By Lake Roxen

The oldest population centre in Linköping´s neighbourhood, is the area between the mouths of the Stångån and Svartån rivers on Lake Roxen. Roxen is a junction for water communications. It was possible to reach much of central and southern Östergötland, along river and lake systems via the Motala Ström, the Stångån and the Svartån rivers. The Roxen area might also have served as a meeting place for the people from east and west of the Stångån river, divided both geographically and culturally by the river.

In the neighbourhood there are a number of large barrows, including the grandest in Östergötland – Ledberg´s hill and the “Old King´s Barrow” near Sättuna in the parish of Kaga. There are also the early medieval church of Kaga, the Iron Age grave-field of Tift, the hillfort and sacrificial well at Odensfors, the Mjärdevi and Ullevi cult sites, the market place of Valla, hollow ways, rune-stones and other traces of the past, indicating the very early importance of the area. The manor of the Sverker´s royal family lay to the north of Kaga church, near the Svartån river. Archeological excavations at Stora Ullevi near Tornby have revealed that the ­district has been inhabited since Neolithic times. As early as the 12th century, there was a focus on grain production rather than cattle, which was the most common form of agriculture elsewhere in Östergötland. The area also has late Iron Age burial sites, which show the impact of Christian customs – skeleton graves, with an east-west orientation.

The kings travelled through this landscape on their “constitutional route”, when they had made their ceremonial vows at Lionga court, and were heading for Skänninge. The Royal Route – the king´s highway, presumably went via Ullevi - Tift - Kaga - Ledberg to Västerlösa and then further west. Here the Iron Age and early Middle Ages cover the countryside like a stratified historical filter, leaving traces of an Östergötland chieftanship in the late Iron Age. According to legends there is a king sitting in his chariot of gold inside the Ledberg hill, and King Sverker´s great grandfather is said to be buried in the Sättuna barrow.