Ett fornnordiskt tempel som inte blev en del av den lokala identiteten i Bollnäs köping år 1923

• Main Author: Ung, Malin
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Högskolan på Gotland, Institutionen för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap 2011
• Subjects: History subjects; Historieämnen
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-906

During the 1920’s the town of Bollnäs had the ambition to expand. The expansion included a merger with Björkhamre and the colonization of unused areas, e.g. the area around Onbacken. The archaeologist Gustaf Hallström came to Bollnäs to investigate an ancient tomb located on Onbacken. During his investigation he found an ancient monument, one of its kind in Bollnäs and Sweden. Hallström believed it was a remnant of a temple dating from the time of the Vikings/ the Middle Ages. The local press wrote about the excavation and the articles shows that many of the locals attended the lectures held by Hallström during that time. There was some interest among the locals, as this was a time when nationalism was strong and it made a significant impact on Sweden's identity. It was also a time when Archaeology gained foothold as one of the fundamental parts of investigating and writing about history. The unique excavation finding of the temple gave Bollnäs a golden opportunity to create a local identity and make the town known nationwide. This essay will show that the local inhabitants didn't utilize the finding. That they didn't use it as a part of the creation of the local identity. There are several reasons to why this occurred, for instance, the findings where never questioned as the excavation was seen as an elite project. The extent of the excavation and the temple’s significance was above the locals’ understanding. The locals’ main focus during that time was aimed towards other interests. This essay is about a finding that should have been a part of the local identity, but wasn't.