Tingstäde Bulverket

The bulwark in Tingstäde is our most hidden and strangest visitor site, the bulwark is located at the bottom of Tingstäde swamp.

Originally, the bulwark consisted of a giant square, 170 x 170m large wooden platform with open water in the middle. The structure was surrounded by a round pile barrier. On the platform stood many houses of different construction types. Although several researchers have previously presented theories about the bulwark, there is still no certain answer as to why it was built.

Oscar Montelius, one of the pioneers of Swedish archaeology, mentioned the Bulverket as early as 1868. Arvid Zetterling immerses himself in the bulwark and takes an interest in what the locals called Bulverket. During the period 1910- 1930 he carried out several investigations. Almost 600 building timbers were salvaged and carefully documented. A small part of all the timber remains in the Historical Museum's collections.

In 1995, Johan Rönnby wrote his thesis "Bålverket", following an investigation of part of the ancient site. His question was about who might have been behind the building. The research provided a better mapping, dating to the 1130s. The research concluded that the structure was built over a short period of time, perhaps only one winter, and that it was abandoned shortly after the construction phase. This was because the structure began to sink into the soft bottom of the swamp. Johan's theory was that various changes in power were behind the need for a sea fortress.

The houses on the platform were built of shingled timber, known on Gotland as "bulhus", which is most commonly associated with our first wooden churches, "stavkyrkor". The houses were also built of knottimbering, which almost completely disappeared as a construction method on the island during the 18th century.

The foundation itself, the platform, on which the houses stood, was made up of large squares with several rows of wooden logs resting on the bottom.

Compared to the few medieval wooden buildings that have survived, and the archaeological finds that are known today, the thousands of building parts of the Bulwerk are unique. The parts, embedded in the oxygen-poor lime clay, have been preserved unusually well, and allow the reconstruction of entire houses. The buildings here can provide us with knowledge about the development of our wooden building tradition.