Birka: Maritime Archaeology

Hello everyone,

Last week I had an amazing opportunity to go to Birka, an UNESCO world heritage site, to learn about the current maritime archaeology being done in the viking village's harbor. Not only did I learn a lot about the public archaeology program implemented by Sockholm's Maritime Museum, but I also got to help out at a real archaeology site, which was so fun. When I was researching Sweden for my project, the head of the archaeology unit for the Maritime Museum gave me the contact information for Nina Eklöf, who runs the Swedish part of the Shipwer Project (which I'll discuss below). When I reached out to Nina, she invited me to come to Birka at the end of August during their excavation. It was a wonderful two days on the island of Birka.

Going to Birka

To get to Birka, I had to take a 2-hour ferry from the city hall pier in Stockholm. There is one boat trip every day, where visitors take the ferry out, stay on the island for three hours, and then take the boat back. There are no hotels or inns or places for tourists to stay on the island. The island, by the way, is called Björkö, but I'm just going to refer to it as well as the heritage site as Birka for simplicity's sake. Outside the buildings for the heritage site, Birka is mostly uninhabited. There is a village where about eight people live year-round and a handful of summer homes. Also, sailors can dock their boats to spend the night. But in general, visitors go to Birka for a day-trip. I, however, was invited to stay the night at the farmhouse where the archaeology unit was staying. Nina told me to tell the people on the boat that I was visiting her, and I could take the boat for free. It was kind of cool to be able to say, "I'm visiting Nina Eklöf" and to get a free ferry ride! (Later, at the museum shop, I got to say I was working down at the site, and I got the personnel discount! That was also exciting).

The ride out was lovely, although quite chilly above deck. The guide (who later gave the tours in Swedish and English on the island) gave some historical information on islands as we passed them. While I had already been to part of Lake Mälaren when visiting Julie's island, I was still struck by the beauty of the area. After staying mostly in the city for a few weeks, it was great to be out in nature again.

The Museum and Tour

When I arrived at Birka, I had an hour and a half before the tour. Nina had told me to take the English tour and then go to the excavation site. The museum was small, but had a lot of interesting information on the viking times at Birka. There was even a video, where two young kids wandered around Birka and learned about the archaeological work being done on site today. Birka was a very important trading center during the viking era. Because of this, there are many items from all over the world found on site. While the village itself was relatively small, its role as a trading center makes Birka an extremely valuable window into the past.

What's nice about Birka is that after around 970 AD, the island was mostly uninhabited. Because of this, the viking-age finds are all the first layer beneath the surface. Nothing is covered up by newer ruins.

I took the tour up to some burial grounds near where the old village was. The guide explained that there are many types of burials on Birka. Some people are cremated, others are not. Some are buried in traditional viking mounds, others in mounds shaped like ships, and still others in buried boxes similar to coffins. The diversity of burial mounds shows that many different types of people were in Birka for trading. It also represents the changes of values and beliefs as Birka transitioned from a purely pagan to Christian-influenced society.

Hill of viking burial mounds

A viking burial mound

While excavations at Birka have been going on since the 1700's, there is still a lot of untouched ground. The guide explained that Birka is not only a historical site, but also could be considered a site on the history of archaeology. Archaeology has been in Birka's past for the last 300 years or so. Today, archaeologists believe it is important to leave some excavating to future archaeologists. This is partially because excavating takes a lot of time and money, but also because they recognize that future archaeologists might have better tools and technology to excavate. While a lot is left undisturbed underground, that which has been excavated is reverted back to its old look after the process is complete. For example, the guide pointed to a burial mound which had been excavated, and it looked no different from any other. As for the areas not yet excavated, archaeologists have done thorough geo-surveys of the historical site. They can learn a lot about what is under the surface without actually breaking ground. And in the future, people will know exactly where to dig!

During the tour I learned that Lake Mälaren is actually lowering. This means that the current island is substantially bigger than it was during the Viking Age. When Birka was an active trade center, the water was 5 meters higher than today.

Looking from the heritage site towards the village

Hill where old walls of village were

After the tour, I wandered down to the viking harbor to meet Nina and learn about the maritime archaeology site. The harbor itself used to be surrounded by huge palisades to protect against enemy ships. While only part of the harbor is still underwater because of the water lowering, there's still a lot to find through maritime excavations.

Looking down at harbor excavations

Maritime Archaeology Site

Once I arrived, Nina showed me around the site and I met a few of the archaeologists. This excavation was being done through the Sjöhistoriska museet, which is the Maritime Museum in Stockholm. (Side-note: The Swedish National Maritime Museums consist of three museums: The Maritime Museum, the Vasa Museum, and another maritime museum in a different part of Sweden). This is the third year the Maritime Museum has been excavating at Birka. They work for three weeks in August on-site. The two years before then, they were here surveying. On site, Nina Eklöf is the public archaeology leader. There is also a field leader, Andreas Olsson, an assistant field leader, Jens Lindstrom, and many archaeologists who dive, sieve, record, and work on other parts of the site. Finally, there is Sanna Starke, a woman from the National Historical Museum, who archives the findings.

That first day I learned about how a maritime archaeology site functions. Out in the water, two divers in dry suits excavate together. They work in a square of space at a time, working down through various levels. The divers excavate in a trench they've created. The findings for each square and level section are put into big plastic boxes. While they are underwater, they can communicate with an archaeologist on the dock through a headset.

Dive site is beyond the dock

Headset lets archaeologist on land
communicate with divers underwater

Diver getting reading to go underwater

Diver getting out of water

The boxes of findings are then brought up to the sieve area. Each section must be sieved through in order to find any fragments of animal bone, any wood which has been worked by hand, and any other finds like rope, fabric, or amber. Mostly there are chips of wood and pieces of rock to sift through. Any mud or clay can be washed off by pouring water over the sieve.

Sieves

Sieves (with bin on the side)

Sieving

Once something is found, it is put to the side and cleaned off in water. All bones go into a plastic bag labeled with the square, the level, and 'Bones.' All other findings are also put into a bag and labeled "General findings." A little water is put into these bags, so the findings are not damaged after having been underwater since the 900's. These bags of unregistered findings are then put into bins in the big storage room. The leftover chips of wood and pieces of rock are thrown onto a tarp, so the sieve is free for more sieving.

Bones that I sieved out

Me, sieving in action on Day 2!

The general findings and bones bins

Sanna takes the findings and archives them on her computer. She showed me how she labels them by number, where they were found, and any other important information. She also takes pictures of them with their categorization number below, for records.

Sanna's field station

Textile and its number categorization

Findings on display for the public

A recent finding on display for visitors

From visiting the site, I learned all about what goes into running a maritime archaeology excavation.

Also on the site were sign-boards with pictures from last year's finds and this year's finds. Some blog posts from the archaeologists and some newspaper clippings were also there. In the last few days, a few articles had been written about the Birka excavations, so Nina said they'd add those to the signs soon. They purposefully did not have permanent signs, but rather wanted something simple which could be easily updated.

Sign-boards

There was a trailer on site with a bathroom and some storage (I never went inside, so I'm not sure what else was there!) as well as two large shipping crates, one of which held the dive gear and equipment, and the other which held the findings. A tent was also erected, under which Sanna did her archiving.

The trailer

Shipping crate for dive gear

Shipping crate for findings, trailer, and tent for archiving

My Time at the Site: Day 1

After being shown around, I learned from one of the archaeologists how to sieve. I must admit, at first I was really nervous. I wasn't exactly sure for what I should be looking, and I didn't want to miss anything! I probably put more in the 'General findings' pile than necessary. But by the end of the day, I became comfortable knowing what was bone, what was a tooth, and what pieces of wood were shaped by humans. From sifting to labeling bags with my findings, I thought it was incredibly cool to 'play archaeologist' for the day. I mean, I got to hold an animal's tooth which has been underwater for over 1000 years. How cool is that?

That afternoon, someone had found a stake which was quite intact, and even had some paint on it! A few days before, some fabric had been found. When looking at it, I could even see where it had been sewn. I was really impressed by the findings at the site.

My Night on Birka

After the archaeologists finished for the night, we took the boat to the island's restaurant. On the way, we dropped off a few people on the island across the water, where they could get their cars and drive home for the night. The restaurant was closed, of course, since all the tourists left on the 2:30pm boat. The archaeology unit eats there every night for the 3 weeks they are on Birka. I enjoyed Swedish meatballs with potatoes and lingonberry jam. I was hesitant to eat jam with meatballs, but as Jens said, that's what they serve at Ikea, so clearly it is the epitome of Swedish culture. I also learned that if meatballs are eaten with pasta instead of potatoes, the side is ketchup, not lingonberry jam. Interesting. During dinner we discussed saunas, mosquitoes, and the return of the US show Dallas. They were all excited about it coming back. I didn't want to bring up that I am too young to have watched the original.

To get to the farmhouse for the night, we had to take the boats around the island. On the way, I went with Jens and a Finnish archaeologist, Maya, to check out a potential wreck. Jens explained to me that another researcher had done a huge survey of the area using underwater sonar, and he had picked up some places where the bottom was uneven. Jens had been asked to check out some of these locations with his sonar to see what was underwater. While I had heard of underwater sonar before, it was great to see it in action. He lowered the 'fish' behind the boat, and on the screen I could see the lake-bed. We could see some large rocks and some schools of fish. When we got to the location, the uneven floor turned out to be a ledge, not a wreck. But with technology like this, someone could find lots of wrecks in Lake Mälaren. Of course, this would require a lot of time and patience, too.

Sonar

We then went to the farmhouse for the night. Nina told me that this house has been used by many archaeology units over the decades. I got to stay in my own little room. With a pillow! (For those of you who don't know, I've been staying in an apartment that didn't come with bedding. So I bought a king-sized sheet and a pillowcase, and have been sleeping with the sheet folded over like a sleeping bag and my Wellesley sweatshirt folded inside a pillowcase as my pillow. So having a pillow was quite a luxury!)

I really appreciated that Nina invited me to stay the night, not only so that I'd have more time at the archaeology site, but also so I could spend some time with the archaeologists and see what it's like to live on site, even if only for a night.

Morning on Birka

The next morning, they all left to go to the site around 7am. The night before Nina told me there was no reason to go that early, and that I should show up around 11am. That gave me time in the morning to wander through the little village to the church. This church was built in honor of Ansgar, a missionary at Birka. It was built on the 1100 anniversary of his arrival.

Church

Church

Historic Site, as seen when walking through village

I enjoyed wandering through the small village and through some fields of sheep. I ended up back near the museum, and I explored the reconstruction of the viking village and harbor. This is what they think the homes and boats would've looked like.

Reconstructed Viking homes

Reconstructed viking boats

At this time it was around 10am, so there were no other tourists on the island. The ferry arrives at 11:30am every day. I walked up through the burial grounds to the large stone cross above Birka. This cross was built to honor Ansgar on the 1000 anniversary of his arrival. I sat up there and looked out over Birka. I really enjoyed being the only person at the site. I mean, how many people can explore a world heritage site with no one else around?

The Cross up at the site

Looking down on the village from the site

Looking out at the lake from the cross

The cross

Looking down on Birka from the cross

View of the lake from the cross

Looking back up at the cross from the historical site

After eating my breakfast and enjoying the view a little longer, I meandered down to the harbor for my second day at the excavation.

My Time at the Site: Day 2

I started my second day at the site by sieving through boxes from the old trench. The old trench was the trench from last year. However, some things have moved around and fallen to the bottom, so there are still a few boxes for this year which need sieving. I worked with a volunteer from the Maritime Museum who was on-site last year, too. I had lunch with the crew, and I got to see them discuss the diving schedule for that afternoon. Some people would be working in the trench, while others went out surveying other parts of the harbor.

After lunch we kept sieving, and that's when I found a piece of amber! I had already made a pile of bones and such, but I pulled out this circular piece, with a little indentation in the middle, and after washing it off I realized it was amber. A few of the archaeologists came over and they were excited, and of course, I was excited! How cool is it that while sieving, I found a piece of 1000-year-old amber. That was an amazing moment.

Where I found the amber

Me holding the amber

Me and the 1000-year-old amber!

Labeled Amber 

The Maritime Museum has a video blog for the excavation, and the piece of amber I found was featured in it! Check out this video, and sorry that it's not in English. In it, Sanna shares the recent findings at Birka. At 0:22, she talks about the amber piece! You can also see some other great finds from Birka, as well as someone sieving. Watch here: http://vimeo.com/48158859

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon talking to Sanna and Nina. I also saw an archaeologist sketching a log which had been discovered earlier.

Sketching a log from the harbor

Archiving Process

That afternoon I learned more about archiving from Sanna. She explained that usually she would be doing this work back at the National Historical Museum. This was her first year on-site. It's all part of the public archaeology project, so that people can see all the different jobs on a maritime archaeology site. It also gives Sanna the opportunity to interact with the archaeologists and ask questions. She said she enjoys seeing from where these findings come, rather than handling them with no context back in the museum in Stockholm.

Sanna also explained that after the excavation is done, these findings will go to the Maritime Museum. The more exciting pieces will be kept there for an exhibition. They also must decide what to preserve, as the wood, rope, and other findings need some sort of preservation process after having been underwater for so long. Any other findings are sent to the National Historical Museum to be kept in storage. This is where all findings from any Swedish archaeology site end up.

Shipwer Project and Public Maritime Archaeology

I had a chance to discuss with Nina the Shipwer Project and its other components. The Shipwer Project is an Estonian and Swedish initiative on shipwreck history and heritage. It is composed of three institutions in Estonia and the Maritime Museum in Sweden. Nina said that in Estonia, the Shipwer Project is working on archiving their shipwrecks. In Sweden, they have a more comprehensive database of shipwrecks, although it is always expanding.

When I asked about what other programs she does with the Shipwer Project, Nina said she goes to elementary schools to teach children about maritime archaeology. One thing they do is teach the kids how to use a program that has archaeological sites archived. The kids can input their addresses and add Google Earth to see what types of sites are near their homes. This way, they can get excited about local heritage.

Of course, the maritime archaeology site at Birka is part of the Shipwer Project. This is considered a public archaeology site. Nina explained that for the on-land excavations during the 1990's, there was a fence between the archaeologists and the public. Visitors could lean over the fence to look down on the site, but they were clearly not a part of this. At the harbor excavation, the public can read about what's going on with the sign-boards, they can help sieve through the findings, and they can talk directly with the archaeologists. There's even a video showing what kinds of things the divers are doing underwater.

Video of archaeologists working underwater
(Sorry for the glare)

This site is extremely interactive, and visitors can see what goes on from the start (with the divers) to the finish (with Sanna's archiving for the museum). By not closing off the site, Nina and the other archaeologists invite the visitors to feel like they are part of the excavation. I certainly felt like that during my short time there.

By running educational programs and having these public sites, the Maritime Museum follows a philosophy of engaging the public in their research. I saw first-hand how visitors enjoyed sieving through the findings, talking to Nina about what was going on, and seeing from where these amazing artifacts come.

Some visitors sieving at the archaeological site

There are, of course, always difficulties in getting the public's interest. Nina has been working with the boat/tour company to try to get more visitors down to the site. But with only three hours on the island, it is hard for a visitor to spend much time at the archaeological site. They have been getting some good press through the news and newspapers, so hopefully each year they are there, more people will come out to the site.

Final Thoughts

I consider my visit to Birka the most memorable thing I've done in Sweden. Not only was finding that amber a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but spending two days with a working maritime archaeology unit was unbelievable. I think the concept of public archaeology is fascinating, and it seems like a great way to not only raise awareness of the underwater heritage at Birka, but to engage people in the process of collecting and preserving this heritage. The Shipwer Project is a great example of how Sweden values its underwater heritage not only in the realm of research and archiving, but as something which should be shared with and promoted to the society.

The Public Maritime Archaeology Site