Birka Trading Post

Timeline

1. c. 750–850Björkö island, Lake Mälaren · SwedenBirka formed a planned harbor settlement on an island in Lake Mälaren, with docks, a crafts district, and fortifications, becoming a distribution center for trade between Scandinavia and the Baltic islands.
2. 850–950Birka trading district · BirkaAt its height Birka gathered Scandinavian, Frankish, Slavic, and Arab merchants; large numbers of Islamic dirham silver coins, glass beads, and Eastern textiles have been excavated, and the city's population may have reached several hundred to a thousand.
3. c. 960–975Björkö island · SwedenAround the late 10th century Birka ceased to function as an active port, trade shifted to rising towns such as Sigtuna, and the island settlement was abandoned and buried under layers of soil.
4. 1111–1120Lake Mälaren–Baltic trade route · SwedenBetween 1111 and 1120, though Birka was already abandoned, the trade route from Lake Mälaren via Sigtuna to the Baltic still connected Sweden with Novgorod, continuing the fur-and-silver coin pattern formed in the Viking Age; Birka's archaeological remains provide key evidence for studying this network.