Birka Bj. 968: The Grave

Image from Tafeln, Arbman's version of the grave drawing originally completed by Stolpe

Birka grave Bj. 968 was excavated in 1881 by Hjalmar Stolpe. It is a single person chamber grave, 2.7 x 2.2 meters (8.8 x 7.2 feet) wide and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) deep. It was located in burial zone 1A. There were traces of wood around the chamber walls, with stones filling in the chamber, some as large as almost four feet in diameter. The grave was oriented west and south.

The layout of the cemetery sections of Birka

The occupant of the grave was biologically female, buried at some point between 906 and 975 C.E. The dating of the coins within the grave likely puts her into the middle of that date range. Her isotope analysis shows that she had a diet indicative of someone of an elite status and that she had likely lived in Birka for a long time before she died. She was buried with many items that would seem to signify her wealth and status- imported fabrics, labor intensive textiles, gilded jewelry, silver amulets of religious importance and costly gilded and imported glass and stone beads. She was clearly someone of wealth and standing in her community.