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Founded: 700 ADCategory: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Sweden
Historical period: Vendel Period (Sweden)
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To the west the Skalunda church there is Skalundahögen, the Barrow of Skalunda which is the largest one in Västergötland and one of the larger barrows in Scandinavia. It measures 65 metres across and it is 7 metres high. Next to the barrow there is a stone circle. This suggests that Skalunda was an important village in the Iron Ages.
Skalunda was one of the eight royal estates of early medieval Västergötland. Moreoever, the names of two homesteads, Lagmansgården and Lagmanstorp, in the neighbourhood show that the Geatish lawspeakers used to reside at Skalunda.
Birger Nerman, a Swedish archaeology professor and director of the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities, considered the Barrow of Skalunda to be the most likely burial site of the hero Beowulf, a legendary Geatish king. Skalunda is not far from a place called Årnäs, which is the same name as Earnaness where the hero died in the epic Beowulf, and it is located on a major promontory and near a minor one. The barrow has not yet been excavated.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.