quite small 

and shallow (0.4m in diameter and truncated to only 0.1m in depth), with a fill of ash and clay; it contained no 

finds. 

Two cooking pits were found in the central area, A15 & 67, respectively north-west and south-west of the 

longhouse. A15 was 0.8m in diameter and had been severely truncated; its fill of charcoal and clay contained no 

finds. A67, located 7m from the main building, was of similar dimensions to A15 but had survived to a depth of 

0.28m. The pit had been partially consolidated with a stone lining, and contained large quantities of charcoal and 

burnt clay. A single shoulder- or rim-sherd of Iron Age pottery was found in the fill. 

Two rubbish pits were also excavated on the site, A71 & 21. The former feature was located immediately adjacent 

to the south-west longside of the longhouse, but the finds of animal and burnt clay contained in the pit fill are 

not sufficient to establish whether or not the pit was contemporary with the building. Although severely 

truncated, A71 could be seen to have been circular in form and 0.75m in diameter, and contained dark clay with 

fragments of wood. The other rubbish pit, A21, was situated 22m north-east of the longhouse near the periphery 

of the excavated area. The pit was scoop-formed, 0.8m in diameter and 0.38m deep, with evidence of a stone 

packing around the sides in some places. Its fill of dark clay contained fragments of rim sherds of Viking Age type 

(see below), together with burnt clay and animal bone. 

A15 

COOKING PIT, 0.8m diameter, 0.08m deep 


Oval cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with vertical sides, severely truncated to the east. Fill of charcoal, fire-cracked stone 

and dark clay. 

Finds: none. 

39

Fig. 5.11 Plans and profiles of non-structural features in the central area. 

A17 

HEARTH, 0.4m diameter, 0.1m deep 


Irregular cut into natural clay sub-soil. Bowl-formed with rounded base. Fill of dark clay with charcoal, soot and fire-cracked 

stone. 

Finds: none. 

A21 

PIT, 0.8m diameter, 0.38m deep 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-fomred with sloping sides and extended edge towards the west. Remains of lining 

with 0.6m stones. Fill of dark clay with fragments of charcoal and wood. 

Finds: pottery, burnt daub, burnt and unburnt bones. 

A67 

COOKING PIT, 0.7m diameter, 0.28m deep 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-formed with rounded base. Remains of lining with 0.06m stones. Fill of dark clay 

with large quantities of charcoal. 

Finds: pottery, burnt daub, unburnt bone. 

A71 



Irregularly circular cut into natural clay sub-soil. Rounded base and sloping sides. Fill of dark clay including a 0.02m layer 

of compacted clay and wood chips. 


A92 



Irregularly circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-formed with gently sloping sides. Fill of dark clay with large quantities 

of fire-cracked stone. 

Finds: pottery, burnt bone. 

A99 



Oval cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with sloping sides. Fill of dark clay with fire-cracked stone and charcoal 

fragments. 


41

A104 

CULTURAL DEPOSIT, 6 x 4m in area, 0.3m thick 


Homogenous dark clay deposit with occasional small stones. 

Finds: pottery, slag, iron, burnt daub, burnt and unburnt bones. 

A113 



Irregularly circular cut into cultural deposit A104. Flat base but with sides severely disturbed by truncation. Fill of dark clay 

with fragments of charcoal and fire-cracked stone. 

Finds: none. 

Evidence for metalworking 

In addition to the postholes and hearth, one other feature was cut into deposit A104. Approximately 2m from 

the south-west wall of the longhouse a pit, A116, had been cut into the clay occupation deposits, measuring 0.6m 

in diameter but truncated to a depth of only 0.06m. The pit had been constructed with a broad, flat base and 

shallowly sloping sides, and was filled with dark clay with flecks of burnt material. The sides of the pit had been 

packed with stone, all of which was fire-cracked. 

The pit contained quantities of burnt clay daub, with impressions of wooden rods and profiles indicating some 

kind of strongly curved construction. A further find in the uppermost fill was fragments of a horse cranium, 

discussed in more detail below. In addition to the burnt clay and animal bone, the fill also contained more than 

200g of slag, which had cooled in piles and of which some fragments still preserved small impressions of charcoal 

pins. Large quantities of burnt clay adhered to the slag. Outside the pit itself, the whole occupation deposit A104, 

into which pit A116 was cut, produced finds of slag - more than 60g in total, mostly distributed in the eastern 

edge of the layer. Posthole A102, also cut into A104 and located 5m to the north-east of the pit, contained a small 

quantity of slag, and a further 29g of the material was found unstratified 2m south of the A116. Posthole A89 also 

contained a small amount of slag. 

During the evaluations at Raä 159, some 22g of slag had been found in the ploughsoil in the vicinity of where 

the pit was later excavated, together with a lump of melted iron weighing almost three kilograms. In the area 

immediately south of the eventual excavation trenches, on the bank of the Lutabäcken stream, evaluation test pits 

located an uncommon source of naturally-occuring iron oxides (röd jord) which could have formed a useful 

resource for metalworking at Höjebacken. 

Taken together, the evidence from the A116 pit, the finds from its fills and from the surrounding area combine 

to suggest that ironworking was carried out at Höjebacken. The burnt clay from A116 implies that perhaps some 

kind of clay cupola shielded the pit, and that the feature represents some kind of metalworking installation. The 

location of the feature in the midst of the ”western” group of non-longhouse postholes suggests further that the 

metalworking may have taken place inside a structure situated adjacent to the main building. As noted above in 

the discussion on buildings in this location, we have insufficient evidence to recosntruct the form of such 

structures if they existed, and it may be that the metalworking area was surrounded merely by a screen of some 

kind. Whatever its external appearence, there is little doubt that the settlement included a smithy. 

A116 

METALWORKING PIT, 0.6m diameter, 0.06m deep 


Circular pit cut into cultural deposit A104. Flat base with gently sloping sides. Fill of dark 

clay with fire-cracked stone. 

Finds: slag, burnt daub, unburnt bone. 

Fig. 5.12 Plan and profile of ironworking pit A116. 

42

Ritual activity - Neil Price 

A horse sacrifice 

In addition to its evidence for ironworking activities on the site, pit A116 also contained material of probable 

ritual character. In the upper levels of its fill were found the compacted remains of the lower jaw of an adult horse, 

together with quantities of other bone material too decayed to identify but which may have represented the rest 

of the skull. The condition of the bones was extremely poor and the deposit had been damaged by truncation of 

the pit; the find could therefore only be excavated as a concentration of bone fragments, for which reason no 

coherent plan could be made. No other horse bones were found at Höjebacken and they are relatively rare finds 

on Viking rural settlements in general. 

Horse burials are known from a number of late Iron Age sites, and form a distinct category of ritual behaviour 

of the period (these burials should not be confused with the interment of horses in human graves). Müller-Wille’s 

study of horse ritual in the early Medieval period focuses on northern Continental Europe and southern 

Scandinavia, and isolates a concentration of offerings of this type in eastern Denmark (1972, 180ff); horse 

sacrifices are most often found in association with watercourses and marshy areas (see Ström 1985, 60-62). 

Except in very rare cases, such as the 8th-century burial of a complete horse in a pit under the defensive rampart 

of Münster (Winkelmann 1966), only selected parts of the animal are usually found. The most commonly 

discovered combinations are found in burials of the cranium alone, the cranium and feet (sometimes with the 

tail), and the feet alone. 

Horse cranium burials of the Höjebacken type are known from several Viking Age sites, of which the best 

preserved Swedish example has come from the excavations at Oxie in Skåne, where a horse cranium was found 

in a pit dug at the entrance to an enclosure. The cranium had been covered with red ochre, and was accompanied 

by a single sherd of Slavic pottery of type AII:3a1, dating to the late Viking Age (Thörn 1994 & 1995). The use 

of red ochre for ritual purposes is known from many cultures and time periods, and it has been suggested that in 

a Viking Age context the pigment may represent a demarcation of boundaries with the unknown (Thörn 1995, 

15); the presence of pottery sherds is also a common theme in such burials, and has its own parallel at Höjebacken, 

discussed below. Another recent example has been excavated at the settlement of Säby (Norrsunda parish, 

Uppland: report in preparation, UV-Mitt), where a horse cranium was found in a pit which also contained a large 

fire-steel amulet ring, the latter dating the deposit to the Viking Age. 

Fig. 5.13 Two Danish examples of horse cranium burial of comparable form to that in pit A116 at Höjebacken. The 

offerings shown were excavated at Sorte Muld on Bornholm (pit 3), dated c. AD 400, and at Vestervig on Jylland, dated 

to the early Roman Iron Age. After Thörn 1995, 19 and Klindt-Jensen 1957 & 1968. 

43

The most common form of horse burial is that of the cranium and foot bones, a combination which probably 

represents a horse hide with the head and hooves attached. The most spectacular examples of horse hide pit-burial 

date to the Roman Iron Age (Thörn 1995, 17-20), from the Danish sites of Vestervig in northern Jylland (Klindt- 

Jensen 1968, 143) and Sorte Muld on Bornholm (Klindt-Jensen 1957, 83f, 175; Møhl 1957); the latter example 

was buried together with pot sherds and bones from cattle, sheep, pig and dog (see fig. 5.13). The hides 

represented by these types of offerings are thought to have been set up on wooden frames prior to their burial, as 

known from ethnographic studies of Siberian and southern European nomad peoples (summary descriptions and 

further references are given by Thörn 1995, 24); the ceremonies associated with such offerings were often of long 

duration and involved the consumption of the flesh of the sacrificed animal. In a Viking Age example, the Arab 

traveller Ibn Fadlan (well-known for his description of a Viking ship burial on the Volga) details a horse sacrifice 

of exactly this kind which he witnessed during his stay among the Oguz nomads in what is now Kazakstan (Togan 

1939, 27). Informative reconstructions of horse-hide scaffolds have been erected at the Historical-Archaeological 

Experimental Centre at Lejre, on Sjælland in Denmark (fig. 5.14). 

In some instances, such as the Oxie example, the finds of horse crania alone have also been interpreted as 

indicating use of the kind of hide scaffold offering described above (Thörn 1995, 33). On this basis, we can 

suggest the presence of a similar sacrificial scaffold at Höjebacken, perhaps set up south of the pit closer to 

Lutabäcken. 

Fig. 5.14 Two reconstructed horse-hide offering scaffolds of late Iron Age type at the Historical- 

Archaeological Experimental Centre in Lejre, Denmark. On the evidence from pit A116, a similar 

scaffold may have been erected at Höjebacken and the head later buried. Photo © Historisk-Arkæologisk 

Forsøgscenter. 

In addition to their burial in pits, remains of horse sacrifices have also been found in bogs, presumably where they 

have been deposited (or into which they collapsed if they had been previously set up on scaffolds). Spectacular 

examples of this type of offering have been found in the excavations at Valmossen in southern Jylland, dated to 

the 4th-5th centuries (Ferdinand 1962), and at the Roman Iron Age site of Skedemosse on Öland (Hagberg 1967; 

Boessneck et al 1968). The latter site has been suggested as the locality for feasts held on the shore of a lake, the 

name of the place deriving from skeið, meaning either a horse-fight or horse-race (Hagberg 1967, 70ff; Davidson 

1993, 91). 

44

The meaning of horse offerings of these kinds is obscure, and most of our descriptive information comes from 

the prose sections of the Medieval Icelandic sagas - a source that must be treated with extreme caution, especially 

by archaeologists unversed in saga research. There is nevertheless substantial evidence of a horse-cult in Viking 

Age society, the animal being often associated with the darker side of magical power and portrayed as an 

instrument of death or destruction (see references to witchcraft in Landnámabók and Eyrbyggja saga and 

discussion in Davidson 1964, 121-2). Horses were also linked to the worship of Freyr, the god of fertility, and 

Vatnsdoela saga, Hrafnkels saga, and Flateyjarbók all contain elaborate - though contentious - references to equine 

rituals and sacrifices associated with the god (cf. Davidson 1964, 97-8 and 1993, 104-5, with references therein). 

Of direct relevance to the Höjebacken find is a curious episode from Egils saga, in which a horse’s head is exposed 

as part of a ritual invoking a curse: 

”Then they got ready to sail, and when they were on the point of sailing, Egil went up 

on the island. He took in his hand a hazel pole and climbed on to a rock that jutted out 

in the direction of the land. Then he took a horse’s head and thrust it on the pole. Then 

he uttered this curse saying, ’Here I erect a Mocking Pole. And I turn this mockery 

towards King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild’ - he turned the horse’s head in towards the 

land - ’I turn this mockery against the spirits who guard this land so that they may all 

wander astray, none reaching nor finding his home until they drive King Eirik and 

Queen Gunnhild from the land.’ Then he thrust the pole into a cleft in the rock and let 

it stand there. He turned the head towards the land, and he carved runes on the pole and 

spoke the full curse. After that Egil went to his ship.” 

(Egils saga 57; tr. Fell 1975, 100.) 

An interpretation of religious overtones in the presence of the horse skull in pit A116 at Höjebacken gains added 

support from its association with evidence of metalworking. The manufacture of metal was of vital importance 

to late Iron Age societies, and there are indications from Norse mythology, mortuary behaviour and 

contemporary graphic depictions that the transformation of ore into worked metal was an activity charged with 

supernatural power. If the activities associated with ironworking were regarded as spiritually dangerous, the 

burial of the horse’s head when the pit was sealed may have been intended to somehow ward off this threat. 

A foundation offering in the longhouse? 

As noted above, no evidence of floor surfaces or other internal features were found in association with the 

Höjebacken longhouse, due to the extreme truncation of the site. However, one feature of unusual character was 

discovered in the central area, which by its location may once have been part of the longhouse. Immediately 

south-east of posthole A82, near the ”middle” of the building if our estimates of its original length are correct, 

was a circular, bowl-formed pit, A76; the feature was 0.75m in diameter and had been truncated to only 0.1m 

in depth. On the base of the pit had been placed several rim sherds of distinctive Viking Age pottery (described 

below), over which had been lain the lower jawbones of a cow and pig. Among these objects was a 48mm-long 

unworked but heavily water-rolled fragment of quartzite veined with feldspar and mica; this type of stone is 

naturally occuring in Närke but not in the immediate vicinity of Höjebacken, and must have been brought to the 

site. 

Although these artefacts could conceiveably be seen as rubbish, their selective nature (animal jaws and rim 

sherds), the care with which they had been positioned, the lack of any evidence for other rubbish disposal or 

burning in the pit, and the feature’s location in relation to the longhouse postholes all point towards an 

interpretation as a ritual offering. The piece of quartzite may be just a coincidental inclusion in the pit fill, but 

may also have had some special significance. 

Pits of this kind, probably created in conjunction with the construction and foundation of the building, are a 

relatively common discovery on Viking Age sites (see Paulsson 1993; Thörn 1995, 21-23), and also occur in 

earlier periods. An almost exact parallel to the Höjebacken pit has been excavated at Bern in Switzerland, where 

three lower jaws from cattle were buried under a wall-line of a building dated to 57-52 BC (Müller-Beck 1963, 

490ff). 

45

A76 



Irregularly circular cut into natural clay sub-soil. Rounded base with gently sloping sides. Fill 

of dark clay. 

Finds: pottery, fragment of unworked quartzite, unburnt bone. 

Fig. 5.15 Plan and profile of A76. 

Possible structures in the northern area - Neil Price 

A possible structure to the north of the longhouse complex is indicated by the two postholes A100 & 101, located 

c. 14m from the cultural deposit A104. Although only consisting of two features, both postholes were very 

sturdily constructed (they are among the most substantial excavated on the site) with heavy stone packings; both 

post were erected with a significant incline to the south-west, implying that they may have been supporting 

buttresses for a structure. With reservations for the limitations of the evidence, but acknowledging the drastic and 

uneven effects that agricultural activities have had on archaeological preservation, it is possible that a building 

once stood to the north of the longhouse. 

Fig. 5.16 Plans and profiles of postholes A100 and 

101. 

A100 

POSTHOLE, 0.4m diameter, 0.4m deep. Post-pipe 

0.2m diameter, 0.3m deep 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with 

steeply sloping sides,with post-pipe with flat base and 

steeply sloping side, both inclined to the south-west. 

Clear packing with 0.1m stones. Fill of dark clay with 

fragments of wood. 

Finds: loomweight, burnt daub. 

A101 

POSTHOLE, 0.6m diameter, 0.4m deep. Post-pipe 0.28m diameter, 0.3m deep 


Circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Rounded base with steeply sloping sides to west and vertical to east, against which is 

a post-pipe with vertical sides and rounded base, both inclined to the south-west. Clear packing with 0.1-0.18m stones. Fill 

of dark clay with large quantities of fire-cracked stone; post-pipe contains remains of wood. 

Finds: burnt daub. 

The fills of both postholes contained very small quantities of burnt clay, but A100 also contained a fragment of 

a ring-formed loomweight of clay (Fnr 242). The loomweight is of Iron Age type, but a more precise dating is not 

possible (see below). 

Possible structures by the Lutabäcken stream - Neil Price 

Three features were excavated south of the central area at the south-eastern edge of the development corridor: two 

postholes A65 & 66, and a hearth A16. Although the modern, canalised course of the Lutabäcken stream runs 

some 30m south of the excavation area, it is estimated from geological observations made during the evaluation 

trenching that in the past the water flowed just below the line of the 35m contour. If this is correct, the 

southernmost features on the Höjebacken site could have been originally situated only 10-15m from the water. 

46

Postholes A65 & 66 were respectively 0.6 and 0.4m in diameter and both survived to a depth of 0.2m; the former 

had a packing of stone. Both posts are of a dimension and depth as to be potentially structural. As with the two 

postholes in the northern area described above, the features south of the longhouse are not sufficient to suggest 

any detailed interpretation. However, like their northern counterparts they are also positive indicators of activity 

by the water’s edge, and probably of the existence of structure(s) there. The postholes contained no finds other 

than animal bone fragments and a single piece of burnt, unworked flint from the fill of A66. Hearth A16 was 

irregular in plan and approximately 1.2 x 0.5m in size, truncated to a depth of 0.1m, and filled with fire-cracked 

stone and fire debris. The hearth contained small quantities of burnt clay. 

A16 

HEARTH, 1.2 x 0.5m in area, 0.1m deep 


Irregularly shaped cut, elognated north-south, cut into natural clay subsoil. Flat base with irregular sides. Fill of dark clay with 

fire-cracked stone. 


A65 



Irregularly circular cut into natural clay subsoil. Sloping sides to a pointed base. Remains of packing with 0.2-0.6m stones. 

Fill of dark clay with soot and wood fragments. 

Finds: burnt daub, burnt bone. 

A66 



Roughly square cut with uncertain edges, cut into natural clay subsoil. Bowl-formed with rounded base. Fill of dark clay with 

wood fragments. 

Finds: burnt daub, burnt flint. 

Stray finds from the southern area show a marked concentration of pottery of Iron Age type, all the more 

noticeable since only two other ceramic clusters were found at Höjebacken - one in the central longhouse area and 

a smaller group in the north-east of the site by pit A21. The southern pottery cluster falls somewhere between the 

other two in terms of size, and indicates either primary activity here or perhaps rubbish dumping near the water. 

Other finds from the southern area include indeterminate scatters of burnt clay and fragments of two unidentified 

iron objects. 

Artefactual and ecofactual evidence - Neil Price 

Pottery 

Fig. 5.17 Plans and profiles of features A16, 65 & 66. 

A total of 81 sherds of pottery was recovered from Höjebacken, including 5 sherds found during the evaluations, 

weighing 147g; a full list will be found in Appendix 2. All the pottery was undecorated. In addition to the 5 

47

unstratified sherds, the pottery was excavated from 6 contexts, as follows: 

A21 Rubbish pit 12 sherds 36g 

A67 Cooking pit 1 sherd 3g 

A76 Ritual deposit? 6 sherds 16g 

A91 Posthole 23 sherds 14g 

A92 Hearth 1 sherd 5g 

A104 Cultural deposit 33 sherds 65g 

Rim sherds were recovered from two contexts, A21 & A76; no base sherds were found. 

Vessels in rubbish pit A21 

Of the sherds in A21, eight can be fitted into rims and four are loose body sherds. The rims represent two vessels, 

seven sherds in one and a single fragment of the other. It is not possible to definitely assign the body sherds into 

any specific vessel, but the three sherds of Fnr 209b match the fabric of rim Fnr 207, while the single body sherd 

Fnr 208 matches the fabric of the rim group Fnr 205/206/209a. 

The first of the two vessels represented by the rims, with sherd groups Fnr 205/206/209a, is light-mid brown in 

clour on the surfaces, with grey margins and core. The fabric is coarse with inclusions of sand, quartz feldspar and 

mica, with a maximum particle size of 2mm. No slip or glaze has been used. The vessel is of a uniform thickness 

of 8mm, clearly inturned at the rim, the top edge of which is markedly flattened (fig. 5.19). No more than the 

upper 29mm of the vessel survives on any of the rim sherds. The rim seems to fit best with the flatter forms of 

Selling’s type AIV:3a1 - one of the commonest forms of domestic pottery from the Viking Age; the form also 

continues into the twelfth century but is most frequently found in late 9th- and 10th-century contexts (Selling 

1955, 166-174). Pottery of AIV:3a1 type has been found in large numbers in the Birka graves, and examples have 

been published from elsewhere in Uppland, Södermanland, Östergötland, Småland, Skåne and Gotland; at least 

one vessel of this type is known from Närke, in an inhumation at Odensbacken in Asker parish (Selling 1955, 

168). Rim sherds Fnr 205/206/209a also resemble Selling’s type AII:3a1 in form, but the inclusions are not 

typical for this fabric. 

The second vessel from A21, represented by a single rim sherd Fnr 207, is of relatively fine quality clay, although 

with coarse inclusions of quartz up to 1mm in particle size. Both interior and exterior surfaces, together with both 

margins and core, are a uniform pale orange indicating a longer firing period than the other vessel in A21. The 

rim sherd is 7mm thick, but only 20mm survives from the top of the vessel. The rim is inturned, with a faint lip 

on the interior edge and rounded in profile. The small size of the fragment makes typological determination 

difficult, but like the other vessel from A21 this fits best with Selling’s AIV:3a1. 

Fig. 5.19 Rim sherd Fnr 205 (rim sherds Fnr 206 & 209 from the same vessel are not illustrated) and rim sherd Fnr 

207, both from rubbish pit A21. Scale 1:1. Drawing: Jonas Wikborg. 

Vessels in foundation offering pit A76 

The rims from A76, the probable foundation offering, comprise all the pottery recovered from that feature; the 

sherds lay directly beneath the jawbones of a cow and pig, as discussed above. Five of the sherds can be re-fitted, 

while the sixth is from a different vessel. 

49

Both vessels represented by the sherds in A76 have a light brown interior and exterior surface, but black cores and 

margins. The fabric is coarse with inclusions of quartz, feldspar, mica and granite rock fragments with an average 

particle size of 2mm, although one quartzite fragment 12mm across is present in Fnr 221. No slip or glaze has 

been used. 

The first vessel from A76, with the five sherds collectively numbered Fnr 221, survives as the top 55mm of the 

pot, including a 37mm circumferential section of the mouth and rim (fig. 5.20). The rim is pointed in crosssection 

and curves inwards slightly, leading down into a very gently bowed profile. The sherd is 4mm thick at the 

rim, broadening to 11mm in the body. Although little of the vessel survives, the rim form is consistent with 

Selling’s type AIV:3a1, described above. 

The second vessel from A76, represented by a single rim sherd 7mm thick (Fnr 222), rounded in cross-section, 

curving inward with a slight lip on the interior edge (see fig. 5.20). Only 20mm of the vessel’s circumference 

survives , but the rim appears closest to Selling’s type AIV:4a or b (1955, 196-203). This form dates to the 9th 

and 10th centuries, and has been found at Birka and on many sites in Uppland, Södermanland, Västmanland, 

Småland, Västergötland and Gotland; numerous examples have been found in Närke in cremations on the site 

of Karlshult in Längbro parish (Selling 1955, 197-199). 

Fig. 5.20 Rim sherds Fnr 221 & 222 from the foundation offering pit A76. Scale 1:1. Drawing: Jonas Wikborg. 

Miscellaneous body sherds 

Body sherds were recovered from four contexts in addition to those discussed above from A21, plus 5 sherds 

recovered from three find-spots during the evaluations. 

The cooking pit A67 produced one sherd, fragmented axially so that only one surface of the pot has survived. The 

surface is light brown, growing darker towards the margin and core, with inclusions of small granite chips and 

feldspar; the finish is very smooth, and may be slightly burnished. What remains of the sherd is 4mm thick. The 

fragment is of Iron Age type, but no closer dating can be reached. 

Posthole A91, in the ”western group” of possible outbuildings, contained 23 body sherds, all highly fragmented. 

Only one sherd retained both the interior and exterior surfaces, measuring 10mm in thickness with inclusions of 

quartz and feldspar; one surface is light orange in colour while the margins, core and other surface are all black. 

The other sherds are of identical fabric, with similar colour, finish and inclusions. The fabric of all the sherds is 

so coarse as to suggest an Iron Age date, and the very close similarity to that found in the dated pottery from the 

pits A21 & 76 argues for the later part of the period. 

A single body sherd was found in hearth A92, and is of different type to other ceramics from the site. Only one 

surface of the sherd survives, but the surface, margin and core are a uniform dark grey; 5mm of the sherd’s original 

thickness remains. The finish is very smooth, although unburnished, and very fine clay has been used. Quartz and 

mica inclusions can be seen, mostly of less than 1mm particle size but a single quartz particle 3mm across can be 

seen. A few thin grass impressions can be seen on the surface. The sherd appears to be earlier than the other pottery 

50

from Höjebacken, and may be from the early Iron Age; alternatively it may represent a fragment of a later 

imported vessel, but this cannot be determined. 

The largest number of sherds from any single context on the site was recovered from the cultural deposit A104. 

No rims were found, but 33 body sherds were excavated, distributed between six of the grid squares into which 

the deposit was divided for more precise finds location. Although sometimes large in size (up to 53mm across), 

the majority of the sherds were highly fragmented and preserved only one, or none, of their surfaces; where both 

surfaces were present, a thickness of 10mm could be measured. One of the sherds was markedly curved, although 

preserving only one surface, and may be part of either a shoulder or perhaps a badly-fragmented base. Inclusions 

of quartz, mica, feldspar and granite chips up to 1.5mm in size could be observed in most of the pieces, and colour 

varied from dark orange to black. As for the finds in posthole A91, the coarseness of the fabric for all these sherds 

suggests a late Iron Age date. Four of the sherds are of a finer clay, resembling the sherd described above from 

hearth A92, and can be similarly dated. 

The five unstratified sherds recovered during the evaluations are of the same type as the bulk of the body sherds 

from A104, and are also of (late?) Iron Age date. 

Summary 

The following list summarises the analysis of the Höjebacken pottery, detailing the ceramics assemblages by 

context, probable number of vessels represented, their type and dating: 

A21 1 vessel (7 rims, ?1 body) Selling AIV:3a1 9th-12th centuries 

1 vessel (1 rim, ?3 body) Selling AIV:3a1? 9th-12th centuries 

A67 1 vessel (1 body) - Iron Age 

A76 1 vessel (5 rims) Selling AIV:3a1 9th-12th centuries 

1 vessel (1 rim) Selling AIV:4a or b 9th-10th centuries 

A91 ?1 vessel (23 body) - (late?) Iron Age 

A93 1 vessel (1 body) - (early?) Iron Age 

A104 unknown no. of vessels - (late?) Iron Age 

(33 body) + 4 (early?) Iron Age 

unstratified unknown no. of vessels - Iron Age 

(5 body) 

It may be seen that at remains of at least 3 vessels of Selling type AIV:3a1 and one vessel of type AIV:4a or b are 

present on the site; the vessels represented by the body sherds may be the same as those from the dateable vessels, 

or may alternatively represent an unspecified further number of vessels. It is important to note that the pottery 

in the ritual pit A76 seems to have been deliberately deposited as sherds, not as a whole vessel which has since been 

disturbed or lost. 

We should acknowledge that the typological determination of the AIV:3a1 vessels is not without its problems, 

but there is nevertheless considerable variation within this type concerning the exact rim profiles. The 

Höjebacken pottery determined to be of this type is consistent with the examples of AIV:3a1 ceramics that exist, 

and the utilitarian function of this pottery poses no interpretational problem in view of the apparent character 

of the settlement. Pottery of this type is also known from Närke, and the Höjebacken material is further consistent 

in its location. 

The Höjebacken pottery thus presents a consistent and unremarkable picture both in terms of function and 

51

dating, comprising for the most part everyday utility vessels from the Viking Age with a general spread of ceramics 

of generic late Iron Age type. The role of the pottery in dating the site is discussed below. 

Loomweight 

A single fragmentary loomweight was found at Höjebacken, recovered from the fill of posthole A100 in the north 

of the site (fig. 5.21). The object was of the flattened disc type, weighed 108 g, was 46mm in cross section and 

measured 35mm across the face of the disc surface; the original diameter could not be determined. 

Fig. 5.21 Loomweight from posthole A100. Scale 1:2. Drawing: 

Jonas Wikborg. 

Loomweights began to appear in the Nordic countries at the 

juncture of the early and late Roman Iron Ages, with the first 

examples being of pyramid form (Jørgensen 1984, 14; 

Stjernquist 1951, 103). Weights of the disk type such as that 

from Höjebacken appear to have gradually replaced the 

pyramid form at the end of the Roman Iron Age and the 

beginning of the Migration period, continuing thereafter 

into the Middle Ages (Stjernquist 1951; Stenberger 1955; 

Hoffmann 1974). On the Continent the disk-form weights 

appear slightly earlier than in Scandinavia, in the main part of 

the later Roman Iron Age (Zimmerman 1982, 131). 

The only single treatment of loomweights in Sweden (Ljungkvist in press) has discussed 61 separate structures 

containing these types of finds, together with isolated finds of the same. The broad typological dating for 

Scandinavia has been found to similarly fit the specifically Swedish material. In the overwhelming majority of 

instances the loomweights can be connected to a building of economic function, separate from the main dwelling 

house on the site - an interesting observation in that the Höjebacken weight was found in a posthole tentatively 

interpreted as part of a structure north of the central longhouse. Although no closer dating can be obtained, the 

loomweight from A100 does confirm that the site was in use sometime in the later Iron Age. 

Slag and iron 

A total of 321.5g of slag was recovered from the excavations at Höjebacken, with a further 22g found unstratified 

during the evaluations (a detailed provenancing of the finds will be found in Appendix 2). The majority of the 

excavated slag came from in and around the metalworking pit A116, as discussed above. 

All the finds are of similar type, consisting of coagulated clusters containing very small quantities of actual slag, 

with large amounts of air bubbles, by-products and vitrified clay. Most of the clusters from the fill of A116 itself 

have flat fragments of burnt clay adhering to them, and the largest slag fragment has preserved fine impressions 

of charcoal pins. The slag all represents debris from a smithy, confirming that iron production took place at 

Höjebacken. Slag of this type is not intrinsically dateable, and is of a kind produced from the Iron Age through 

to post-Medieval times. However, the context of the Höjebacken finds, being recovered from deposits containing 

late Iron Age and Viking pottery, confirms that the slag is prehistoric. 

Apart from a horseshoe fragment recovered as an unstratified stray find south-west of pit A21, the excavations 

produced only two unidentifiable fragments of iron, both from the cultural deposit A104. During the 

evaluations, a lump of melted iron weighing 2927g was found in the ploughsoil near the site of the metalworking 

pit A116 and a total of 88.2g of iron fragments were found at various points over the area of Raä 159. It is not 

possible to date any of these finds, but the melted iron may also derive from the late Iron Age smithy. 

52

Animal bones 

A descriptive osteological report on the Höjebacken animal bones is presented below as Appendix 3, but a 

summary of the material can be given here. 

The fills of the majority of cut features on the site contained bones, but on the whole the osteological assemblage 

from the site was small, consisting of only 623g of burnt and unburnt bone in 618 fragments. In view of the 

statistically invalid sample which so small an assemblage represented, only a summary analysis was carried out in 

order to gauge roughly what kinds of livestock or food remains had been present in the settlement. Species could 

be determined for 406g (125 frags.) of the total, leaving 217g (493 fragments) undetermined. 

Cattle bones predominated in the small assemblage both in terms of weight and fragment count (326g, 60 frags.), 

followed in weight by horse (35g), sheep/goat (25g) and pig (19g). In fragment count alone, cattle were followed 

by pig (32 frags.), horse (20 frags.) and sheep/goat (12 frags.). No discernable pattern could be identified either 

by distribution of the bones in the excavated features, or by the type and parts of the species represented. Burnt 

and unburnt bones frequently occured in the same contexts, and again no pattern could be discerned in this 

respect (see fig. 5.22). 

With the exception of two legs of lamb, all the bones were of adult animals. Most of the bones exhibited butchery 

marks. Although any conclusions drawn from so few bones should be treated with caution, the preponderence 

of crania and bones from the extremities (see Appendix 3) implies that at least cattle and pig were slaughtered onsite, 

having been either reared there or brought to the settlement on the hoof. The general lack of bones 

representing food remains may mean that garbage was disposed of in an area of the site outside the excavation 

trench, but alternatively may imply that meat was processed on the site and then transported away for 

consumption somewhere else - a suggestion of a provisioning network which unfortunately cannot be confirmed 

from the minimal sample available. 

Dating - Neil Price 

The artefactual and typological dating for the site is summarised below, and the results of 14 C analyses carried out 

on carbon samples from Höjebacken are presented. The dating evidence is then discussed in the specific 

archaeological context of the settlement. 

Artefactual and typological dating 

With a proviso for the intrinsically undateable material such as the daub and slag, all the dated artefacts from the 

site are from the Iron Age. Finds such as the single loomweight can be assigned no more specific date than this, 

but the most secure dating comes from the pottery, among which at least four of the vessels represented are 

definitely from the Viking Age, with their characteristic inward-curving rims. Although one fragment of pottery 

from A92 and four sherds from the A104 deposit appear to be from the early part of the Iron Age, the fabric of 

the majority of the body sherds matches that from the Viking Age rim sherds. This suggests that the greater part 

of the ceramic assemblage from Höjebacken dates to the end of the later Iron Age. The iron fragments and the 

evidence for ironworking can be dated to the Iron Age or later, with the archaeological context of the 

metalworking pit A116 arguing for a date in the Viking period (see below). 

Although all the finds from the site represent simply terminus post quem dating, in the absence of any material 

unequivocally later than the end of the Viking period we must conclude that the artefacts provide a more-or-less 

accurate reflection of the date of the features in which they are found, naturally subject to context-specific 

considerations such as residuality and intrusion. 

Very little typological dating can be derived from the fragmentary remains of the longhouse, as not enough 

survives of the building to be able to even firmly establish its plan, let alone to date its form with any security. In 

the light of the uniformly Iron Age profile of the finds and the dating of features possibly associated with the 

53

longhouse itself (such as pit A76, see below), we can nevertheless note that the plan - such as we have it - is not 

inconsistent with an Iron Age date. The possible outbuildings in the central area, and the suggested structures 

north and south of the longhouse, are too poorly preserved to enable any form of typological dating to be applied. 

14 C analysis 

Two samples of charcoal were submitted for 14 C analysis at Uppsala University’s Tandem Laboratory. The 

samples were taken from the hearth A113, cut into cultural deposit A104, and from charcoal in the fill of posthole 

A90, interpreted above as part of either the north-eastern wall of the longhouse or one of its other phases of 

construction. 

The results of the analysis were as follows: 

Lab. no. Context 14 C-years BP Cal. 1 sigma Cal. 2 sigma 

Ua-10039 A90, posthole 1160 ± 60 AD 780 - 982 AD 692 - 1017 

Ua-10040 A113, hearth 1645 ± 80 AD 263 - 537 AD 238 - 616 

The samples were analysed by Göran Possnert and Maud Söderman at Uppsala University, and calibrated by 

Oscar Törnqvist of Arkeologikonsult, using the program developed by the Quaternary Isotope Laboratory at the 

University of Washington, incorporating the calibration curve of Stuiver and Becker (1993). The implications 

of the 14 C datings are discussed below in the context of the settlement. 

Dating the settlement 

The settlement evidence from Höjebacken consists primarily of the longhouse and the remains of rebuilds and 

outbuildings in the central area, with equivocal indications of further structures to the north and south; to these 

may be added the small number of pits and hearths in and around the cultural deposit A104. 

Three features could conceiveably be dated to the early part of the Iron Age on the basis of artefactual or scientific 

analyses: hearth A92 with early Iron Age pottery, cultural deposit A104 with four sherds of the same ware, and 

hearth A113 with a 14 C date in the Roman Iron Age. Although both the pottery and - arguably - the radiocarbon 

date suggest at least some activity on the site in the early Iron Age, we have no firm grounds for reconstructing 

such a settlement. A single 14 C date is insufficient for any kind of secure dating, and the four sherds of early pottery 

from A104 must be viewed as clearly residual given that the same layer also contains 29 sherds of apparently late 

Iron Age ceramics. Since the only surviving occupation deposit on the site contains finds of predominantly late 

Iron Age type, the carbon date from hearth A113, which cuts A104, must be regarded as particularly suspect. 

Only the third feature with early material, hearth A92, remains as a possible early feature. 

With the exception of this single hearth, the greater part of the excavated features can be most plausibly 

interpreted as belonging to the later Iron Age. We may firstly consider the longhouse, and in particular the ritual 

pit A76. If this cut is a foundation sacrifice as suggested above, then its connection with the longhouse would seem 

secure through its location; the firm pottery dating to the Viking period, and its interpreted context as a 

foundation offering, would therefore suggest a similar date for the building. This interpretation is strengthened 

by the stratigraphic relationship of the structure’s north-western gable with the occupation deposit A104, which 

is cut by postholes A102 & 120. 

Deposit A104 contained finds of slag over most of its area, doubtless deriving from the metalworking pit A116. 

This finds distribution suggests that the period during which the pit was in operation probably represents the 

time in which the layer was last in use as an open surface. On the basis of the ritual deposition of a horse’s head, 

pit A116 can be most feasibly interpreted as of Viking Age date. This dating, when extended to the whole of layer 

A104, also links with the suggested date of the longhouse. 

If the postholes of the ”western group” outside the longhouse have been correctly interpreted as part of a structure 

associated with the manufacture of iron, this posthole group may also belong to the Viking period. The postholes 

55

of the ”eastern group” of possible outbuildings contain both slag and late Iron Age pottery, implying that these 

too are broadly contemporary with the main features of the central area. Furhtermore, the radiocarbon sample 

from posthole A90 produced a date in the Viking Age (though we must acknowledge a similar degree of caution 

about this isolated dating as for that from hearth A113). While we have no way of confirming the exact 

chronology of the rebuilding work around the Höjebacken longhouse, the finds enable us to establish at least a 

general late Iron Age continuity among these features, with a marked emphasis on the Viking Age. This 

approximate dating can be extended to the other features of the central area such as the cooking pits A15 and A67, 

both with late Iron Age ceramics, and the rubbish pit A21 with Viking Age pottery. 

Outside the central area, the plough-soil surrounding the southern postholes A65 & 66 and hearth A16 also 

produced several sherds of late Iron Age pottery, suggesting a similar dating to the central area. The two northern 

postholes A100 & 101 contained no ceramics, but the Iron Age loomweight fits the general picture. 

In summary, the excavated features from Höjebacken can be dated as follows: 

Occupation layer A104 Viking Age contains late Iron Age pottery; finds indicate 

contemporaneity with pit A116 

Metalworking pit A104 Viking Age late Iron Age pottery; horse’s head burial of Viking 

Age type 

Longhouse Viking Age Viking pottery in foundation offering; cuts A104 

”Western group” postholes late Iron Age cut A104; may be associated with pit A116 

”Eastern group” postholes late Iron Age / Viking late Iron Age pottery; Viking Age 14 C date 

Northern postholes Iron Age loomweight 

Southern postholes late Iron Age late Iron Age pottery 

Outlying features (pits etc.) late Iron Age / Viking late Iron Age and Viking pottery 

Although the dating evidence for Höjebacken is not substantial, this is a common feature of rural excavations on 

truncated open field sites. With this in mind, we can nevertheless conclude - within the limitations of the material 

- that the settlement dates primarily to the Viking period, with antecedants stretching back to perhaps the Roman 

Iron Age. This interpretation is supported by the site’s close proximity to the late Iron Age stone-settings in the 

nearby cemetery (Raä 5) on the Höjebacken ridge itself. 

Discussion - Neil Price & Gun-Britt Rudin 

The situation of the settlement 

The localisation of prehistoric rural settlements in relation to topography and geology has been a subject of 

considerable debate in Sweden, and a number of regional patterns have been proposed. The cultural geographer 

Mats Widgren (1983, 120) has suggested that settlements of the early Iron Age were usually established on 

poorly-drained ground, often in the vicinity of wetlands. He further argues that during the later Iron Age a 

movement can be distinguished towards better-drained land, perhaps in connection with an increased emphasis 

on agricultural cultivation at the expense of large-scale cattle economies (1983, 121). 

A brief survey of settlements in Närke reveals that the topographic situation of Höjebacken is quite different to 

that of other sites in the area. The Raä 16 settlement at Kvismaren in Norrbyås parish is located at the north-west 

end of a ridge (Hedman 1978, 9), while the site at Skävi, Raä 222 in Viby parish south of Lake Viby also 

supported a settlement on relatively well-drained ground (Bergold & Holm 1994). Until the early 90s sites such 

as Höjebacken, situated on the flat clays without any direct association with rock outcrops, were almost unknown 

from central Sweden. In the last few years however, a number of settlements of exactly this kind have been 

discovered, such as the early Iron Age sites of Kärsta (Björksta parish, Västmanland) and Lundbacken (Tillinge 

parish, Uppland: both sites Hulth & Norr in press), and a Viking Age longhouse at Aspbacken (Tortuna parish, 

Västmanland: Price & Wikborg in press). Although no other sites like this have been found in Närke, this 

56

situation may soon change as new evaluation and desk-top assessment methodologies lead to more such 

discoveries. The Höjebacken settlement would therefore seem to be not an exception, but rather one of a growing 

number of perhaps rather typical sites situated on the clay plains. 

Höjebacken and Viking Age rural settlement in the Mälar valley 

In discussing the excavations at Höjebacken it is first necessary to acknowledge that the archaeological remains 

are generally meagre, and provide us with - at best - a severely limited view of the settlement of which they once 

formed a part. The excavated area of the site seems to have consisted of a central longhouse, rebuilt or altered 

several times on the same spot; a foundation offering seems to have been made in a pit near the centre of the 

structure. Remains of two further buildings were found, one either side of the main longhouse. One of these 

outbuildings was probably a smithy, in which a pit for metalworking was later used for the probably ritual burial 

of a horse’s head. Posthole evidence, albeit limited, suggests additional structures both north of the longhouse and 

also to the south, by the ancient course of Lutabäcken. The area between the buildings was used for rubbish 

dumping, food preparation in cooking pits, and open air hearths. We have no way of knowing if the settlement 

was much larger, or if the ”empty” areas within the excavations once contained structures which have been 

ploughed away. In this context it should be emphasised that if we accept the settlement’s association with the 

cemetery on Höjebacken ridge (Raä 5) and the field systems at Raä 10, then the spatial extent of the site’s 

catchment area is considerable. 

Despite the limitations of the material from Höjebacken, the site is invested with a considerable degree of 

importance by virtue of the extreme scarcity of Viking Age rural settlements in central Sweden. Although much 

work has been devoted to the distribution of cemeteries from the later Iron Age, and the consequent patterns of 

settlement that can arguably be inferred from them (cf. Ambrosiani 1964; Hyenstrand 1974; Broberg 1990), very 

little hard data has been gathered through the excavation of settlement sites themselves. The excavations at 

Höjebacken have little to contribute to the debate on the contrasting Iron Age settlement models based on the 

isolated farmstead or nucleated village respectively (see Fallgren 1993), and the discussion here will concentrate 

on more direct parallels for the site among the known Viking Age settlements of eastern Svealand. 

Närke 

Hansson has estimated Närke’s population in the Viking Age to have been between 9600 and 16100, using 

figures based on the ledung ship levy with variation for average ship’s crew sizes of 25-42 men (Hansson 1989, 

59). Using the median figure of 11 people per farmstead (see Hansson 1989, 59-60 for a discussion of the 

calculations) this would give a settlement pattern of around 870-1460 Viking Age farms in the province. 

Before the excavation of Höjebacken, a Viking Age rural settlement had never been found before in Närke. 

Indeed, the province’s general dearth of registered monuments referred to above in chapter 3 is such that in 

Riksantikvarieämbetet’s recent publication of their national database of prehistoric structures, not a single 

excavated building from any prehistoric period is registered in Närke (Göthberg et al 1995); one of the editors of 

this Hus och gård volume also notes that of the 600 structures entered in the database it is those from the Viking 

Age which form the smallest minority (Göthberg et al 1995, 13). 

Even beyond the category of settlements, the paucity of Viking Age non-funerary remains of any kind in Närke 

is shown by Hansson’s careful cataloguing of all known ironworking sites in the province. The total of 67 

localities from the Iron Age and early Medieval period includes only a handful of Viking Age ovens and 

ironworking sites, found at Stadsäga 1897 in Kumla parish, Lunna 2:17 in Hammar parish, Läggesta 3:2 and 

Stadsäga 42 in Askersund parish, Våglyckan 1:2 in Viby parish, and Tjugesta 3:2 in Glanshammars parish 

(Hansson 1989, 122-128). All the features were dated by 14 C analysis, including several questionable samples 

taken from charcoal found in the overlying plough-soil. None of the sites produced any identifiable settlement 

remains, although several were found near late Iron Age graves, which may be expected to indicate settlement in 

the vicinity. 

The Höjebacken settlement’s connection with the Raä 5 cemetery on the ridge of the same name is interesting in 

several respects. A footpath connects the Höjebacken ridge and cemetery with the settlement, a track which is 

57

known from the earliest map records in the 17th century and which may be several centuries older. The same path 

continues past the site of the settlement and up to Åby church, an early Medieval foundation and the oldest 

known church from the tract. The grave-field is by far the largest known from the Iron Age in the area, and its 

juxtaposition with the oldest church, all located at the later parish centre, may imply that the Höjebacken 

settlement was of considerable importance in the Viking Age. Hansson’s study of Örebro härad, in which Axberg 

parish and Höjebacken are situated, suggests that it was created in the Middle Ages from up to four earlier härad; 

Axberg lies together with Kil, Hovsta and Eker parishes in the northern conjectural Viking Age härad (Hansson 

1989, 48-49). 

Since Höjebacken stands alone in Närke at our present state of knowledge, we must turn to sites in the other 

Mälar provinces for our comparisons. 

The eastern Mälar provinces 

In many ways the picture generated by Pär Hansson’s work in Närke is repeated in the other provinces of eastern 

central Sweden, where the overwhelming majority of Viking Age remains consist simply of insubstantial and 

uninterpretable scatters of pits and hearths, sometimes with a few postholes, dated by an isolated 14 C sample or 

finds. Few conclusions can be drawn from such material, and it is not even certain that these sites represent 

settlements at all (as opposed to areas of general activity), quite apart from providing any information as to their 

character. 

To date, only 11 confirmed Viking Age settlement sites with remains of structures have been found in eastern 

central Sweden (fig. 5.23). Ten of these have been found in Uppland, one in Västmanland and none at all in 

Södermanland - a distribution which mostly reflects the routes of the E18 and related roads, in conjunction with 

the construction and periodic alteration of which many of the sites have been discovered. Höjebacken is thus the 

twelfth Viking period settlement to have been found in the Mälar valley, and the first from the province of Närke. 

Two of the settlements are of a markedly different character from Höjebacken, and are coincidentally the only 

two of the sites to have been fully reported: Birka and Helgö. The terrace-built longhouse near the so-called 

rampart at Birka (Holmquist Olausson 1993, ch.7), must be seen in the context of the development of the trading 

centre on Björkö. It is possible that the longhouse buildings at Helgö (see Holmqvist 1961; 1964 & 1970 as 

interpreted in Reisborg 1994) may have been spatially organised in a similar fashion to what appears to have been 

the case at Höjebacken, but as yet the overall pattern and chronology of occupation at Helgö is poorly understood 

(see Herschend’s 1995 critique). In particular it is uncertain whether the site represents a small trading emporium 

or one or more wealthy farms which moved around the island over time (see Carlsson 1988; Lamm 1988). 

Perhaps the closest parallel to Höjebacken is another site of which only a narrow corridor has been excavated, 

coincidently also as part of the Mälarbanan project. At Aspbacken in Tortuna parish, Västmanland, a hitherto 

unknown settlement was found in the form of a 30m-long post-built hall, the largest and best-preserved building 

of the period known so far from central Sweden (fig. 5.24). Although no other contemporary structures were 

found, the topographical situation of the hall suggests a similar settlement structure at Aspbacken to the 

Höjebacken - a large, central building with surrounding ancilliary structures, located near a watercourse. A 

cremation cemetery of comparable size to that at Raä 5 on the Höjebacken ridge was also excavated at Aspbacken, 

producing exceptionally rich material giving us a valuable insight into the inhabitants of a stormannagård in 

central Sweden (Price & Wikborg in press). 

Four of the other sites, all in Uppland, also have parallels with what we know of Höjebacken in terms of the 

apparent spatial organisation of the settlement: a focal longhouse with adjacent outbuildings and, perhaps, 

additional structures some distance away. However, the sites at Sanda (Fresta parish), Granby-Hyppinge 

(Orkesta parish), Gredelby (Knivsta parish) and Farsta (Gustavsberg parish) are situated differently in the 

landscape, with the longhouse being constructed on an artificial terrace and (at all the sites except Gredelby) in 

the vicinity of rock outcrops. 

Although none of these sites have been fully published, it is possible to reconstruct their general forms of 

settlement. The most complete is the settlement at Sanda, located on what was in the Viking Age a small island 

58

north-east of Birka in Lake Mälaren (see Åqvist & Flodin 1992 and Åqvist 1995; Hagberg 1991). The Sanda 

settlement occupied a low outcrop with close proximity to water. A series of longhouse structures had been 

erected from the 6th century onwards, grouped parallel or at right angles to one another, with at least five 

longhouses in use simultaneously by the 8th century. In the late 9th century the organisation of the settlement 

changed, with a decrease in the number of longhouses and a growth in small ancilliary structures. By the end of 

the Viking Age, only one large hall building remained, surrounded by smaller outbuildings (figs. 5.25 & 5.26). 

At our present state of knowledge it would appear that this later phase is the settlement type that most resembles 

the Höjebacken complex, focusing as it does on a single longhouse on a raised terrace overlooking several smaller 

structures. However, as yet we know too little of the Höjebacken settlement to rule out the presence of several 

quite large buildings to the north and south of the 

site. The settlement at Sanda continued in 

occupation well into the Middle Ages, unlike 

Höjebacken which seems to have been abandoned 

at the end of the VIking period. 

61 

Fig. 5.25 The late Viking Age phase at Sanda, 

dating to the eleventh century, showing the main 

longhouse with open spaces bordered by smaller 

ancilliary structures. After Åqvist 1995, 36, with 

Medieval structures removed. 

Fig. 5.26 An artist’s reconstruction of the 11th-century phase at Sanda, shown in fig. 5.25. Drawing by Håkan Ljung, 

after Åqvist 1995, 34. 

The site at Granby-Hyppinge is less-extensively researched than Sanda, excavated in 1989 by amateur volunteers 

in association with Stockholm University, RAÄ and local societies (see Carlsson 1989; Hedman 1989; Hagberg 

1989). The site was only partially investigated as one element in a wider landscape study, but slot trenching on 

a low hill revealed a single main longhouse terrace, with smaller buildings grouped around on the lower levels of 

the rock. Only a very small area of the longhouse was investigated (fig. 5.27) - a pattern repeated over the rest of 

the site - and little is known of the exact character of the rest of the settlement. Surveys of the outcrop and finds 

material from the keyhole trenches have enabled a basic reconstruction to be made (fig. 5.28).

At Gredelby the settlement was more topographically similar to Höjebacken, and also focused on a single main 

longhouse with outbuildings. Excavated in 1985, the site produced settlement remains from the early Iron Age 

to the Viking Age, together with cemeteries and stone string systems (see Svensson 1985; Andersson & 

Summanen 1987). The buildings of the Migration period were overlain by a large terrace structure similar to that 

at Granby-Hyppinge, supporting a 19m longhouse with a subsidiary construction to the west (fig. 5.29). The 

buildings were enclosed by fenced fields. 

62 

Fig. 5.27 Plan and preliminary reconstruction 

of the longhouse at Granby-Hyppinge, showing 

the limited extent of the excavated area. After 

Carlsson 1989, 51. 

Fig. 5.28 Reconstructed view of the Granby-Hyppinge stormansgård. Note the grouping of the buildings around 

exposed rock faces, the central one of which has an elaborate runic inscription. Drawing by Anders Hedman after 

Hagberg 1989, 30. 

The fourth of the sites with terraced longhouses has been found at Farsta, in Stockholm’s inner archipelago 

(Backe 1994; Price & McCracken 1995). Although only evaluations have been carried out on the site, a 20m-long 

terrace-built longhouse was located, with 14 C datings to the Viking Age. The terrace was surrounded by rock 

outcrops, in the spaces between which seem to lie structures, as at Sanda and Granby-Hyppinge. Interestingly, 

when the higher Viking Age water level is taken into account it appears that the Farsta settlement was situated on 

a small peninsular, forming a discrete boundary to the site. On an island a few tens of metres to the north was the 

settlement’s cemetery, similar in form to that at Höjebacken. 

This spatial relationship between the settlement and cemetery has a parallel at Höjebacken, where we may note 

that the Viking Age people seem to have been willing to cross the Lutabäcken stream to bury their dead. Whether 

this can be explained by simple topographic factors or by something deeper, such as religious belief, is a matter 

for conjecture. It is nevertheless interesting to consider the possible importance attached to the presence of 

running water between the living and the dead. 

The remaining four sites, at Pollista (Övergran parish), Hässleby (Börje parish), Skäggesta (Litslena parish) and 

Bålsta (Yttergran parish) - again all in Uppland - exhibit a more compact settlement form than what we currently

know of Höjebacken, but the small size of the sample at the latter site makes such comparisons difficult. The 

settlements seem to have been composed of small groups of 1-4 longhouses tightly grouped at angles to one 

another or around some kind of central space as at the other sites cited above; Pollista has a number of rock 

outcrops betwen the buildings as at Granby-Hyppinge and Farsta. However, further comparisons are at present 

impossible since all four sites have been published in - at best - interim form and the available reports concentrate 

on the longhouse architecture rather than the sites in context (Cf. Göthberg et al 1995). The well-preserved 

longhouse from Hässelby has been published only in the Uppsala student journal Fjölnir (Knutsson 1982; 

Forsåker 1982 & 1984a; Landell 1988) with a short additional summary (Forsåker 1984b), and discussed by 

Herschend (1989); the long-houses excavated at Skäggesta and Bålsta have been reported only in summary 

(Göthberg & Söderberg 1987 and Göthberg 1989 for Skäggesta; Karlenby 1987 and Göthberg 1989 for Bålsta). 

One of the Skäggesta longhouses, over 40m long and at first thought to be from the Viking Age but later 

radiocarbon-dated to the Vendel period, has been impressively reconstructed at full-scale in the Open Air 

Museum at Vallby, near Västerås. Pollista has been published in slightly more comprehensive form, but only 

sketch plans have appeared (cf. Svensson 1987; Hållans 1987), with a generalised discussion (Åqvist & Flodin 

1992). In the case of all four sites, the location of activity areas, functional differentiation and the spatial 

organisation of the settlements cannot be readily determined from the available material. 

Conclusions 

Fig. 5.29 A reconstruction of the Viking Age longhouse at Gredelby. Drawing by Anders Eide, 

after Andersson & Summanen 1987, fig.8. 

As this brief survey of the evidence from eastern central Sweden has shown, the Höjebacken settlement is of an 

exceptionally rare variety. Although poorly preserved, it gives us our first look at a Viking Age community in 

Närke. The apparent settlement form of a main longhouse with ancilliary buildings, including a smithy, situated 

near water and with a small cemetery nearby, is in general accordance with the picture of other contemporary 

settlements in the Mälar valley. The foundation offering and horse sacrifice give us a glimpse of the religious 

thought-world of the Höjebacken people, again in forms typical for the period and the region. Clearly, if any 

future opportunities arise for further excavation at Höjebacken the site must be prioritised. In a wider context, 

more research and rescue investigations are urgently needed in the Mälar provinces, especially those other than 

Uppland, if we are to broaden our understanding of Viking Age rural settlement in the kingdom of the Svear. 

63

Tekniska och administrativa uppgifter 

Administrativa uppgifter 

Länsstyrelsens beslutsnummer: 220-06040-94 

Arkeologikonsults projektnummer: MBM502 

Riksantikvarieämbetets diarienummer: 2166/93 

Uppdragsgivare: MIAB (Mälarbanans Intressenter AB) 

Belägenhet 

Fastighet: Kvinnersta 1:3 

Socken: Axberg 

Kommun: Örebro 

Län: Örebro 

Landskap: Närke 

Ekonomiskt kartblad: 105 63 

Koordinater: Sydväst - X 466996,412 Y 582111,677 

Fornlämningsnummer: Raä 159 

Personal 

Ansvarig grävledare: Ola Nilsson och Leif Rubensson 

Arkeologer: Mikael Brandt, Nicholas Nilsson, Cecilia Ring, Gun-Britt Rudin 

och Ylva Stenqvist 

Undersökningen 

Undersökningstyp: Slutundersökning 

Utförandetid: 930901-930914 

Arkeologtimmar: 320 

Maskintimmar: 80 

Undersökt yta: 1560 m² 

Koordinatsystem: Rikets 

Höjdsystem: RH00(RH90) 

Förvaring av fynd och dokumentation 

Fynd: Statens Historiska Museum 

Fotografier: Arkeologikonsult AB 

Ritningar och övrig dokumentation: ATA 

64

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Manuscript. 

Reisborg, S. 1992. Särskild utredning, byråinventering, Arboga-Örebro. Manuscript. Arkeologikonsult AB, 

Upplands Väsby. 

Schortz, K. 1983. Mellan Svear och Göter. Närke och omvärlden under yngre järnålder-tidig medeltid. Seminar 

paper. Arkeologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. 

Other sources 

Fornlämningsregistret. Riksantikvarieämbetet Stockholm. 

Geologkartan SGU Ser. Ae nr 6. 

Lantmäteriverket. Gävle. 

68

Appendix 3. Osteologisk analys 

Av Louise Evanni 

Följande analys är utförd på ett benmaterial som påträffades i samband med en arkeologisk slutundersökning av 

en boplats från yngre järnålder vid Höjebacken (Raä 159, Axbergs sn, Närke). Undersökningen utfördes av 

Arkeologikonsult AB under sommaren 1993. 

Benmaterialet omfattar totalt 623 gram eller 618 st brända och obrända ben. Av dessa kunde 405 gram eller 124 

st artbestämmas medan resten, 218 gram eller 494 st var obestämbart. 

Det analyserade benmaterialet bestod uteslutande av djurben och följande arter fanns representerade; nöt, svin, 

häst och får eller get. 

Den djurart som dominerar är nöt, både vad gäller fragmentantal och viktberäkning (60 st fragment eller 326 

gram) följt av häst (35 gram), får/get (25 gram) och svin (19 gram). Ser man till fragmentantalet följs nöt av svin 

(32 st fragment), häst (20 st) och slutligen får/get (12 st fragment). I detta sammanhang bör dock nämnas att 

benen bitvis var kraftigt fragmenterade, förmodligen p g a uttorkning i samband med utgrävningen och således 

är fragmentberäkningarna ej så representativa. 

Benen uppvisar enstaka slakt- och styckspår. 

De flesta benen härrör från vuxna individer, förutom två ben som kommer från ett eller två lamm. 

Då benmaterialet är förhållandevis litet bör inga slutsatser dras av resultatet. Dock bör noteras den förhållandevis 

höga andelen häst. 

Benlista 

Anl 16, Fnr 201 

17 fragm obest obr 1 gram 

7 fragm obest bränt 1 gram 

Anl 18, Fnr 203 

1 fragm obest obr 1 gram 

Anl 20, Fnr 204 

8 fragm mandibula Bos taurus obr 16 gram 

Anl 21, Fnr 210 

4 dentesfragm Sus domesticus obr 2 gram 

1 ” Ovis/Capra obr 1 gram 

1 Pm ” obr 3 gram 

1 M ” obr 6 gram 

1 phalanx III ” obr 1 gram 

1 os zygomaticum (orbita)Sus domesticus obr 5 gram 

36 obest obr 18 gram 

21 obest brända 3 gram 

1 phalanx III Ovis/Capra bränt 1 gram 

Anl 65, Fnr 211 


69

Anl 67, Fnr 213 

17 dentesfragm Bos taurus obr 32 gram 

3 scapulafragm, Bos taurus obr 29 gram 

(antagl 1dx och 1 sin) 

1 MC Ovis/Capra obr 4 gram 


Anl 69, Fnr 216 


Anl 70, Fnr 217 


Anl 71, Fnr 218 



Anl 73, Fnr 219 


1 femur sin/dx? Ovis/Capra obr 2 gram 


2 obest brända/svedda 1 gram 

Anl 76, Fnr 220:Antagligen är alla ben från samma ben (underkäke) 

20 mandibula Bos taurus obr 46 gram 

9 dentesfragm ” obr 2 gram 

3 Pm ” obr 36 gram 


Anl 76, Fnr 224 


6 mandibulafragm ” obr 4 gram 


Anl 77, Fnr 225 

1 obest bränt 1 gram 

Anl 78, Fnr 226 


Anl 79, Fnr 227 


Anl 81, Fnr 228 


Anl 82, Fnr 229 

41 obest (ev coxae och vertebrae obest) obr 42 gram 

1 dentesfragm obr 1 gram 

Anl 85, Fnr 231 


Anl 86, Fnr 231 


70

Anl 89, Fnr 233 


Anl 91, Fnr 236 

1 M Bos taurus obr 29 gram 



Anl 92, Fnr 237 


Anl 96, Fnr 239 



Anl 97, Fnr 240 

2 obest (ev kranium) obr 1 gram 

Anl 99, Fnr 241 

2 obest (costae?) obr 1 gram 

Anl 102, Fnr 244 


Anl 115, Fnr 245 


Anl 116, Fnr 246 

1 Pm uk Equus caballus obr 15 gram 

4 fragm mandibula Eq caballus? obr 13 gram 

15 dentesfragm Eq caballus obr 7 gram 


Anl 119, Fnr 249 



Anl 120, Fnr 250 


Anl 104, Ruta A, Fnr 251 


Anl 104, Ruta E, Fnr 254 




Anl 104, Ruta M, Fnr 256 

1 tibia sin Bos taurus obr 19 gram 

2 ” ” ” obr 17 gram 


Anl 104, Ruta N, Fnr 259 

1 talus sin (i sex delar) Bos taurus obr 37 gram 

71

9 dentesfragm ” obr 5 gram 



Anl 104, Ruta O, Fnr 262 

4 dentes obr 1 gram 


Anl 104, Ruta P, Fnr 264 

5 MT Bos taurus obr 26 gram 

7 os coxae Bos taurus obr 26 gram 

4 dentesfragm Ovis/Capra obr 3 gram 



Anl 104, Ruta Q, Fnr 267 

1 talus dx Ovis/Capra juvenil obr 4 gram 

1 Pm ” ” obr 1 gram 

3 dentesfragm Bos taurus obr 6 gram 



72

Höjebacken

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