- Gettlinge
Gettlinge is a village in the southwest portion of the
island ofÖland ,Sweden . It is known for its impressive Viking stone ship burial ground. [cite web
url=http://www.family-ancestry.co.uk/history/vikings/burial_sites/ |accessdate=2007-01-21
title=The Viking Burial Sites
author=Jennifer Tumanda|publisher=Family Ancestry] Gettlinge is situated on the western fringe of theStora Alvaret , aWorld Heritage Site designated byUNESCO . [Hakan Sandbring and Martin Borg, "Öland: Island of Stone and Green", May, 1997] The site is readily visible from the perimeter highway, Route 136. Gettlinge, as most prehistoric burial sites on Oland, is established on the low lying ridge, described by Hogan as a geological formation of thickened soil in thisalvar region of otherwise extremely thin soil mantle. [ [http://www.luminatechnologies.org/luminaarc.html C. Michael Hogan, "Prehistory of the Alby People, Öland, Sweden", Lumina Technologies, July 9, 2006] ] This ridge was one of the few places on the southern part of the island that had sufficient soil depth for creation of burial mounds.Situated at the fringe of the
Stora Alvaret , the Gettlinge site and environs contains a number of rare andendangered species of both plants and animals, but most of thesespecies are seasonally blooming wildflowers that flower in the late spring and summer. Beneath the soil layer where burials are placed is an extensivelimestone formation, which is the source of most of the local building materials, which has supporteddrystone construction since medieval times. The standing stones of the Viking ship itself aregranite , whichmorraine materials were pushed here from the mainland byice age glacier s.Geology
At Gettlinge as for much of the island of Öland, bedrock layers are primarily
Ordovician limestone that dates to at least 600 million years ago. [L.K. Königsson, "TheHolocene History of the Great Alvar of Öland", Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 55, Uppsala (1968)] Most of the limited supply oftopsoil was created from glacial grinding of the limestonebedrock , which action created the nearly flatalvar formation. ["The Countryside of Eastern Smäland", ed. by Markus Forslund, published by Kalmarsund, Tryck (1999) ISBN 91-630-7610-1] It was the end of the last ice age which led to uplift, creating the landform that is now the island of Öland.The village of Gettlinge, as well as the precursor civilizations from Stone Age to
medieval time, is primarily developed on a narrow low lying ridge running north/south parallel to the Baltic coast. This ridge is the only place (except forbeach sands) along the southwestern coast that soil extends more than the two centimeter maximum of the Stora Alvaret. The ridge was formed by wave action during the post-Ice Age uplift. Therefore this thicker soil layer provided the only hospitable place for building foundations, burial grounds and agriculture.History
The earliest settlers in Öland built early
Stone Age woodenhut s; the best examples of such excavatedprehistoric dwellings are found a few miles to the east present village of Alby.Archaeological excavations conducted over a period of years in the latter 1900s have revealed evidence ofbear ,marten , seal andporpoise , but also elucidateMesolithic hunting and gathering technologies through discovery ofbone spear s,elk antler harpoon s andflint . These earliest inhabitants would have crossed the Kalmar Strait from the mainland toward the end of the lastIce Age ,Hakan Sandbring and Martin Borg, "Öland: Island of Stone and Green", May, 1997] before the glacial cap had fully melted, and thus provided anice bridge . The settlements of the Stone Age are key resources on Öland that led to the UNESCO designation of the Stora Alvaret as a World Heritage Site.The principal evidence of life in the Gettlinge area from 1000 BC to 1000 AD is derived from the
gravefield s themselves. The Gettlinge Gravfeld is situated near the coast highway and contains someBronze Age barrows as well as the more prominent stone ship burials, making it one of the largest gravefields on Öland. These burials span the lateBronze Age ,Iron Age andViking periods. Some of the individual standing stones are thought to predate the Viking era. Numerous artifacts have been recovered from gravefields elseshere on Öland, includingbronze chains and abone needle case.Viking graves have also been found at the
Hulterstad Gravefield as well as the extensiveStrandvalle Gravfeld, both on Oland. These findings imply that Gettlinge was a link within a chain of Viking settlements concentrated on the southern coasts of Öland, although most Viking settlements were actually found on the southeast of Öland having better access to the open sea.Ecology
The first scientific study of the
biota of the Stora Alvaret occurred in the year1741 with the visit ofLinnaeus to Öland. [Carl Linnaeus, "Öländska och Gothländska resa", Stockholm, Sweden (1745)] Linnaeus described this unusual ecosystem: "It is noteworthy how some plants are able to thrive on the driest and most barren places of the alvar". Somerelict species from the glacial age are among theflora palette of the Stora Alvaret. A wide variety ofwildflower s and other plants are found on the limestone pavement ecosystem. Some of the species found includestonecrop ,dropwort , "Artemisia Oelandica" (endemic to Öland),Common spotted orchid and kidneyvetch . Most of these wildflowers bloom from May to July.Numerous grasses are found on this alvar including Meadow Oat-grass and
Sheep's Fescue ; as would be expected from the occurrence of orchids, manyfungi grow on the Stora Alvaret such as "Hygrocybe persistens" and "Lepiota alba". The alvar here is known for its severely dry conditions, evidenced by the dried appearance of ground cover and grasses in the upper right photo.ee also
*
Alby People
*Eketorp
*Viking References
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