There was a well-developed and prosperous society around Uppsala Mounds during the Iron Age. The kings had an estate here, and Swedes gathered here to worship their gods. The location remained a significant religious centre after Sweden became a Christian nation.

There was a long-lived myth about the mounds containing remains of pagan gods. Others believed the mounds to be natural hills. In the summer of 1846, the time had come to settle the matter. The National Custodian of Antiquities, Bror Emil Hildebrand, led the excavations of "Odin's Mound", or the East Mound, as it is known today. On the eve of September 15, the archaeologists managed to reach the interior of the mound, where they discovered a cairn.

Important persons in the graves

The excavations confirmed that the mound was a burial site. But the findings were not impressive: a couple of burned bones and pieces of burial gifts. In the year 1874, the West Mound, then called Thor's Mound, was excavated, and another burnt burial site was uncovered. We do not know for certain who was buried in the Uppsala Mounds. Nevertheless, we can tell they were influential and prominent people. In the East Mound the vestiges of a helmet and fragments of gold objects were unearthed. In the West Mound, archaeologists discovered remains of a goshawk, probably trained for hunting. Those fowl were common only among the upper classes.

Remains of large settlement

The stone cairn that Hildebrand and his colleagues found at the burial site proved to be the only surviving remains of a considerable settlement. The burial mounds were established in the 6th century AD, at the heyday of the settlement. Here you could once find skilled craftsmen, a rich agriculture and an estate for the regents of that period. There was also a banquet hall, which perhaps inspired Adam of Bremen to write in the 11th century about a pagan temple of gold. He also described a tree that bloomed all year round and a well where pagans sacrificed to their gods. It is feasible to believe that there was a place of worship in the area, but our knowledge of Iron Age religion suggests that an actual temple never existed in Uppsala.

First church in the 11th century

There is reason to believe that the the first Christian church in Gamla Uppsala was erected in the 11th century. In the same location, by the kings' estate, a cathedral was constructed in the year 1164. The church that stands there today is only half the size of the cathedral, but traces of the cathedral can be found in the church walls. In 1270 the bishopric was moved to the village Östra Aros, which would become modern-day Uppsala. The cathedral was degraded to a parish church, and received its present-day form in the 15th century. Yet Gamla Uppsala has maintained its symbolic significance thanks to the Kings' Mounds; this was underscored by the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1989.