Scandinavian Aggression

Kalmar is a place best known for its impressive castle and its significant role in the formation of the aptly titled Kalmar Union in 1397: the formal alliance of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a single monarch. The union, of course, didn’t last; Denmark’s decision to commit the Stockholm Bloodbath and Gustav Vasa’s subsequent, ultra-glorious rebel-rousing, cross-country skiing expedition made sure of that. But that’s a story for a different day and a different website. Today we’re here to admire the Iron Age graves that lurk in the shadow of the local IKEA.

The graves are spread across a fragmented patch of ground on the western edge of Kalmar’s urban core. The overall area is ringed in by the tarmac of Kalmar Öland Airport, the E22 motorway, a discontiguous mix of light industrial and commercial strip development (home to the aforementioned IKEA), and, admittedly, some scenic agricultural fields. Because the historic complex has also been criss-crossed by several local roads, it’s not exactly an entirely intact unit. Despite all of that, the relics that remain are surprisingly extensive and, in spots, actually feel quite secluded. Signage in the area provides information and insights to the past; everything falls under the rubric of Iron Age because the overall dating is approximately from the years 500 to 1050, a rather large range that includes both the Viking Age and the Vendel Period. The site was first inhabited long before then but this is the time period into which the remaining vestiges of the past fall.

Brukshagen, the eastern patch of land (i.e. east of Trångsundsvägen, past the headquarters of the local chapter of the national Swedish dog trick-and-training club) is smaller than its neighbor to the west, but easier to access. Here, you’ll find a designated walking trail that leads to the top of a hill where several domarringar are located. A domarring is a ring made of large stones, and the Swedish word suggests its purpose has to do with judgement; the term comes from a past misunderstanding that such rings of stone served as sites for judgement—essentially a sort of a small, pre-viking “thing” site. But the reality is that domarringar are graves for people who were more important/wealthy/powerful than the average man or woman. In the vicinity of these domarringar are also traces of ancient stone farm walls.

Across Trångsundsvägen in the direction of the local airport and adjacent to a large rapeseed field lies the more extensive burial ground of Tjuvbackarna.¹ Beyond it are those of Mobackarna and Hagbygärde, but we’re going to focus on Tjuvbackarna. Unlike Brukshagen, Tjuvbackarna is less, shall we say, cultivated. Now, it definitely shows signs of present-day human touch, but it doesn’t play host to the same sort of designated pathway and signage. There’s one sign at the entry, and then you are free to cross the threshold and meander to your heart’s content. And there are many graves here; the official number is 70. Different sizes of stones and different stone arrangements abound; the site includes stensättningar (basically, “stone settings,” essentially a flat pattern of stones usually in a circular formation), rösen (cairns, thus in comparison to stensättningar, the stones are piled up but not necessarily to the degree that may come to mind, at least at Tjuvbackarana), and domarringar.

Most of the graves at Tjuvbackarna are stensättningar. While some excavations were done in the 1930s, most of the graves have remained generally undisturbed, which is apparent in the growth of the moss (and the fact that people seldom visit this generally off-the-radar site, at least for its historic qualities). And to cap it all off, resplendent the oak trees everywhere help complete the setting for a truly tranquil, ancient grave site for anyone who enjoys visiting such places.

POSTSCRIPT FOR MASSHOLES

While conducting important research into local beers and drinking habits at Hjalmars Bar one fine evening in central Kalmar, I learned from several friendly (and uncommonly outgoing) residents that the local accent involves dropping the R.

Thus, it is not: Det är Kalmar som fan! It is: Det eh Kalmah som fan!

Translated, it is not: It’s fucking Kalmar! It is: It’s fuckin’ Kalmah!

1. Meaning “The Hills of Thieves,” one wonders where the name Tjuvbackarna comes from. ↩︎