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Gotska Sandön has long been regarded as a lonely and desolate place where people only occasionally hunted seals. But recent archaeological investigations reveal a considerably more complex history. Sabine Sten, Professor of Osteology at Uppsala University, and colleagues have made new discoveries about life on the island.

The project, which Sten is running together with Professor Johan Rönnby from Södertörn University, started a few years ago and has already led to exciting findings. At Säludden on the island, researchers have unearthed a medieval burial site.

"We dug up an individual with a missing skull. It turned out that in the early 20th century, geology students traveled to the island and collected skulls, among other things," says Sten. "There is a skull that we know comes from Sandön at the Uppsala University Museum, Gustavianum, but it's not possible to say whether it belongs to the individual we have dug up."

Traces of dramatic events

The archaeological investigations indicate that something dramatic happened at Säludden around the year 1400. It may have been a strategic site for control of Gotland and the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages.

"Säludden was probably a mooring and meeting place and also at times a strategic place to control. A place that may have been important in the medieval struggle for dominion over Gotland and the Baltic Sea," the researchers explain in their report.

The researchers have used modern technology to analyze the findings. Through C14 dating, DNA analysis and isotope analysis, they can find out where people came from and how they lived.

Prehistoric activity

The researchers have also made important discoveries at GÃ¥rdsbanken above Varvsbukten. Here they have documented hearths that were used as early as the Late Bronze Age and up to the Roman Iron Age.

"There we found burnt seal bones, which are surely remains from train oil rendering. Train oil was very important on Sandön, as a commodity for trade," says Sten.

Train oil was produced by boiling seal blubber, which was a common activity in places where seals were hunted. The researchers also found pottery and Roman coins, which indicate extensive prehistoric activity on the island.

Gotska Sandön lies near the dangerous Salvo Reef, where many ships have run aground over the years. This may explain many of the human remains found.

"People may have drowned and floated ashore from the wreck. And then they were buried," Sten explains.

Although the researchers have not yet found direct evidence of violence, there are traces suggesting a military presence. A steel gauntlet of the type used by soldiers has previously been found on the island.

Future research

Sten retired in May, but plans to continue her research with Johan Rönnby in 2026 and 2027.

"We want to continue digging on this burial mound at Säludden and see what kind of people have been on the island or have drowned and come ashore," she says.

The researchers are also collaborating with Sahlgrenska University Hospital for dental analyses and with Visby Hospital to measure bone density in the medieval skeletons.

A crossroads over the ages

The findings from Gotska Sandön partly redraw the picture of the island. Though often portrayed as a desolate place for seasonal hunting, the island seems rather to have played an important role in Baltic trade.

"For several millennia, Gotska Sandön has probably served both as a link and as a crossroads between cultural areas in the entire Baltic Sea region," the research report states.

The island has functioned as a place of shelter and provisioning, and possibly also as a place for trade and exchange of goods. But there are strong reasons to suspect that the island's history is also one of piracy and plunder.