Archeology at Ekalund in Ljungby (Kronoberg county)

Follow the archaeological investigation of an exciting archaeological site at Ekalund, just north of Ljungby.

Ljungby municipality is planning for a new industrial area at Ekalund, at the Ljungby norra intersection. Since there are registered ancient remains in the area where the new area is to be built, we at Museiarkeologi sydost/Kalmar County Museum are carrying out a major archaeological investigation. The work, which takes place during the period 27 April – 14 June 2023, is carried out in collaboration with archaeologists from Kulturmiljö Halland/Halland's cultural history museums. The purpose is to investigate and document known ancient remains in the area and ensure that the knowledge of the site's many-thousand-year history and character is not lost to society and research.

During the seven weeks that the work is in progress, two farm plots, one with remains and finds that show that the place was built on and used during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, a number of settlements with remains and finds from the Iron Age, as well as cultivation remains, will be investigated. We have so far had time to investigate a newly discovered settlement from the Stone Age, including a possible hut and a hearth that previous analyzes have shown burned out roughly 9,000 years ago.

Work is currently underway at the Ekalund farm plot, where an abandoned house from the turn of the century looks out from a height above the work area. The house, which has unfortunately suffered from having stood empty for the last few decades, is to be documented as best as possible, before it is to be moved by a couple who, despite its shabby appearance, see the potential in it. Just below the deserted house, we have found the remains of a horseman's cottage and a house that was probably built here as early as the 16th century. In parallel with that, we are paving the way for an exciting and large settlement with remains of houses and hearths that were probably built around 200–300 AD. Among the findings that we have come across so far are i.a. large quantities of ceramics, flint, iron objects, buttons and coins which all show Ekalund's great importance over thousands of years.

Feel free to follow our continued work via Museum Archeology Southeast Instagram account and via the blog on the project's Storymap: https://arcg.is/14PDmi