KORSHAMN, SWEDEN—The Local Sweden reports that Johan Runer of the Stockholm County Museum, Sven Kalmring of the Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, and Andreas Viberg of Stockholm University used ground-penetrating radar to conduct geophysical surveys at the site of the ancient Viking trade center of Birka, located on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren. They think they have found a Viking manor hall that may have belonged to the king’s royal bailiff. The hall measured more than 130 feet long and dates to the period after A.D. 810. The research team also found a fenced area connected to the hall that may have been used for religious activities, including the first known Christian mission to Sweden, in the early ninth century, by Saint Ansgar, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. For more, go to “Hoards of the Vikings.”
