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Storms, ships, and shovels : A trans-Holocene history of the Gullåkra wetland

Fauvelle, Mikael LU orcid ; Ling, Johan ; Artursson, Magnus ; Lagerås, Per LU ; Potter, Richard ; Linderson, Hans LU ; Rundgren, Mats LU ; Campanaro, Danilo Marco LU orcid ; Blaesild, Paulina LU and von Arbin, Staffan , et al. (2025) In The Holocene p.1-6
Abstract
The Gullåkra wetland is located around 5 km south of the modern city of Lund and around 2.7 km east of the important Iron Age settlement of Uppåkra in Scania, southern Sweden. In the 1840s, a remarkable discovery was made in the wetland: a bronze lur dated to c. 1300 BCE, along with a boat and the bones of a large animal offering. As Bronze Age boats are exceedingly rare, this discovery makes the site highly significant for early Scandinavian maritime history. In 2023, excavations were carried out with the goal of relocating the boat discovered in the 19th century and assessing any additional remains within the wetland. Unfortunately, peat mining in the early 20th century drastically altered the landscape, obscuring its pre-industrial form... (More)
The Gullåkra wetland is located around 5 km south of the modern city of Lund and around 2.7 km east of the important Iron Age settlement of Uppåkra in Scania, southern Sweden. In the 1840s, a remarkable discovery was made in the wetland: a bronze lur dated to c. 1300 BCE, along with a boat and the bones of a large animal offering. As Bronze Age boats are exceedingly rare, this discovery makes the site highly significant for early Scandinavian maritime history. In 2023, excavations were carried out with the goal of relocating the boat discovered in the 19th century and assessing any additional remains within the wetland. Unfortunately, peat mining in the early 20th century drastically altered the landscape, obscuring its pre-industrial form and limiting further study. Although the boat could not be found, interdisciplinary methods, including dendrochronology, carbon dating, and sediment analysis, enabled the reconstruction of the wetland’s trans-Holocene history. Evidence of significant human and natural events was identified spanning the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and early modern periods. The investigation underscores the enduring importance of wetlands as sites of human activity and ritual throughout prehistory. While the boat remains elusive, the Gullåkra wetland continues to demonstrate its potential for future discoveries relevant to the early history of southern Sweden. The study also highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches in reconstructing long-term human and environmental histories. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Bronze age, maritime archaeology, mesolithic, paleoecology, peatlands, wetlands
in
The Holocene
pages
1 - 6
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:105007134061
ISSN
0959-6836
DOI
10.1177/09596836251340846
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cca8b908-cba9-4462-9640-192703798590
date added to LUP
2025-05-31 14:10:17
date last changed
2025-06-14 04:02:54
@article{cca8b908-cba9-4462-9640-192703798590,
  abstract     = {{The Gullåkra wetland is located around 5 km south of the modern city of Lund and around 2.7 km east of the important Iron Age settlement of Uppåkra in Scania, southern Sweden. In the 1840s, a remarkable discovery was made in the wetland: a bronze lur dated to c. 1300 BCE, along with a boat and the bones of a large animal offering. As Bronze Age boats are exceedingly rare, this discovery makes the site highly significant for early Scandinavian maritime history. In 2023, excavations were carried out with the goal of relocating the boat discovered in the 19th century and assessing any additional remains within the wetland. Unfortunately, peat mining in the early 20th century drastically altered the landscape, obscuring its pre-industrial form and limiting further study. Although the boat could not be found, interdisciplinary methods, including dendrochronology, carbon dating, and sediment analysis, enabled the reconstruction of the wetland’s trans-Holocene history. Evidence of significant human and natural events was identified spanning the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and early modern periods. The investigation underscores the enduring importance of wetlands as sites of human activity and ritual throughout prehistory. While the boat remains elusive, the Gullåkra wetland continues to demonstrate its potential for future discoveries relevant to the early history of southern Sweden. The study also highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches in reconstructing long-term human and environmental histories.}},
  author       = {{Fauvelle, Mikael and Ling, Johan and Artursson, Magnus and Lagerås, Per and Potter, Richard and Linderson, Hans and Rundgren, Mats and Campanaro, Danilo Marco and Blaesild, Paulina and von Arbin, Staffan and Nielsen, Anne Birgitte and Horn, Christian}},
  issn         = {{0959-6836}},
  keywords     = {{Bronze age; maritime archaeology; mesolithic; paleoecology; peatlands; wetlands}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--6}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{The Holocene}},
  title        = {{Storms, ships, and shovels : A trans-Holocene history of the Gullåkra wetland}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/220303401/Fauvelle_et_al_2025_-_Gullakra_Wetland.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/09596836251340846}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}