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Alvastra pile dwelling

The Alvastra pile dwelling is a wooden platform in the middle of a mire connected to the mainland by a wooden causeway. It is the only pile dwelling in Sweden. The platform is surrounded by a fence or palisade of oak poles or piles driven into the ground. It was built around 3000 B.C. in the Broby spring mire at Alvastra in the parish of Västra Tollstad and the province of Östergötland. The wooden platform was not an everyday dwelling, even though pile dwelling is its archaeological name. On the contrary, it was the scene of large-scale ritual activities, activities that are focused on the meeting of cultures.