Skiringssal-kaupangen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Computer reconstruction of Kaupang Vestfold.

Skiringssal-kaupangen or Kaupang for short ( Old Norse kaup "buy, trade" and angr "fjord, harbor") is a historic settlement in Norway .

There were a number of prehistoric settlements in Norway that were named Kaupang. A former town in the southern part of what is now Fylke Vestfold is usually called Kaupang today. This place, also called Skíringssalr , was the oldest city in Norway. According to Norwegian legends, Skiringssalr is said to have been founded around the year 600 by the Ynglinger king Olaf Trätelgja . The so-called Gokstad ship was found in a burial mound nearby .

Kaupang was abandoned at the end of the Viking Age because the shallow bay that connected the town's port with the sea was too silted up. Remains of another Viking trading center were discovered in 2013 in Steinkjer , a municipality near Trondheim .

literature

Web links