Ajvide

About

The Ajvide Settlement (Swedish: Ajvideboplatsen) is located in Ajvide, Eksta, on the western coast of Gotland, Sweden. It covers an area of 200,000 m2 (2,200,000 ft2) and was occupied from the Late Mesolithic through to the mid Bronze Age. The majority of the activity on the site took place during the Middle Neolithic period (3100 – 2700 BC). This phase of activity belongs to the Pitted Ware culture. Around 2900 BC, the site suffered from a marine transgression.

Archaeological excavations: Since 1983, Stockholm University and later the Gotland University, have conducted archaeological investigations at the property. Inger Österholm together with Göran Burenhult, both professors of archeology at Gotland University, conducted much of the recent research on Neolithic Gotland, including the Ajvide Settlement. The principal feature of the site is a burial ground containing some 80 graves. In some cases the graves are occupied by more than one individual, whilst others may be cenotaphs. Most of these graves date to later than the main phase of Pitted Ware activity. Adjacent to the cemetery, to the east, is an area of very dark soil that contains a mixture of artifacts, pottery and bone...