Nature and Culture Trail Hamnskogen

2. Archeological Finds

In 2007 a sword was found here. During a small-scale archeological investigation of the area a metre-long sword was found just under the surface. Its point was wedged in among the roots of a hazel bush. The sword is believed to be from the 16th century and is now on display in the History Museum in Stockholm.

There is a row of stones right next to where the sword was found. They were probably placed here several hundred years ago and may have formed a border to the water which in those days came right up to this point.

There has been a lot of speculation about who might have lost the sword. The early 16th century was a period when Sweden was heavily involved in war with the Danes. Ships used to anchor at Djurhamn on their voyages to and from Stockholm. The Danish fleet was at Djurhamn several times and we know that Swedish and Danish kings and nobles like King Christian and Gustav Vasa visited Djurö. The Djurhamn sword probably belonged to one of the nobility and it’s tempting to imagine that it might even have belonged to Gustav Vasa.

Archaeological investigations are not very common in the archipelago. More often than not they are begun when new buildings are erected or new roads built. As there is not much new building done in the archipelago there hasn’t been much investigation. However, there have been a few exceptions - prehistoric graves have been found at other places in the archipelago during road construction.

But most of the archaeological finds in the archipelago have been made by accident. A case in point was when farmhand Josef Jansson was out ploughing a field on a farm in the 1940s and found a pair of golden Viking arm rings.

To get to stop number 3 go back to stop number 1 and follow Eriksbergsvägen.