In 1864 two large magnificent axes were found at Kälby (Skogstorp) in the southern part of Eskilstuna. They are moulded out of thin bronz over a core of clay and are ornated with round gold plates and inlaid with pices of amber. The handles are made of wood with a coat of bronze. The axes date from the earlier bronze age (about 1500-1000 B. C.). The height of the axe head is 27 cm. The treasure is deposited at the Historical Museum in Stockholm and no doubt is one of the most precious treasures from the bronz age. During the bronze age the direct sea route between the Baltic sea and the lake Hjälmaren was blocked by land elevation which had been going on since the glacial period. The fact is that a waterfall had been formed in the river at a place called Hyndevad, where reloading of the goods had to be made from the ships coming from the sea to the small inland-sea boats and vice versa, which carried on negotiations with the fertile province of Närke. In this way Skogstorp became a location which well corresponded to the name " the Stockholm of the bronze age" which was given to Skogstorp by Professor Sune Lindqvist. Probably this trading center had a cult place where these two axes may have been used at religious processions or other ceremonie in honour of some divity, the name of which we don´t know. Pictures of similar axes are often seen on rock-carvings from the bronze age among other places in Bohuslän. There are scientists who believe that the axe was a symbol of fertility.

The text comes from The tourist committee of Eskilstuna