Götavirke are the remains of two parallel defensive walls going from north to south between the villages of Västra Husby (58°29′N 16°10′E) and Hylinge (58°28′N 16°10′E) in Östergötland

Östergötland

Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. The walls cover the distance between the lakes Asplången (58°30′N 16°08′E) and Lillsjön (58°28′N 16°10′E). North of Asplången there are remains of several ancient hill fort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

s that may have been part of the defensive line. South of Lake Lillsjön, the terrain is so hard to pass that it hardly needed any defenses.

The walls seem to be constructed to protect the Geat

Geat

Geats , and sometimes Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting what is now Götaland in modern Sweden...

ish heartland around today's Linköping

Linköping

Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...

 from attacks from the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. Archaeological excavations have shown that the walls were constructed ca 800. Defense constructions were also built along the 20-kilometer narrow inlet Slätbaken that stretches from the Baltic Sea to Götavirke, and even pass it during the Viking Age when the water level was 1.5 meters higher. The measures that Geats had taken to protect the route have no match in the Viking Age Sweden.

The wall supported a wooden pale and behind it are traces of a military road, which makes it similar to Danevirke

Danevirke

The Danevirke The Danevirke The Danevirke (modern Danish spelling: Dannevirke; in Old Norse Danavirki ; in German Danewerk ; is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany). This important linear defensive earthwork was constructed across the neck of the Cimbrian...

 protecting the contemporary town of Hedeby

Hedeby

Hedeby |heath]]land, and býr = yard, thus "heath yard"), mentioned by Alfred the Great as aet Haethe , in German Haddeby and Haithabu, a modern spelling of the runic Heiðabý was an important trading settlement in the Danish-northern German borderland during the Viking Age...

. No Viking Age towns are however known in the vicinity of Götavirke.

See also

• Separation barrier
  Separation barrier
  A separation barrier is a wall or fence constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate two populations. These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and topography...
  
  
• Battle of the Brávellir
  Battle of the Brávellir
  The Battle of Brávellir or the Battle of Bråvalla was a legendary battle that is described in the Norse sagas as taking place on the Brávellir between Sigurd Ring, king of Sweden and the Geats of West Götaland, and his uncle Harald Wartooth, king of Denmark and the Geats of East...
  
  
• Offa's Dyke
  Offa's Dyke
  Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
  
  
• Danevirke
  Danevirke
  The Danevirke The Danevirke The Danevirke (modern Danish spelling: Dannevirke; in Old Norse Danavirki ; in German Danewerk ; is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany). This important linear defensive earthwork was constructed across the neck of the Cimbrian...
  
  
• Birca
• Silesia Walls
  Silesia Walls
  Silesia Walls are a line of three parallel earthen ramparts and ditches that run through Lower Silesia in Poland, by the towns Szprotawa and Kożuchów. The walls are about 2.5 metres tall and, at their widest, 47 metres. They run for about 30 kilometres...