Valsgärde
Valsgärde, sometimes spelled Vallsgärde, is a Swedish farm where the dead were buried in ships for more than 300 years. That is a long time for any family, or any dynasty, to keep returning to one patch of ground. Who were the people laid to rest here? Why did a single farm gather so many graves of such wealth? And why do some of them look almost the same as burials found in England? The answers are still debated, and they begin with where the farm sits.
Three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the Fyris river flows past the farm. Gamla Uppsala was the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden, so the cemetery lay within easy reach of the most important place in the land.
The first ship burial at Valsgärde dates to the 6th century. The last graves were dug in the 11th century. That span carries the cemetery through the Vendel Age, which belongs to the Iron Age and runs from about 550 to 793, and on into the Viking Age.
The farm that stands there today is far younger than its graves. It dates only from the 16th century, which is several centuries after the final burial.
In the 1920s, archaeologists found the cemetery and began to excavate it. Until then, graves of this kind had been known from only one other place, Vendel, whose name had been given to the whole period.
The work did not end with the first digs. A 1930 article in the journal Fornvännen by Allan Fridell described the first ship burial at Valsgärde, in Gamla Uppsala parish. Greta Arwidsson later published full studies of the graves numbered 6, 7 and 8, in 1942-1954 and 1977.
The research kept widening. In 2002, Bengt Schönbäck wrote about the order in which the Viking Age boat graves were made. In 2021, Christopher Nichols published a study of domestic dog skeletons from the cemetery in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Nichols went on to study three dogs from a boat grave cemetery at the Prästgården in Gamla Uppsala, in a 2024 article.
Across the sea in East Anglia lies Sutton Hoo, probably dated to the years 610-635. Its richest burials are almost identical to the princely graves of Valsgärde.
The resemblance is the surprise at the heart of the site. Two places in different countries, with a sea between them, produced burials so alike that they invite direct comparison. The probable date of Sutton Hoo falls well inside the centuries during which Valsgärde was in use.
That match is one reason scholars call the Swedish graves princely. It also sets up a harder question about the people inside them.
There are so many rich graves at Valsgärde that most of them were probably royal. Beyond that cautious judgment, the identity of the dead is open.
One theory ties them to the Ynglings, also called the Scylfings. Another sees them as powerful warriors who served within the Leidang system. A third imagines local strongmen who grew wealthy through trade.
The trade theory leans on geography. Valsgärde sat between the fjord of Mälaren and the important region of Tiundaland, a position that could have made a farm rich from the traffic passing through.
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Common questions
Where is Valsgärde?
It is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala in Sweden.
How long was the Valsgärde burial site used?
It was used for more than 300 years. The first ship burial is from the 6th century and the last graves are from the 11th century.
Why is Valsgärde compared with Sutton Hoo?
Its princely graves are almost identical to ones at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia, which are probably dated to 610-635.
Who was buried at Valsgärde?
No one answer is settled. Theories include the Ynglings (Scylfings), powerful warriors within the Leidang system, or local strongmen enriched by trade. Most of the many rich graves were probably royal.
When was the site excavated?
Archaeologists found and excavated it in the 1920s. Before that, similar graves had been found only at Vendel.
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