Between 1978 and 1980, the largest archaeological investigations to date of medieval and early modern remains in Stockholm were carried out at Helgeandsholmen and Riksgatan.
The excavations resulted in extensive documentation. The material included hundreds of stone and wooden structures, such as residential houses, other buildings, streets, piers and parts of the Helgeandshuset cemetery. Here were also defensive works in the form of a barrier in Stockholm’s stream, as well as a later part of the city’s wall.
In total, over 38,000 artifacts, 1,349 human skeletons, three tons of animal bones, and 11 ships were found on an area roughly the size of a football field and with a depth of four meters.
The project “The Key to the City” aims to explore, quality-assure, and publish the material from Helgeandsholmen. By using modern analytical methods, the project will for the first time be able to describe where people, material culture, raw materials, and food in the oldest Stockholm came from. The project creates new knowledge about life in the medieval city and the networks that connected Stockholm with its European counterparts.
About the Project
The project is a collaboration with the Swedish History Museum and the National Heritage Board and is carried out at the Medieval Museum together with researchers from the Osteological Research Laboratory, Västergötland Museum, and a number of external experts.