Sweden finds a Viking shipyard

Everyone knows the image of Vikings in their boats, off to raid (or trade) with the world, but Swedish archaeologists have now found, for the first time, a shipyard where many of the boats were built.

Located in Birka, also known to Swedes ‘Vikingastaden,’ or ‘the Viking city’ on Bjorko island, the site is “the first of its kind, but the finds convincingly show that it was a shipyard,” according to Sven Isaksson of Stockholm University.

Birka itself is part if a Unesco World Heritage site, and an example of city-like trading posts that grew in the area during the Viking era throughout the Nordic countries.

“Through systematic inventory, mapping and drone surveys, we can now show that Birka, in addition to the urban environment, also has a very rich maritime cultural landscape with remains of everything from jetties to boat launches and shipyards,” Isaksson said.

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