Eketorp Castle

Entrance gate

patio

The eketorp in Alvar in Degerhamn on the Swedish island of Oland is a reconstructed Fornborg on the foundations of an older plant.

history

The first castle in the inhospitable area in the south of Öland was built in the Iron Age (around 300 n. Chr.), To the 13th century in three phases rebuilt and extended, and at the time of Christianization abandoned.

The 4th century castle was a round complex with a diameter of about 57 meters, of which the curtain wall and the radial interior buildings are essentially secured. In the 5th century it was torn down and a new curtain wall with a diameter of about 80 meters was built around the old center. There were around 50 cells within the curtain wall, some of which were on the inside of the wall, later also in the center (picture).

At the end of the 7th century the second plant was abandoned and remained unused for about 300 years. The curtain wall was rebuilt in the 11th century, but the stone interior was replaced by wooden houses. Instead, there was a second outer circular wall sector, through which, directed counter-clockwise, i.e. militarily nonsensical, access to the complex was regulated. The once three-door facility was limited to one entrance at that time. There are 15, and probably another 18, such systems on Öland.

The annular wall and with battlements provided parapet were rebuilt according to the type of the second settlement. The interior development consists of stone houses of the second and wooden houses of the third phase of use. A selection of the 26,000 finds made during the excavations is shown in the museum within the reconstructed houses of the complex.

The classification of Eketorp Castle as a refuge is controversial.

reconstruction

The great archaeological reconstruction project of the ring castle began under the name Eketorp Rediviva in 1978. Its initiators and supporters such as Bengt Edgren from the National Antiquities Authority believe that this is the way to bring the archaeological heritage to life; critics see such projects as a kind of Disneyland . As part of Eketorp Rediviva, all three phases of the fortification were to be shown, but to date only the work on Eketorp I and Eketorp II have been completed. The reconstruction project is considered to be very successful in tourism, but remains scientifically controversial.

literature

Kaj Borg (Ed.): Eketorp: Fortification and settlement on Öland, Sweden
- Vol. 1: The monument , Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1976, ISBN 91-7402-003-X
- Vol. 2: Ulf Näsman, Erik Wegraeus: The setting , Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1979, ISBN 91-7402-055-2
- Vol. 3: Joachim Boessneck: Die Fauna , Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1979, ISBN 91-7402-081-1
- Vol. 4: Eketorp-III: den medeltida befästningen på Öland. Arteffekterna , Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1998, ISBN 91-7402-277-6
Bengt Edgren: Eketorp Rediviva - An Ongoing Scientific Discussion in: Museum international, No. 198, 1998, ISSN 0304-3002

Individual evidence

↑ Kaj Borg 1976, p. 9
↑ Kaj Borg 1976, p. 34
↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 8, 2011 @1@ 2