Human history in
Sweden began only after the
glaciers of the
ice age covering the whole of
Scandinavia started
retreating. The earliest evidence of
human colonization in Sweden was
logically found in the very south, near
Malmö. The finds date
from approximately 8000 BCE, and testify to a stone age society of
hunters and gatherers.
First signs of
agriculture and
cattle raising, along with permanent
settlements, appeared in the Late
Stone Age, between 2500 and 1800
BCE. The emergence of megalithic burial tombs shows a change in culture
as well, arguably due to a new people conquering the land and creating
a class society. The
Bronze Age in Sweden lasted from about 1800 to
500 BCE. A flourishing culture began to develop, leaving many artifacts
of arts and crafts. There are also first traces of
trade with the
British Isles.
The Roman
Iron Age spans between approximately the year 0 and 500 AD.
Iron had already been in use before, but of this era there are many
artifacts testifying to trade links between Scandinavia and the
Roman
Empire. It was also the Romans who left the first written accounts on
Scandinavia, namely
Tacitus in "
De Germania" from about 100 AD.
Sweden is described as a land of many tribes, each under their own
chieftain.
The so-called
Vendel Period took place between 600 and 800 AD. It is
named after the Vendel Church in
Uppland where many characteristic
ship-burial sites were found. There the Vendels used to bury their
powerful chieftains with full armor, weapons and articfacts for a
journey to the underworld.
In the years from 800 AD to 1050 AD the Scandinavian people left their
mark on European history, and they became known as the
Viking Age.
The first evidence of a Viking raiding party dates from the year 793
AD, when
Lindisfarne Monastery, on an island off the English coast,
was plundered. Later on the Vikings even traveled into the
Mediterranean Sea, and in the beginning of the eleventh century King
Canute the Great's empire spanned besides Denmark and Norway also
much of England. The Swedish Vikings, on the other hand, were mainly
oriented to the east, across the Baltic Sea. They became known as far
as
Byzantium as the "
Rus". On
Gotland many arabic coins were found,
documenting a livily trade. But after 1050 AD, that suddenly stopped.
The theory among historians is that
the Crusades brought the
Mediterranean once again into the center of attention and rendered the
trade routes through
Russia unimportant.
The Scandinavians originally worshipped the
Nordic gods like
Odin,